‘Delhi Chalo’ march temporarily suspended, farmers injured owing to teargas shelling

Chandigarh: Protesting farmers, mainly from Punjab, on Sunday again suspended their foot march to Delhi for the day after some of them suffered injuries in teargas shelling by Haryana Police on the interstate border to disperse them and to stop them from carrying on with the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march.

Farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher claimed at least eight farmers were injured and one of them was rushed to the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in Chandigarh.

“We have called back the 'jatha' (group of 101 farmers),” he told reporters at the protest site.

Pandher said the farmers would decide their next course of action after a meeting of their forums -- the Samyuka Kisan Morcha (non-political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha.

Earlier in the day, the second batch of 101 farmers resumed their foot march from the Shambhu protest site but they were halted by multilayered barricading erected by Haryana security personnel.

Tear gas shells were lobbed at the protesting farmers and water jets were used as well to disperse them after they reached the barricade.

Haryana Police’s Deputy Superintendent of Police Ram Kumar told the media, “We have been given clear-cut instructions that we will check their identity and permission and only then will we allow them to move forward and they (farmers) disagreed.”

Farmers, under the banners of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, began their ‘Delhi Chalo’ march's second day after deferring it for a day on Saturday, but were stopped after a few metres at the barricades, guarded by a heavy welded wire mesh.

The farmers have been marching in support of their long-pending demands, including legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) for crops, loan waiver and reforms to improve conditions in the agricultural sector.

“The Haryana government has turned this border like the India-Pakistan border,” said a protester.

As a preventive measure to check any untoward incidents, the security at the interstate border located on the Ghaggar Rivulet has been heightened.

As a goodwill gesture, police personnel tried to pacify the farmers, who were arguing that being Indians, they have the right to march to their national capital, like any citizen, without permission. The police offered them water and biscuits, besides showering of petals.

Protesting farmers on Friday deferred their march for a day as they claimed that six of them got injured in a clash with security forces.

They also said they were ready for talks with the Centre over their demands without confrontation with the government. But they decided to resume their protest as they didn’t get any offer of talks from the Central government.

Ahead of the resumption of the march, Pandher said they have not received any message from the Centre for talks to address their issues.

Central paramilitary forces have also been deployed on the Haryana side of the border along with the state police.

Haryana Police had asked the first batch of 101 farmers that were heading to the national capital not to proceed further and cited a prohibitory order clamped under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).

The security forces had also used at least 50 teargas shells to disperse the protesting farmers when they attempted to cross the makeshift barricades, heavily guarded by paramilitary and police personnel, by climbing on them. It was set up temporarily on the border to prevent the protesting farmers from moving ahead.

Mobile Internet and the sending of bulk messages have been suspended in parts of Ambala district. District officials have already issued orders banning gatherings of five or more people, and government-run and private schools were shut for the day on the administration's order.

To prevent disruptions, the Haryana Police had tightened security at Ambala's border with Punjab with multilayered barricades at the Shambhu border on National Highway 44, and also deployed water cannons.

The farmers’ earlier attempts to march to Delhi on February 13 and 21 were thwarted by heavy security at the Punjab-Haryana border. Since then, farmers under the banners of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha have been staging protests at the border.