Farmers Movement Archive

Farmers on way to join campers at Chilla detained by Noida police, allege brutality

Noida Police on Thursday briefly detained 22 farmers who were on their way to join protesters at the Chilla border with Delhi for allegedly disrupting public order.On Wednesday, farmers had blocked the Noida to Delhi section of the link road between the two cities alleging that their supporters were being detained in other districts as they made their to protest with them against the new farm laws. At the time, Noida Police had said they were not detaining farmers. Police on Thursday stopped nearly 120 volunteers from the Ambavat faction of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) near the sector 14A cut around 2 pm. “We only wanted to lend support to our brothers. We are already protesting at the Singhu border but we wanted to also be a part of the protest at the Noida border. But the police here was brutal. They assaulted us and took our brothers into custody. They didn’t let us join our brothers at Chilla. If they think that this will scare us then they are mistaken. We will continue to protest until the government rolls back unjust laws,” said Rak Kumar, tehsil president, BKU Ambawat.Denying any assault, deputy commissioner of police (Zone 1) Rajesh S said: “We were only monitoring the law and order situation. We would not have acted if it was only a peaceful gathering. But the volunteers crossed the median and tried to block the traffic coming from Delhi too. They scared the commuters, and it was only after they tried to create trouble that the group was removed and 22 of them detained.”The detainees were brought to the Surajpur police lines where they were kept for nearly two hours before being released. The group also handed over their memorandum of demands to the central government via the policeBKU (Bhanu) had been camping at the Chilla border for nearly three weeks. On December 1, they had blocked one lane of the Chilla border and later proceeded to block the other too. After negotiations, the protesters relented and allowed traffic from both sides on December 13.Traffic from Noida to Delhi via Chilla continued to be diverted through DND Flyway, affecting commuters during peak hours. Police personnel are awaiting Supreme Court orders on the issue of road blockage by farmers before removing them from the spot.“They can try to intimidate us. But we will not move from here until our demands are met. No amount of threats will deter us from our goals,” Yogesh Pratap Singh, state president, BKU Bhanu.Singh was on a hunger strike since Sunday which he broke on Thursday on the urging of other farmer leaders.“Our brothers are dying in the protest. They are ending their lives, leaving behind detailed suicide notes. But the government remains completely unaffected to our plight. We need to be in best form possible to deal with them,” said Singh on ending his hunger strike.The group camped at Chilla paid homage to their dead brothers and to the farmer that took his own life at Singhu border on Wednesday by observing a two minute silence vigil at noon.Farmers have been staying at the border for nearly three weeks now. Slogans of “jai jawan, jai kisan” are heard sporadically while they continue to wave the cold wave. A group from another faction is stationed at the Dalit Prerna Sthal.

Hindustan Times

18-12-2020

Noida