Farmers Movement Archive

Farmers break barriers in bid to enter Capital

Tejinder Singh Virk, president of the Terai Kisan Sangathan, said they would join the protest with at least 2,000 farmers from Uttarakhand. BKU (Charuni) spokesperson Rakesh Bains said the police used water cannons to stop them, but they broke through the barriers to reach Pipli in Kurukshetra late in the evening. Haryana DGP Manoj Yadava told The Hindu that the police tried to physically prevent the farmers from marching ahead, but they broke through barriers defying the police advice. “We don’t want to get into scuffle with them because the use of force will become inevitable,” said Mr. Yadava. He said barriers were put across the State but no fresh arrests were made on Wednesday. “The entire State is affected,” he said. As lakhs of farmers head towards Delhi, leaders of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha, alliance of farmers groups leading the protest, insist that their demand is repeal of the three farm laws and the dropping of the Electricity Bill, 2020. “We want these Bills to be repealed in toto, we will not accept any minor tweaking. The farmers are coming prepared to stay regardless of any resistance,” said Swaraj India national president Yogendra Yadav, during an online press conference. A protest rally has been planned at 11 a.m. at the Jantar Mantar whether or not farmers from other States are allowed to enter, said All-India Kisan Sabha general secretary Hannan Mollah. Rallies are also being planned at five points on the Delhi border. The Morcha accused the BJP of using State governments to crush the movement. Apart from the barriers at the border, hundreds of farmer leaders have been detained or placed under house arrest in Haryana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, according to Rashtriya Kisan Mahasangh leader Ashutosh Kohar.

The Hindu

2020-11-26

November 26 2020 00:00 IST