Farmers Movement Archive

Farmers hold ‘rehearsal’ of Republic Day tractor parade

Protesting farmers who took part in tractor rallies on the expressways surrounding Delhi on Thursday emphasised that it was only a “dress rehearsal” for the parallel parade that they plan to hold within the capital on Republic Day. They urged the Centre to accept their demands for the repeal of the three farm laws and a legal guarantee for minimum support prices at Friday’s negotiations. The tractor march started simultaneously from four different points around 11 a.m., with each group returning to their starting points around 4 p.m. More than 5,000 tractors took part, according to a statement from the Samyukt Kisan Morcha, a joint front coordinating the protests. Protesters also joined in buses and private vehicles. However, there was a no-show from a fifth group at Rewasan, as its leaders were detained by the Haryana police. “This was just a trailer, the complete picture will be shown on Republic Day,” said Rakesh Tikait, national spokesperson for the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU-Tikait), who led hundreds of tractors from Ghazipur on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border, travelling along the Eastern Peripheral Expressway. He said the government could test the farmers as much as it wanted but the farmers would not go home before the farm laws were repealed. “The government still has a day to ponder over repealing the three laws and forming a new law, guaranteeing the MSP.” Farmers from various parts of Uttar Pradesh continued to join the group as they progressed towards Palwal in Haryana. Minor skirmishes between the farmers and policemen were reported in Bulandshahr and Gautam Buddha Nagar when farmers veered off from the prescribed route, leading to traffic snarls. Iraj Raja, Superintendent of Police (Rural), Ghaziabad, said no permission was sought for the rally but “the administration was in no mood for confrontation as long as there was no law-and-order problem. We had put more policemen on the ground to ensure smooth flow of traffic.” Another group was supposed to have come from Rewasan in Nuh district to join them in Palwal, but failed to get started. Mewat Vikas Sabha president Salamudeen Meo said that All-India Mewati Samaj president Ramzan Chaudhary was detained by the Nuh police, and three other farmer leaders put under house arrest. Narendra Bijarniya, Superintendent of Police, Nuh, said only Mr. Chaudhary was detained and let off in the evening.

The Hindu

2021-01-08

New Delhi