Farmers protest: ‘Chalo Delhi’ march begins from Fatehgarh Sahib; Punjab-Haryana borders fortified
NEW DELHI,FEB 13 : Farmers from the villages of Punjab began their march towards Delhi from Punjab’s Fatehgarh Sahib via the Sham bhu border on Tuesday after a meeting with two Union ministers over their demands remained inconclusive. They will press the Centre to accept their demands, including the enactment of a law to guarantee a Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops. Another group is moving towards the national capital from Mehal Kalan in Sangrur through Khanauri border.
The farmers have announced that more than 200 unions were marching to Delhi. Their tractor-trolleys are laden with dry rations, water-proof sheets, and mattresses.
The march to Delhi is happening via the Ambala-Shambhu, Khanauri-Jind and the Dabwali borders.
Authorities in Haryana have fortified the state’s borders with Punjab at many places in Ambala, Jind, Fatehabad, Kurukshetra, and Sirsa using concrete blocks, iron nails and barbed wire to scuttle the march.
Meanwhile, farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher on Tuesday decried the heavy barricading along the borders of Punjab and Haryana, saying the state borders have been turned into “international borders”. He also accused the Manohar Lal Khattar government of harassing farmers in Haryana.
Pandher said while the media has blamed the farmers for blocking roads, the government itself has blocked roads. “We grow foodgrains and we feed the country and they have grown a crop of nails” for us,” Pandher added.
The Haryana government has also imposed restrictions under Section 144 of the CrPC in as many as 15 districts, prohibiting the assembly of five or more people and banning any kind of demonstration or march with tractor trolleys.
In Delhi, Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora has issued strict orders valid for the next 30 days to maintain law and order in the city.
On Monday, tractor trolleys had set out from different parts of Punjab to join the protest march. Many farmers on their tractor trolleys had assembled at Mehlan Kalan Chowk in Sangrur district. An excavator was also seen among the convoy of tractor trolleys, with a farmer in Amritsar saying it would be used to break barricades.
Heavy security deployed
The Haryana government has also imposed restrictions under Section 144 of the CrPC in as many as 15 districts, prohibiting the assembly of five or more people and banning any kind of demonstration or march with tractor trolleys.
In Delhi, Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora issued strict orders valid for the next 30 days to maintain law and order in the city.
On Monday, tractor trolleys had set out from different parts of Punjab to join the protest march. Many farmers on their tractor trolleys had assembled at Mehlan Kalan Chowk in Sangrur district.
On the tractor trolleys sporting flags of the farm unions, farmers have packed essential items, including dry ration, mattresses and utensils, among others.
An excavator was also among the convoy of tractor trolleys, with a farmer in Amritsar saying it would be used to break barricades.
In Haryana, 64 companies of paramilitary personnel and 50 from the Haryana Police have been deployed across various districts.
These personnel are equipped with anti-riot gear and stationed in the border and the sensitive districts.
Additionally, drones and CCTV cameras are being used to monitor miscreants and mischievous elements, said a spokesperson. The Haryana Police is fully capable of addressing any disturbances or untoward incidents, said the spokesperson.
-PTI
