Police personnel fire tear gas shells to disperse farmers during their ‘Delhi Chalo’ protest march | ANI
Chandigarh: The farmers halted their “Delhi chalo” protest foot-march for the day after several farmers got injured in the teargas shelling by Haryana police at Shambhu border, near here Friday evening.
Farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher who held a meeting with the farm leaders to assess the situation, said that the farmers “jatha” (group) had been called off, not the protest march to Delhi.
Pandher said that they would wait till Saturday for talks with the government, else, a ‘jatha’ of 101 farmers would again march towards Delhi on December 8 at noon. Stating that it is the moral victory of the farmers’ protest as there is no justification for why the farmers were being prevented from moving forward peacefully. Yet, Pandher added, farmers were ready to resume talks with the government.
It was around 1 pm when, as announced, a farmers group started their foot-march from their protest site at the Shambhu border (of Punjab and Haryana) on the Amritsar-Delhi national highway (NH-44) but was stopped by the Haryana police and paramilitary forces a few meters short of multi-layered barricading erected by Haryana authorities.
The protesters tried to move ahead carrying farm union flags and essential items though some of them could also be seen pushing aside the barbed wires and trying to uproot the iron nails placed on the highway when the situation seemed to get tense and police lobbed multiple rounds of teargas shells. The security personnel could also be seen repeatedly asking the protesters to stop as they did not have the permission to proceed.
Stating that the protesters had been warned against proceeding further as the prohibitory orders against assembly of five or more persons, under Section 163 of Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) had already been invoked, the police said that the hurt, who sustained minor injuries, had been admitted in the hospital.
It may be recalled that a score of farmers have been camping at the said protest site at Shambhu border as well as Khanauri border of the two states near Jind, since February 13 of this year. The stir also witnessed violent conflicts between farmers and security forces twice – on February 13 at Shambhu border and on February 21 Khanauri border.
MOBILE SERVICES SUSPENDED TILL DEC 9
Meanwhile, the Haryana government also suspended mobile internet and SMS services suspended in nearby 11 villages, including Dangdehri, Lohgarh, Manakpur, Dadiyaan, Bari Ghel, Lhar, Kalu Majra, Devi Nagar, Saddopur and Sultanpur, so as to avert possible spread of misinformation pertaining to the protest.
For record, farmers who have gathered under the banners of Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha have been protesting to press for their various demands including legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) for their crops and loan waiver.
