Farmers Movement Archive

Farmers' protest: Singhu turns war zone as farmers fight ‘locals’ seeking end to stir

NEW DELHI: Three days after the widespread violence in the capital on Republic Day, the farmers protesting against the farm laws at Singhu border clashed with a group of people on Friday. The latter claimed they were locals and accused the farmers of having insulted the national flag. This led to a pitched battle with stone-pelting from both sides and injuries to many. These included the Alipur SHO, Pradeep Paliwal, who was badly wounded when a sword-wielding protester from among the farmers attacked him. “Forty-four people, including Ranjeet Singh, a resident of Nawanshahr who assaulted Paliwal with a sword have been arrested. Three other officials who were trying to control the mob were also injured,” said Sanjay Singh, special commissioner of police, Western Zone. “To contain them, we fired around 15 tear gas shells. The sword was also seized.” A group of over 200 people arrived at the protest site around noon on Friday holding placards and flags. They claimed they were facing economic hardship and wanted the farmers to leave the area. This was just a day after another group had raised slogans against the farmers and promised to return on Friday. Read AlsoDelhi Police ask people to share information about Republic Day violenceThe Delhi Police has urged people to share any evidence or information about the Republic Day violence in the national capital, officials said on Friday.After shouting slogans for an hour, these protesters broke through the police cordon around 1:30 pm and managed to enter the protest site. They then began damaging tents, langars and several other items belonging to the farmers. This led to a massive confrontation between the two groups despite a call from Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee stage asking the farmers not to react with the Satnam Jaap being played on a loop to defuse the situation. The farmers then retaliated with sticks and swords. The police had to order a lathi-charge and fire tear gas shells. “They destroyed our langar and broke our washing machines,” recalled a farmer, Hardeep Singh. “When they were attacking us, we showed restraint. I was inside the tent which is closest to the barricades put up by the police. As soon as I heard the commotion, I put two blankets over me as there were stones flying all around,” he recalled.Another protester, Gurjeet Singh, said: “One of them even threw a petrol bottle in our direction and damaged our stock of food.” SHO Paliwal said he was trying to control the mob when a man, later identified as Ranjeet Singh, charged at him with a sword. Paliwal sustained injuries on his arm, from his wrist up to his elbow, and was admitted at a hospital for surgery. By 2 pm, the cops had managed to control the situation which remained tense with the protesters and the farmers confronting each other from a distance. The protesters, who were stationed near the Singhu toll booth, began shouting slogans once again and another brief round of stone-pelting followed. They were finally pushed out by the police. Read Also44 arrested in Singhu border violenceThe Delhi police arrested 44 people including the man who attacked SHO Alipur in the violence that broke out on Friday afternoon at Singhu border.Police sources said they had to allow the protesters as they were residents of the area and free to move around. They said in the past too, they had been moving freely in the area and could not have been stopped. They said that when this group went to meet the leaders of Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee at the Alipur traffic signal, they were rebuffed. The farmers disturbed the police barricades following which the stone-pelting started. Speaking to TOI, one of the protesters, Raj Sharma, said: “These people do not respect our national flag, so why should we tolerate them?” Another protester, Sukhvir, who claimed to be a resident of Chandpur village, said “40 villages are angry with the Singhu protesters. These people are all traitors and Khalistanis. When we went to speak to them, they started to throw stones at us. We are not related to any political party and just want the road to be reopened.” Another protester, Manish Kumar, who was holding a placard which asked the farmers to call off their protest, said he ran a mobile store in Alipur village and had turned up for the protest because “these farmers have caused employment loss to many of us and have attacked our police brothers. We wanted to speak to them but they threw stones at us.” However, Harwinder Singh from the farmers’ camp, who belongs to Taran Taran, and was injured in the attack, alleged that the men were not locals. "The locals are supporting us by providing us amenities and are with us in our struggle. We also feed them at our langars. They would never do this to us,” he said. Watch Farmers' protest: Clashes at Singhu border as 'locals' ask agitators to leave area

The Times of India

2021-01-30

India