Farmers Movement Archive

Farmers break barricades, cops use water cannons

Rewari: A group of around 100 farmers from Rajasthan climbed on to tractor trolleys and broke barricades at Jaisinghpur Khera in their attempt to move towards Delhi on Thursday afternoon. Despite a minor baton-charge by police, the protesters managed to move 20km from the protest site on the Haryana-Rajasthan border before being stopped at Bhudla village in Rewari. Here, the police resorted to use of water cannons and tear gas shells. The sudden uproar led to a traffic mess on the already affected Delhi-Jaipur highway. Many vehicles had to be diverted through internal village roads after being stuck in snarl for hours. Farmer leaders, however, distanced themselves from the protest. They said those who had barged their way in through the barricades did not have their backing and had refused to listen to them despite appeals. Most protesters in Thursday’s agitation were young farmers from Rajasthan. “Yes, we are from Rajasthan and we sat in a protest in our home state too. We are here to raise our voice against the Centre and march to Delhi. But the Khattar government is not allowing us to move. Are we not citizens of this country? In the afternoon, we decided to break the barricades and force our way ahead,” said one of the protesters. As the farmers moved in their tractor trolleys, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait rushed to the protest site and urged the agitators to maintain peace. Sources said most of the protesters were youths from Sriganganagar, Bikaner and other parts of Rajasthan, and had reached Jaisinghpur Khera only a couple of days ago. A few farmer leaders claimed the youths would have been provoked by groups wanting to derail the movement. Trouble at the border started around 2pm, when the group of young farmers got onto their tractors and started pushing the concrete barricades put up by the police. ‘There were around 100 young farmers. They got on to two dozen tractors, broke the barricades and forced their way to Rewari. We made another attempt to stop them at Bhudla village. They then started a demonstration on the highway itself,” said Rajesh Chechi, DSP of Bawal. Asked about the force used by the police to stop them, the officer said: ‘They had turned aggressive and violent. They were not even listening to their leaders. We tried to persuade them through talks. When they did not listen to us, we had to use water cannons and tear gas shells. One of them tried to plough his tractor into a team of policemen. It put the lives of several cops in danger.” The protest at Jaisinghpur Khera, which started on December 13 and is being spearheaded by Swaraj India president Yogendra Yadav, has swelled in the past few weeks, with thousands of farmers from Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab joining in to demand withdrawal of the three laws. Farmers from as far as Gujarat and Maharashtra have also joined the protesters. Farmer leaders at the protest site appealed for peace, saying such acts would weaken the movement. “Some enthusiastic youngsters broke the discipline. We have made it absolutely clear that we will take no decision that does not align with those of the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha. Anyone who violates this will weaken the movement,” said Yogendra Yadav. Rampal Jat, president of the Kisan Mahapanchayat, a prominent farmer organisation in Rajasthan, said, “We have been sitting at Jaisinghpur Khera peacefully and asking our members not to resort to violence. But some of the farmers forcibly entered Haryana on Thursday. This was not expected from them. We have sent some of our members to talk to those who broke the barricades.” Hanuman Beniwal, the Nagaur MP who has been supporting the protest, also said dialogue was the only way to end the deadlock.

The Times of India

2021-01-01

Gurgaon