Farmers Movement Archive

Farmers dismantle structure at UP Gate, say stir against agri laws to continue

Farmers protesting near the UP Gate underpass on the Ghaziabad Delhi border dismantled a temporary structure on Thursday after the Supreme Court remarked during the day that farmers had the right to protest but roads cannot be blocked indefinitely. Farmer leaders clarified that dismantling the temporary structure did not mean they have withdrawn from the protest site and reiterated that their agitation against the three farm laws will continue. Jagtar Singh Bajwa, a farmer leader and spokesperson from the Samyukta Kisan Morcha at the UP Gate protest site said, “We have dismantled the old tent near the UP Gate underpass to show that it is the barricades, which have been put in place by the police, that is blocking the highway. We were going to Delhi, but police put up barricades. So, we just camped there. After the tents were dismantled, there were rumours that the farmers are withdrawing from the protest site but that is not the case.” The tent referred to is one of the oldest temporary structure that was erected ever since farmers arrived at the UP Gate last November to press their demand for the rollback of the three farm laws. The structure was used as a centre to address the media and for holding farmer meetings. Farmers have also put up tents and dias on the Ghaziabad Delhi carriageway since last December, besides occupying the UP Gate underpass. “As regards the dais and tents on the carriageway, there is still enough space for commuters. There is no hindrance from our side. We will continue with our demand for a new law on the minimum support price and the rollback of the three farm laws,” said Bajwa. Rakesh Tikait, national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Kisan Union also denied that farmers have blocked the highway. “It is not the farmers who have blocked the highway but the police, which has blocked the highway with barricades. We will go to the Parliament in Delhi.. We will sit in front of the house where the laws were made...” Tikait told reporters at UP-Gate.Following the dismantling of the temporary structure, there were speculations that the farmers were leaving the UP-Gate site. The Bharatiya Kisan Union tweeted that it is a rumour that the Ghazipur border (UP-Gate) is being vacated and it is totally baseless. “We are trying to show that it is the Delhi police which have blocked the road and not the farmers,” said the tweet. On Thursday, the Supreme Court said farmers had the right to protest, but roads cannot be blocked indefinitely.The court was hearing a petition filed by a Noida resident, urging that the protesters be removed from the roads of the National Capital Region as the agitation led to delays in daily commute.The court also granted three weeks’ time to the farmer unions to file their response and listed the next date of hearing on December 7.“Ultimately some solution has to be found. We are not averse to their right to protest even when a legal challenge is pending, but roads cannot be blocked,” the court said.Farmers have been camping along the borders of Delhi for about a year and the UP Gate was one of the important protest site. The site was heavily barricaded by the police after large scale violence broke out during the tractor parade taken out by the farmers from different borders to Delhi on the occasion of Republic Day this year. Many farmers’ leaders, including Tikait, were booked by the Delhi police and named in FIRs but the farmers maintained that it was “outsiders” who resorted to violence, not them.A response from the Delhi police in connection with Thursday’s development is awaited.“Ghaziabad police have not put up any barricades on the highway. As regards the dismantling of structure, the farmers have already tweeted about that,” said Abhay Kumar Mishra, circle officer of Indirapuram in Ghaziabad.

Hindustan Times

21-10-2021

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