Shambhu (Punjab): Agitating farmers suspended their foot march to Delhi Sunday after some of them sustained injuries in teargas shelling by Haryana security personnel who thwarted yet another attempt by the protesters to cross the Punjab-Haryana border.
Farmer leaders said they will decide the next course of action Monday.
As a group of 101 farmers resumed the foot march this afternoon, they were halted by a multilayered barricade set up by Haryana security personnel who surprised the protesters by offering them tea and biscuits and also showering them with flower petals.
But the protesters claimed it was all a “drama” as the police soon lobbed teargas shells and used water jets to disperse them when they insisted on crossing the Shambhu border.
Ambala police had earlier said the farmer outfits, which are agitating for a legal guarantee for Minimum Support Price and other demands, can march to Delhi only after getting permission from the national capital administration.
The protesters, dubbed as ‘marjeevras’, (someone willing to die for a cause), were stopped only a few metres into the march and the standoff continued for over three hours. The farmers called off their march for the day following action of security forces.
Punjab farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher in the evening said six farmers were injured and one of them was rushed to the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in Chandigarh.
He said farmers would decide their next course of action in a meeting of their forums — the Samyuka Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha Monday.
“We have called back the ‘jatha’ (group of 101 farmers),” he told reporters here.
“Whatever happened today was seen by the whole country,” said Pandher as he slammed the use of teargas against farmers.
“The (Haryana) administration used tactics like offering biscuits, ‘langar’, showering flower petals. Immediately after showering flowers, they (Haryana security personnel) fired teargas shells and rubber bullets at farmers,” he claimed.
The protesting farmers have been pressing the Centre to initiate talks with them to address their issues.
On Friday too, farmers had to suspend their march after some of them suffered injuries due to tear gas shells.
Farmer leader Baldev Singh Zira, who led the ‘jatha’ Sunday, said it was a “drama” by Haryana Police. “Along with tea, and biscuits, they fired teargas shells,” he said.
“They have been exposed,” he said.
As the protesters reached the barricades, a few police personnel climbed the roof of a tin shed where security personnel have been stationed, and threw flower petals on a group of farmers.
Zira said farmers were moving ahead in a peaceful manner and they were not carrying any weapon as he criticised the Haryana security personnel for using teargas against them.
Pandher said the farmers who sustained injuries included Resham Singh, who was referred to the PGIMER, Dilbagh Singh, Major Singh and Harbhajan Singh.
Pandher claimed that mediapersons were stopped by the Punjab Police from reaching the protest site. He said that Haryana police had asked the Punjab Police to keep the media at least one km away from the protest site.
A Haryana security personnel was seen asking farmers to show permission to march to Delhi and questioned the identity of some of the protesters.
“First we will identify them to see whether they have any permission. We have got the list (of 101 farmers) but they are not those whose names are mentioned in the list. They are not giving their identities which means they are coming in the shape of a mob,” he told reporters at the site.
A farmer said, “They are saying that our names were not on the list. We do not know which list they have. When we asked them whether they would allow us to move ahead after verifying our identities, they told us then we would have to show the permission.”
As the confrontation escalated, the security forces lobbed tear gas shells. The gas forced the farmers, many of whom had covered their faces and were wearing protective eyewear, to recede a few metres. Some tried to cover the shells with wet jute bags.
Pandher said their protest completed 300 days Sunday.
Farmers under the banner of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha have been camping at Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since February 13 after their march to Delhi was stopped by security forces.
Farmer leader Tejveer Singh asked why farmers were stopped from moving ahead when they were peacefully going on foot.
“What objection does Haryana have?” he said, adding the farmers would not have to march to the capital had the Centre accepted their demands.
“Earlier, the central ministers and BJP leaders raised an objection to farmers going to Delhi with their tractors and trolleys, but now what is their case when we are marching on foot,” he said.
Haryana Police has written to its Punjab counterpart asking it to ensure media personnel are stopped at a “safe distance” from the protest site for the sake of their safety.
It had earlier asked the farmers not to proceed with the march and cited a prohibitory order clamped by the Ambala administration under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) that bans unlawful assembly of five or more people in the district.
Pandher had Saturday said farmers hadn’t heard from the Centre on the matter.
Shortly before the farmers’ march Friday, the Haryana government suspended mobile internet and bulk SMS service in 11 villages of the Ambala district till December 9.
The farmers had earlier attempted to march towards Delhi February 13 and February 21 but were stopped by security forces deployed at the border points.
Meanwhile, another farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal continued with his fast unto death, which entered the 13th day Sunday, at the Khanauri border. Farmers claimed that Dallewal had lost eight kilograms of weight.
Besides MSP, the farmers are demanding a farm debt waiver, pension for farmers and farm labourers, no hike in electricity tariff, withdrawal of police cases (against farmers), and “justice” for the victims of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence.
Reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013 and compensation to the families of farmers who died during the previous agitation in 2020-21 are also part of their demands.
PTI
