Farmers Movement Archive

In Ghazipur, cops issue ultimatum, farmers refuse to budge: Here’s what happened

Tensions simmering since the violent Republic Day tractor rally threatened to boil over at the Ghazipur protest site as authorities issued an ultimatum to defiant farmers to leave even as they refused to budge. Here is all you need to know about the situation at the farmer protest sites:• Security forces dug trenches, put up barricades, and bolstered numbers at the sites on Delhi’s borders on Thursday as cracks started to appear in the 64-day-old protest.• The protest lost momentum after the deadly turn of events on January 26 when farmer groups broke through barricades, clashed with police, ran riot on the Capital’s streets, and stormed the Red Fort, hoisting the Nishan Sahib, the flag of the Sikhs, on its ramparts.• Thursday’s standoff began when Ghaziabad’s additional district magistrate (city) Shailendra Kumar Singh asked protesters to end their two-month-long sit-in and vacate the spot at the earliest or face action.• The order came hours after protesters said power and water supply to the site were cut off, and hundreds of policemen were sent there. • Police also diverted traffic on arterial roads connecting Delhi to Uttar Pradesh and Haryana and closed several checkpoints.Also Read: 5,000 farmers gather to support Rakesh Tikait after he wept on national TV• Farmer leader Rakesh Tikait was issued a notice under section 133 of CrPC (conditional order for removal of the nuisance) for eviction from the Ghazipur site and he was also to be arrested later. • But Tikait refused to leave the site, saying they may approach the Supreme Court.• He maintained there is no question of vacating the Ghazipur protest site and police can do whatever they want.• Tikait accused the government of wanting to destroy farmers and warned if the farm laws are not repealed, he will commit suicide as he broke down.• A large police contingent and protesting farmers were positioned on either side of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway.• Tikait announced a hunger strike. With visuals of Tikait breaking down beamed on television, around 5,000 farmers gathered at his ancestral village of Sisauli, roughly 100km away, and threatened to march to Ghazipur.• Farmers, primarily from western Uttar Pradesh, have been sitting in Ghazipur for about two months. • On Wednesday, at least two other unions pulled out of the protests, and the farm unions called off a march to Parliament on February 1, the day the Union budget will be presented. • The unions lost more momentum on Thursday when another union, BKU (Lokshakti), which was camped at Noida, pulled out.• Tension has been building at Delhi’s borders since the January 26 violence. Police and the government have accused farm leaders of betraying their trust, vandalising property worth crores, and threatening lives. • Farm unions have taken responsibility for the violence, but blamed fringe elements led by Punjabi actor-turned-activist Deep Sidhu.• At Singhu, on the Capital’s northwestern border, the biggest of the four sites for farmer mobilisation, police increased security, blocked major entry points to the site, installed more concrete barriers using cranes and dug trenches using a JCB machine.• At around 12pm, nearly 50 people gathered and demanded that the protest be cleared. • The farm unions dismissed this demand and said they will continue their movement against the three laws passed in September.• Farm unions have called for a day-long fast on January 30, Mahatma Gandhi’s death anniversary, as a step towards atonement and taking moral responsibility for Tuesday’s violence.• Delhi Police have named farmer leaders in their first information reports, including Yogendra Yadav, Balbeer Singh Rajewal, Buta Singh, SS Pannu, and Darshan Pal. Farm unions said they were prepared to face jail but won’t retreat.

Hindustan Times

29-01-2021

India