Farmers Movement Archive

Barriers go from farmers’ protest sites

Months after barbed wires and layers of barricades were put up at Delhi’s borders, the police have begun removing them from Ghazipur and Tikri borders. Farmers protesting at the sites said the move vindicated their stand in the Supreme Court and paved the way for their entry into the Capital. Bharatiya Kisan Union general secretary Yudhvir Singh said the farmers never wanted to create problems for the general public and only wanted to enter Delhi to raise their voice against the three laws. Mr. Singh said the move was not an indication of the government reaching out to farmers for the peaceful resolution of the protest against the contentious farm laws and that the protest would continue at the Ghazipur border with “even more vigour”. “My 40 years of experience in holding protests for farmers’ cause tells me that the government wants to stretch it [the impasse] further rather than arriving at a decision,” he said. Notably, at Ghazipur border, the police chose to remove the barricades from the lanes which lead to the main stage and the langar of the protesting farmers. Sources said it had been done to put the onus of blockade on farmers who removed only a tent from the service lane after the SC order. Nirav Patel, ACP, Mayur Vihar, who supervised the removal of the barricades, said the idea was to clear the main lane for traffic. The ACP said the Delhi Police had done its part and now it was up to the U.P. Police to ensure the movement of traffic from U.P. to Delhi. The process that started at 7 a.m. took almost the entire day for two cranes and two bulldozers to cut through the concrete slabs. Rashid, a worker, said as the barricades were welded, it consumed a lot of time to separate them. Earlier, BKU national spokesperson Rakesh Tikait, who was not present at the border on Friday, told a news agency that after the removal of barricades, farmers would move to Parliament where the contentious farm laws were passed. His nephew Gaurav Tikait said farmers were ready for any eventuality. “Farmers from West U.P. have been told to be ready to reach Ghazipur border at a short notice,” he said, adding they were waiting for the SKM’s directive to move towards Delhi.

The Hindu

2021-10-30

New Delhi/ Ghaziabad