Farmers Movement Archive

On way to Chilla, another BKU wing in standoff with cops

NOIDA: Stopped from marching to Delhi and protesting at the Chilla border, around 200 members of the Bharatiya Kisan Union-Ambawata were involved in a standoff with police on Thursday. The farmers tried to block the Noida-Delhi carriageway of the Link Road, but were removed by the police. Members of the BKU-Ambawata wanted to demonstrate at the same site where the BKU-Bhanu was already holding a protest. At a time signs of rift have emerged within the BKU-Bhanu, which is at the forefront of protest at Chilla, several other outfits have started taking out marches in an attempt to vie for attention. The BKU-Bhanu’s move to open the Noida-Delhi lanes of the Link Road hasn’t gone down well with the other outfits, which believe the decision has weakened their resolve. On Thursday, members of BKU-Ambawata came from the Sector 15 side and wanted to march towards the Delhi border. As police tried to stop them from moving ahead, the protesters sat on the road a few metres before the Sector 14A flyover. “We wanted to move towards Delhi but were not allowed. We asked the cops to let us reach the Chilla border, where the other farmers are already sitting. However, the police were adamant not to allow us to reach there. They dragged us from the spot. One of our members suffered injuries,” said Rajkumar Roopwas, the Dadri tehsil in-charge of BKU-Ambawata. The farmers alleged that their Palwal district president, Rishipal Chauhan, was beaten up and suffered injuries. A video showed he had rashes on his back. “Our members were beaten up and no medical aid was provided to them at the police lines, where they were taken to,” the outfit alleged in a statement. At least 22 farmers, including senior members of the outfit, were taken to the police lines. They were released after 4.30pm. Additional DCP (Noida) Ranvijay Singh said allowing the farmers to move ahead could have threatened the law and order situation. “Since another group was already protesting there, there could be law and order issues. So, they were removed from the spot. They had also blocked the Delhi-Noida carriageway, which is why they were taken to the police lines. They later handed over a memorandum to the SDM (Dadri),” he said. Later in the evening, around 500 personnel of the civil police, three companies of the Rapid Reaction Force (RRF) and a team of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) were deployed at the border. The BKU-Lokshakti, whose members are sitting in protest at the Dalit Prerna Sthal, has also threatened to block the DND if their other supporters are stopped from entering Noida.

The Times of India

2020-12-18

Noida