There are worries about possible delays in the capital as farmers with 1,200 tractors are scheduled to start their march towards Delhi today. Authorities in Haryana have asked Punjab to confiscate large equipment that farmers have brought to clear barricades, which has raised tensions.
Following the collapse of negotiations with the Centre over assurances for the minimum support price (MSP), farmers are scheduled to start their ‘Delhi Chalo’ protest march today from the Punjab-Haryana border.
The police in Haryana have instructed their Punjabi colleagues to confiscate protester-brought equipment in order to demolish police roadblocks. Along the border, some 14,000 farmers have congregated accompanied by 1,200 tractor trolleys, 300 automobiles, and 10 minibuses.
As farmers who have been halted at the interstate boundary since February 13 prepare to go forward towards the nation’s capital, Delhi Police are on high alert and practicing security drills at entry points.
Leader of the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, Sarwan Singh Pandher, declared in advance of the start of the demonstration that the farmers would demonstrate peacefully and urged the government to take down barriers so they could travel to Delhi without hindrance.
“On our end, we gave it our all. Every topic was covered in the sessions that we attended, and the central government now needs to make a decision. We’ll continue to live in harmony… We ought to be permitted to take down these obstacles and advance towards Delhi,” Pandher declared.
The farmers’ protest has been developing as of late, as follows:
- Authorities estimate that 14,000 farmers have gathered at Shambhu, near the Punjab-Haryana border; PTI obtained official estimates. To get to Delhi, farmers are using 1,200 tractor trolleys, 300 automobiles, and 10 minibuses.
- Furthermore, the Home Ministry estimates that 500 tractors and 4,500 protestors were assembled near the border between Gujran and Dhabi.
- The Ministry of Home Affairs has written to the Punjab government expressing concern about the state’s declining law and order situation and blaming miscreants acting as farmers for it. It said that these “miscreants” had taken heavy equipment, such as bulldozers and earthmovers, to the Shambhu border with Haryana and had participated in stone-pelting.
- The letter went on to say that the police barricade had been “modified and armour-plated” in order to destroy the bulldozers and other tools that the farmers had brought with them when they camped at the Shambhu border. “These machines are meant to be used by the protesters to damage the barricades, thereby posing serious danger to the police and paramilitary forces deployed on duty and are likely to compromise the security scenario in Haryana,” stated the statement.
- Authorities warned that road closures around Delhi’s three border crossings could cause traffic jams on Wednesday. Two locations on the Delhi-Haryana border, Tikri and Singhu, are heavily guarded by police, with many levels of concrete blocks and iron nails in place. According to an official, the border in Ghazipur may also close on Wednesday if necessary.
- Leader of the farmers, Sarwan Singh Pandher, stated that the Centre ought to call a full day of Parliament to draft legislation on the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops on the eve of the protest’s restart. “We demand the introduction of legislation guaranteeing the MSP. The Prime Minister may call a full day of Parliamentary sessions if he so chooses. No opposing party will stand in its way.”
- Pandher went on to say that in an effort to stop their march, paramilitary forces had been stationed in Haryana villages.
- “The nation will not overlook an administration like this…The villages of Haryana are home to paramilitary soldiers. What offense have we perpetrated? You now have the position of Prime Minister. We never imagined that the powers would subjugate us in this manner. Please defend the Constitution, and allow us to travel to Delhi in peace. We have this right,” he declared.
- The Punjab government was requested by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday to prevent farmers from congregating in big groups. The farmers can travel to Delhi by bus or other public transportation, the court noted, noting that tractor-trolleys are prohibited from operating on highways by the Motor Vehicles Act.
- Farmers rejected the Center’s proposal to have government agencies buy cotton, maize, and pulses at MSP for five years, and as a result, the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march is about to resume. They said they were going to march on the nation’s capital today because they believed it to be against the interests of farmers.
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