Farmers Movement Archive

Will not enter Delhi, say farmers as police prepare for chakka jam

Farm unions agitating against three agriculture laws announced on Thursday that no protester will enter Delhi during a three-hour nationwide highway blockade on February 6 in a bid to avoid a repeat of the clashes and violence witnesses on Republic Day.Farmers in Punjab and Haryana drummed up support for the chakka jam, scheduled between 12pm and 3pm on Saturday, held village-level meetings and deputed special security volunteers to avert any clashes with security forces.In Delhi, Union home minister Amit Shah met national security adviser Ajit Doval and Delhi Police commissioner S N Shrivastava inside the Parliament complex to review the security situation.The Centre had already conveyed to Delhi Police that additional central paramilitary forces are on standby if required. Currently over 60 companies (6,000 personnel) of central paramilitary forces are assisting Delhi Police at the borders.Farm leaders said cultivators camping at Singhu, Tikri, and Ghazipur borders, and those who will join them by Friday, will carry out the chakka jam at their respective venues.“Farmers will block the highways in their respective states and no attempt will be made to enter Delhi. In case anyone gets stuck during the chakka jam, they will be served water and food by the farmers. We will also explain to them the reason behind our protest and what the government is doing with us,” Bharatiya Kisan Union’s (BKU) national spokesperson Rakesh Tikait said at the Ghazipur border.During this chakka jam – the first big event by the agitators after the Republic Day tractor rally went out of control and protesters ran riot on Delhi’s streets – farmer leaders assured that they will not stop ambulances and fire brigades.“We would like to request the people to cooperate with farmers on February 6, just for three hours, and let’s do our protest peacefully,” said Manjeet Singh Rai, president of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Doaba).Many farmers said they will ask family members and supporters to block roads peacefully in their home states. “We are already sitting on a highway and we will continue doing so. We need people to participate in the chakka jam in different parts of the country. We are urging people to stay back at their places and support us from there,” said farmer leader Jagtar Singh Bajwa.Farmer leaders held meetings with people in various states to discuss the plan to avoid the scenes from Republic Day, when farmers ran riot during a tractor rally on Republic Day, storming the Red Fort and hoisting the Sikh flag from its ramparts.“From the security point of view, farm leaders, as well as volunteers, have been visiting all tractor trolleys and tents and telling people to remain non-violent. Volunteers in security duty will remain present at the border points to ensure nobody crosses the line,” said Lakhbir Singh, a farmer leader.Rai said that to strengthen their numbers, announcements were made in villages in Punjab that R1,500 will be collected as a fine from people who didn’t visit Delhi borders.“This announcement is having an impact now as many farmers have come from those villages in Punjab from where not a single participation was made in the past 70-71 days. We don’t want our agitation to die in the absence of protesters,” said Rai.Farmers at the Tikri border also said that they will avoid getting into confrontation. “Only anti-social elements resorted to violence on Republic Day. For the past two months, farmers had been protesting peacefully and the same will continue on February 6,” said Bijender Pal, a farmer from Mansa in Punjab.Across Punjab and Haryana, farmers held meetings. Response was especially enthusiastic in Kaithal, Karnal, Kurukshetra and Yamunanagar as local people thronged toll plazas. “This agitation is at its peak and we need your support to win it,” said Bharatiya Kisan Union (Charuni) president Gurnam Singh Charuni in Kurukshetra district. He said block-level meetings were held to fix responsibilities and they were finalising locations to block highways.In Delhi, police officers said that their strengthened security arrangements, deployment of security personnel and closure of the three borders will continue. The protest sites have turned into fortresses with police digging trenches, putting up barbed wire fences, concrete barricades and hammering beds of nails on roads.A senior police officer, who did want to be named, said intelligence inputs were being received that farmers may try to enter Delhi from several borders for the chakka jam and stopping them may lead to confrontation with the police.“Whenever there is a call for any such event (nationwide chakka jam), Delhi Police always make security arrangements to maintain law and order and avoid inconvenience to the public. Our police personnel will be deployed at the borders and on the streets across the city to manage traffic and security,” said Delhi Police spokesperson Chinmoy Biswal.In Haryana, district administrations across the state said they were making arrangements to deal with the situation. “We are holding talks with farmers and urging them not to block Delhi-Chandigarh, National Highway 44 as this may cause problems for thousands of commuters”, said Karnal deputy commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav.

Hindustan Times

05-02-2021

India