New Delhi: Agitating farmer unions Tuesday objected to Delhi Police putting up posters at the Tikri border site. The posters allegedly warned protesters that they would not be allowed to enter the national capital. However, Delhi police said that these posters were nothing new.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) is an umbrella body of farmer unions that is spearheading the ongoing agitation against the three farm laws. It said in a statement that it is opposed to the police’s move. It said the protesters were exercising their constitutional right and appealed to the farmers to continue their sit-in peacefully.
Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at three Delhi border points. They are the Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur borders for nearly 90 days. They have demanded a complete repeal of the three farm laws and a legal guarantee on Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops.
“The Delhi Police has placed some posters at the Tikri border protest site. Farmers have been warned that they will have to vacate the area. Such posters are irrelevant as farmers have been staging a peaceful protest by exercising their constitutional rights. We will oppose the conspiracy to end the protest with these kinds of threats and warnings,” the SKM said in the statement.
In the posters, the police have not given any deadline to the protesting farmers to vacate the area.
On its part, the Delhi Police said it is a ‘routine’ process. “The posters were pasted at the border area after the protest started. It is a routine exercise. Police have conveyed to them through posters that they are sitting in the jurisdiction of Haryana and they are not allowed to enter the national capital unlawfully,” a senior police officer said.
Thousands of protesters had clashed with the police during a tractor parade called by the agitating farmer unions January 26.
The government has projected the three farm laws as major reforms in the agriculture sector. It said that the new laws will remove the middlemen and allow farmers to sell anywhere in India.
