Farmers Movement Archive

Tractors fall short, protesters from Singhu border set on foot to Delhi: Farmers

Thousands of farmers, who have been camping at Delhi’s Singhu border for the past two months, on Tuesday begun marching towards the national capital to hold their planned tractor rally to mark their dissent against the three agricultural laws cleared by the Centre in September last year.Many farmers were seen walking towards Delhi for the ‘tractor parade’ scheduled to begin at 12pm, shortly after the national Republic Day parade at the Capital’s Rajpath area. When asked about when the rally will conclude, Satnam Singh, a farmer from Tarn Taran driving a tractor, said that it will go on till the next day. The police, however, have allowed them to carry out the tractor march only till 5pm, according to the No-Objection Certificate (NOC) given to them.Follow live updates on farmers tractor rally hereScores of farmers were seen marching towards the Capital on one side of the carriageway, while vehicles, including tractors, jeeps, and cars, could be seen on the other side. "There are just so many farmers that tractors have fallen short," Satnam Singh told HT.Tractors, many of which were decorated with the colours of the national flag, have been stacked with food and water as farmers from all borders will join the rally this afternoon. The police say about 30,000 tractors are likely to participate in the rally, but farm leaders said the number of vehicles will be closer to 200,000. The farm unions have promised not to veer from the three routes — centred around the Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur borders.Farmers from Tikri border are also expected to reach Delhi in a short while. “We are in touch with the Uttar Pradesh Police and farmer leaders. We have deployed drones for security surveillance during farmers tractor rally,” deputy commissioner of police, East Delhi, told news agency ANI at Ghazipur borderThe Samyukt Kisan Morcha had on Monday said that while the Republic Day rally is planned as a one-day event, the scale of the protest could mean that the rally could spill over to the next day by the time they return to their starting spots located at three different rally routes in and around the Capital.Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab and Haryana, have been camping at the borders of Delhi since November 26 last year to protest against farm laws enacted during the monsoon session of Parliament. The legislation, however, has been stayed by the Supreme Court for the time being.

Hindustan Times

26-01-2021

India