Delhi police are using trucks filled with sand to detain farmers at the Singhu border.
The ‘Dilli Chalo’ march of hundreds of Punjab farmers sparked a tense clash on the Shambhu interstate border, near Haryana’s Ambala district, as police used water cannons and tear gas to disperse them. Angry farmers broke barricades and threw them off a bridge as they attempted to enter the state as part of their ‘Dilli Chalo’ march against the Center’s controversial farm laws. The Shambhu border point is about 200 km from Delhi.
Haryana has sealed its borders with Punjab to prevent farmers from entering its state on the way to Delhi. Multi-level barricades have been erected in many places. The situation was volatile in the Fatehabad, Jind, Panipat, Sonipat, Rohtak and Ambala districts of Haryana. The police received stones in several places. There were reports of clashes between the police and protesters in Ambala, Jind, Fatehabad and Karnal. Government and private vehicles were damaged in Jind and Ambala when farmers clashed with police at the Shambhu barrier. Also in Delhi, the police have reinforced their presence in the border areas in view of the protest march.
The protesting farmers carry drinking water in tanker trucks (Express photo by Gurmeet Singh)
As farmers continued to break through police barricades, Khattar entered into a war of words with his Punjab counterpart, Captain Amarinder Singh. Both leaders posted a series of tweets against each other, with Amarinder asking Khattar not to use force on the farmers and the Haryana CM accusing him of instigating the protesters. Non-BJP leaders in both Haryana and Punjab have extended their support to agitated farmers. Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal called peaceful protest his “constitutional right” and criticized Haryana and the Center for using force against them. As farmers arrive in Delhi on Friday, most are expected to try to enter the capital via the Kundli border.
Why are Punjab farmers marching to Delhi despite the state passing its own agricultural laws?
The three bills passed by the Punjab Vidhan Sabha underline that agriculture, agricultural markets and land are the main legislative domain of the state. In order to address one of the main complaints of protesting farmers, the bills, among other things, make the minimum support price (MSP) a legal provision.
Farmers say they are happy that the state has passed all three bills, but point out that the proposed state laws are at best a symbolic political statement against the Center’s farm laws and may remain mired in legal complications. . Bills can become law only if they obtain presidential consent, which they say is highly unlikely.
Farmers at Shambhu Barrier in Ambala. (Photo by A. Aggarwal)
“We are protesting because the central laws have legal value. State bills do not have the same legal validity. We will not sit down until laws against farmers are repealed or the Center passes a bill related to the MSP. Agriculture is a state issue and the Center could not create confusion by passing laws on issues included in the state list, ”says Jagmohan Singh, General Secretary of Bharti Kisan Union (Dakuanda). He says that now the fight is not just for farmers in Punjab, but for farmers across the country and that is why we are protesting “even though the state passes its own bills.”
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