Farmers Movement Archive

Days after reopening, Chilla border to be blocked today

Two days after protesting farmers cleared the blockade at Chilla (Delhi-Noida link road) border, another faction of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) called BKU(A) on Tuesday announced that they will “completely block the Chilla border” on Wednesday to press their demands for repealing the three farm laws.BKU(A) national president Rishipal Ambawata said that they would block the road at 11am on Wednesday. “We will block the Chilla border again at 11am tomorrow [Wednesday] and press for our demands,” Ambawata said on Tuesday while addressing a press conference at the Singhu border.The announcement has prompted the police to revise their security arrangements at the border and plan the deployment of security and traffic personnel on alternate routes through which traffic between Delhi and Noida will be diverted if the blockade takes place.Also Read: Farm unions slam Centre, say govt lacks sympathy“We are coordinating with our counterparts in Uttar Pradesh (Noida) Police and discussing the matter. Our deployment at the border is still in place. If required, security arrangements will be beefed up and the traffic may be diverted onto alternative routes,” said joint commissioner of police (eastern range) Alok Kumar.The call for a complete blockade of the Chilla border came on a day when nearly 100 farmers in cars arrived from Noida and tried to march towards Delhi through the carriageway that had been cleared on Sunday morning.Security personnel from Delhi and Noida police immediately responded to the situation and blocked the road using iron barricades and deployment of personnel, leading to a traffic jam. However, senior police officers had a quick discussion with the farmers and convinced them not to block the traffic. After nearly 10 minutes, the barricades were removed and traffic was restored. The protesters parked their vehicles and sat on one portion of the road, which has been barricaded and dedicated to the protesting farmers.On Saturday night, farmers had cleared the Chilla border, citing inconvenience to commuters, but vehicular movement was restored on Sunday. Satish Tomar, in-charge of the IT cell of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Bhanu), said “Police and senior officers requested us to clear the road... Our leaders took a decision, and keeping in mind the problems caused to the commuters and locals, we have cleared both the roads. We, along with police personnel, together removed the barricades and reopened the road.”On Tuesday, various farmers groups said they would intensify their agitation and would submit a written rejection of the government’s proposal. Jagjit Singh Dallewal, president of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Sidhupur), said that the farmers will negotiate with the government only when they talk about the repealing the laws instead of making amendments. “We are also making adequate arrangements for women protesters. As soon as that is done, they too will join the protest in huge numbers in the coming days,” he said.The number of farmers at Ghazipur border also saw an increase on Tuesday. The tractor-trolleys, trucks and four-wheelers have occupied 400-500 metres of the carriageway between Indirapuram and the Ghazipur-Ghaziabad (UP Gate) border. As many as 15 tents to serve free meals throughout the day have also been set up at the protest site.Hundreds of farmers were seen sitting on the blocked Delhi-Meerut carriageway (going towards Delhi from Ghaziabad) and listening to speeches by various farmer leaders criticising the central government for not scrapping the three farm laws and asserting that their protest will not end until the government accepted their demands.“The Uttar Pradesh government has been stopping farmers from proceeding to Delhi. Many representatives of farmers are under house arrest. We will not tolerate this. If the government continues harassing farmers, we will have no choice but to escalate our agitation to Lucknow and at local levels in Uttar Pradesh. If required, we may block the entire Delhi-Meerut Expressway again,” said Rajveer Singh Jadhon, president of Bharatiya Kisan Union (UP unit).At the Singhu border, the death of four farmers in two separate road accidents in dominated the speeches from the stage. Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh said his government would provide assistance to the families of the deceased farmers.Farmers also objected to the allegations of being misled by Opposition leaders or the protests being hijacked by other groups. Teja Singh, 70, a farmer from Nabha in Patiala district, said, “The government thinks of us as fools. The talks will just serve as an excuse for them to trick us into believing that the new farm laws are for our own good. But that is not the case. We know that these laws will cost us our land eventually, and that is why we are protesting here. Nobody is guiding us. The farmers know the impact these laws can have on us.”

Hindustan Times

16-12-2020

Delhi