Delhi Chalo march: Cops use tear-gas, water cannons as farmers push through Haryana | 10 points
Protesting farmers from Punjab are determined to reach Delhi tonight despite Haryana Police's arrangements to stop them. Earlier in the day, Haryana Police used water cannons, barricades and tear gas shells, but the farmers soldiered through all the obstacles.
Thousands of farmers who started their journey towards the national capital as part of the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march to protest against the Centre’s farm laws on Thursday faced water cannons and pushed through several police barricades at Punjab's border with Haryana.
By late evening, the protesting farmers had managed to push through all the security arrangements in Haryana, but have not yet succeeded in entering the national capital. Many farmers were stopped near the Panipat toll plaza in Haryana, but some have managed to move forward to Haldana, which is 62 kilometres from Delhi. It is worth mentioning that the Delhi Police has also increased its presence at the borders to stop the farmers from progressing further.
Several roads have been blocked in view of the farmers’ protest march, while Delhi Metro services from neighbouring cities to the national capital have been suspended till further orders. As the protesting farmers try to reach Delhi, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh slammed the Manohar Lal Khattar-led Haryana government for preventing the farmers’ march to Delhi.
Here are 10 developments about the ‘Delhi Chalo’ farmers’ protest march:
1) Protesting farmers from Punjab have managed to enter Haryana despite tightened security arrangements. The farmers faced water cannons and police barricades at the Haryana border. By late evening, a late number of protesters from Punjab and Haryana were close to Delhi, but police deployment at the border points remain high. Many of the farmers have been stopped at Panipat toll plaza in Haryana, but some of them have managed to get to Halwana, which is roughly 62 kilometres away from the national capital.
2) The Haryana Police has also appealed to citizens to avoid travelling National Highway 10 (Hisar-Rohtak-Delhi) and National Highway 44 (Ambala-Panipat-Delhi), in view of the 'Delhi Chalo' protest march, as per information from Haryana CMO.
3) The protest march has led to key roads and highways being blocked for security reasons. The day witnessed major traffic jams at Delhi’s border with police checking all vehicles coming in from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Metro services from NCR to the national capital have been suspended till further orders.
4) Earlier in the morning, at the Punjab-Haryana Shambhu border, police and Punjab farmers in their tractor-trolleys were looked in a confrontation. Police made an announcement on loudspeakers asking farmers assembled on the Punjab side to disperse. However, the protesting farmers defied orders and pushed through barricades. The Haryana Police used water cannon and lobbed teargas shells at the farmers, but could not hold the farmers back. The farmers even chucked some steel barricades into the Ghaggar river from the bridge where they had been stopped.
(Photo: Reuters)
5) There was another confrontation in Ambala district, where there were face-offs between the protesters and police in Haryana’s Sirsa, Kurukshetra, Fatehabad and Jind districts bordering Punjab. Police had placed cement and steel barricades and parked trucks on the road to stop farmers, who seemed ready to protest for days till their demands were made.
6) A few hours later, however, the farmers were let through at most of the Punjab-Haryana border-points. At Shambhu, a few protesters initially managed to cross the barricades on foot. Later, police eased the blockade and allowed the tractors to proceed on the road to Delhi, almost 200 kilometres away.
7) Barricades were also set up at other points on this Amritsar-Delhi highway that passes through BJP-run Haryana. At Karnal, there was another face-off and police again used a water cannon. By the afternoon, several groups of protesters from Punjab and Haryana were travelling towards Delhi on tractors. Police diverted private vehicles and long lines of trucks were parked on the road.
8) A protesting farmer from Punjab told reporters at Shambhu that “it is condemnable that Haryana Police is using such measures to suppress an assembly of peaceful protesters. “We are protesting in a peaceful manner, but they want to prevent us from using our democratic right to protest,” the protester said. Several leaders have slammed the Haryana government for stopping the farmers. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal slammed the Haryana Police action at Shambhu.
9) There was a bitter Twitter exchange between the Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and his Haryana counterpart Manohar Lal Khattar. Singh attacked the Haryana government for pressing the constitutional rights of the farmers and asked Khattar to “let them pass”. However, Manohar Lal Khattar replied sternly and said he backs the Centre’s MSP law. Khattar also told the Punjab CM to “avoid cheap politics” during the ongoing pandemic. Amarinder Singh followed up saying that Khattar should try to explain his stand to the farmers and not him.
10) Shiromani Akali Dal leader Sukhbir Singh Badal, too, criticised attempts to thwart the protest. “Today is Punjab's 26/11. We are witnessing the end of the right to democratic protest,” he tweeted earlier. Ahead of the protest, Haryana had announced sealing its borders with Punjab to prevent farmers from entering the state on their way to Delhi. The Delhi Police had also made it clear that they had denied permission to the farmer organisations planning to protest in the capital on November 26 and 27.
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