New Delhi/Ghaziabad: Chaos prevailed at the Delhi-UP border Tuesday as thousands of protesting farmers attempted to enter the national capital, prompting the police to resort to water cannons and tear-gas shells to disperse them, evoking a sharp criticism from opposition parties.
Seeking to convince the farmers to move back from their protest, the government announced that a committee of Chief Ministers will look into their demands, but the protesters stayed put saying they were not “satisfied” with the assurance.
Home minister Rajnath Singh held discussions with Union agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh and a few others to discuss the farmers’ issue, after which Union minister of state for agriculture Gajendra Singh Shekhawat met the protesters to assure them that their demands will be looked into.
Naresh Tikait, the chief of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), which has given the protest call, however, said the farmers are “not satisfied” with the government’s assurance. “We will discuss this and then decide on our future course of action. I can’t decide anything alone, our committee will take the decision,” he added.
Some of the protesting farmers claimed that a few Delhi Police personnel had resorted to lathicharge against some of them.
The Delhi Police, however, denied the charge. A posse of security personnel were deployed, including from Delhi Police and the paramilitary forces.
“Nearly 2,500 personnel from Delhi Police, besides paramilitary forces, including the Rapid Action Force (RAF), have been deployed,” a senior police officer said.
Farmers marching towards Delhi under BKU’s protest call over demands ranging from farm loan waiver to cut in fuel prices, were stopped at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border, as they tried to run through the border, surmounting the barricades.
The farmers, riding tractors and trolleys, broke barricades of the UP Police and then started proceeding towards the barricades put up by the Delhi Police, a senior police officer earlier said.
Police had to use water cannons to disperse the protestors, who also indulged in sloganeering. Tear gas was also used to disperse the crowd.
The main demands of the farmers include implementation of the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission report, removing ban on the usage of tractors above 10 years, clearing out pending payments of sugarcane purchase, increased price of sugar supplied and minimum support prices.
The incident has darwn sharp reactions from Congress while AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal batted for the farmers and questioned why they were not allowed to enter Delhi.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi in Wardha accused the BJP of “brutally beating up” farmers at the Delhi border on International Day of Non-Violence and said they cannot even air their grievances in the national capital.
National Highways leading to the national capital were swamped with farmers who came in from places as far as Gonda, Basti and Gorakhpur in eastern Uttar Pradesh as well as the sugarcane belt of western Uttar Pradesh.
