Farmers’ Protest: Security Beefed Up to Stop Protesters’ March to Delhi, Govt Asks Them To Join Talks | Top Points

Farmers from different parts of Punjab and Haryana started their march towards Delhi on Tuesday over their several demands, causing massive traffic jams at the national capital’s borders.

Authorities intensified security arrangements to stop a farmers’ march from entering Delhi as the Singhu and Tikri borders were shut while the Red Fort complex was closed temporarily after peasants on their way to the national capital clashed with police at the Shambhu border between Haryana and Punjab.

Multi-layer barricades, concrete blocks, iron nails and walls of containers have been placed at the Ghazipur, Singhu and Tikri borders, with the deployment of a large number of security personnel in anti-riot gear.

With massive security arrangements at the three border points, commuters had a harrowing time as they spent hours stuck in jam-packed traffic.

Police have also sealed rural roads bordering Haryana to stop the protesters from moving ahead to enter Delhi.

During their protest in 2020, farmers from different states, mainly Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, had staged a sit-in at the Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri borders. They sat there from August 2020 to December 2021.

Top Points

• Union Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda said that there will be a need for consultation. “We need to discuss this with the states… We need to prepare a forum for discussions and find a solution. The Government of India is bound to protect the interests of the farmers…inconvenience should not be caused to the public. The farmers’ union need to understand this,” he said.
• Munda said, “Regarding MSP, we have to see what kind of law they (farmers) are seeking, and what will be the pros and cons. We at the government see things in a positive way, but we can come to a conclusion after considering everyone’s interest.”
• Union Minister Anurag Thakur appealed to farmers to maintain peace and requested them to join the talks.
• Rahul Gandhi announced that Congress has decided to give legal guarantee of MSP to every farmer on crops as per the Swaminathan Commission. “This step will change the lives of 15 crore farmer families by ensuring their prosperity. This is the first guarantee of Congress on the path of justice,” he said.
• Metal and concrete barricades were put up at many places in central Delhi as part of the security arrangements. Multiple gates of nine metro stations near important installations, including Parliament, were shut. The gates were opened later.
• Special Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Ravindra Yadav, while visiting the Singhu border in the evening, made an announcement, asking the personnel to respond “aggressively” if the protesting farmers try to enter Delhi and “show aggression”.
• The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha are spearheading the “Delhi Chalo” agitation to put pressure on the BJP-led Centre for their demands, including a law on a minimum support price for crops and loan waivers.
• Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora visited the Tikri and Singhu borders to review the security arrangements.
• The Delhi government rejected the Centre’s proposal to convert the Bawana stadium into a makeshift jail in view of the farmers’ march to the national capital.
• Farmers from Punjab faced tear gas shells — some dropped by a drone — at two border points of Haryana-Punjab as protesters tried to break past barricades that were installed to stop them from heading to Delhi.
• Hours after the clashes between the farmers and security personnel at the Punjab-Haryana border, the Delhi Police closed the Tikri and Singhu borders for the movement of vehicles, forcing people to cross these points on foot.
• Traffic crawled at a snail’s pace at many places in the Delhi-National Capital Region.
• The Delhi Police has issued prohibitory orders under section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) for a month — banning an assembly of five or more people, processions or rallies and the entry of tractor-trolleys ferrying people.
• Meanwhile, the Red Fort complex was temporarily closed for visitors due to security reasons. Asked when the 17th-century monument will reopen, an official said “it will be the call of security agencies”.(With PTI inputs)