Farmers Movement Archive

From farm to fist: March to ITO began at Ghazipur

In Ghazipur, the friction started to build up around 8.30am when the farmers decided to start the march, defying an agreement with the police that they would do so only after 11am to avoid any possible disruption of the Republic Day parade in the morning.By 9.30am, a group of farmers started the march; they also used trolleys attached to the tractors, despite agreeing not to use them in their previous discussions with the police.Each tractor seated around four; each trolley, around 10. They were decorated with Indian flags and sported loudspeakers blaring songs.Around 9.40am, the groups broke the first set of police barricades set up near the Ghazipur border and started marching towards the city.Between then and 12 noon, farmer groups and police officials clashed at multiple points that include the toll tax collection centre in the Delhi-Meerut expressway, near Akshardham temple, at Sarai Kale Khan, below the ITO flyover, and later at the ITO intersection from where large number of protesters headed towards the Red Fort in North Delhi.The Delhi Police in a statement said that they had made necessary arrangement and deployment of security personnel for the tractor rally as per the agreement they had with the farmers.“Delhi Police personnel showed resistance till the end but the protesting farmers breached the agreement and began their tractor rally much before the scheduled time. Since farmers resorted to violence and vandalism, the police had to take necessary steps to maintain the law and order. The agitation led to damage of public property and many police personnel were also injured. The protesters were asked to stop violence, maintain peace and return,” the police said.A separate group of farmers from Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand marched towards the Ghazipur roundabout, by taking a stretch of NH 24, headed towards Apsara border, covered Loni and parts of Ghaziabad and then headed back to Ghazipur, largely without incident.The farmers were carrying supplies, utensils, and also chains, hooks and ropes to dismantle barricades.The number of people or vehicles which started from Ghazipur is yet to be ascertained by the policeThe police had to resort to a baton charge and fired tear gas at multiple points. The farmers broke down not only barricades but also attacked police vehicles and public buses.One farmer died and 10 others were injured while 86 police personnel were hurt in the clashes and violence reported from various locations.As farmer groups from Ghazipur marched towards the heart of the city, throwing traffic out of gear in large parts of east Delhi, south-east Delhi, and central Delhi. Many motorists fled on foot leaving their vehicles behind in order to avoid conflict with the marching groups.The last minute change of plans — initially regarding timings of the protest march and later regarding the routes to be taken — also exposed differences between protesting farmers and leaders of farm groups who had hammered out an agreement with Delhi police on the timing and routes.Bharatiya Kisan Union president Naresh Tikait sought to play down the issue: “It looks like some protesters got carried away. On our part, we are doing our beat to ensure that protesters adhere to the terms and conditions of the police.”However, several participants in the march said they had never agreed to the conditions of the police. “We never agreed to the conditions given by the police. What’s the point of the march if we cannot take it to Ring Road and go into the city?” said Manjeet Singh, a farmer from UP.Several police officials and farmers were injured in East Delhi’s Ghazipur area on Tuesday after farm groups participating in a tractor march to protest three farm laws, broke barricades, clashed with police, and deviated from an agreed-upon route for the rally.

Hindustan Times

27-01-2021

Delhi