NEW DELHI: Concrete slabs, concertina wires, trucks full of sand, and nervous police officers firing rounds of tear gas kept the huge crowd of agitated farmers paralyzed at the Singhu border on the Delhi-Chandigarh highway until Friday afternoon. By the time the administration finally relented and offered the Nirankari samagam lands in Burari in North Delhi to their leaders, resentment against police action and fear of being cornered and virtually punished outside of Delhi led protesters to choose to spend the night at the barricades.
About 50 km away, on the Tikri border, another group of farmers had to be targeted. water cannon by the police in the morning when they tried to move the trucks blocking their way by pushing their tractors towards them. By late afternoon, some had decided to quietly move to the Burari grounds, but changed their minds when news reached them that the protesters at the Singhu border had decided to stay overnight.
Although the police reported late at night that a small group of farmers had arrived in Burari, it was obvious that the attempt to end the confrontation had not been entirely successful. Delhi police officers said they were not letting down their guard. They have formed around 12 teams under rank DCP officers who will keep vigil throughout the night.
The majority of Punjab farmers’ organizations, some 30, are in favor of moving to Burari, but the younger group resists and was behind the decision to settle on the Singhu border. There is much resentment against the repeated use of tear gas by the police. Some feel that Ramlila Maidan or Jantar Mantar would have given them a better platform. However, top management hopes to bring them in on Saturday.
Swaraj India boss Yogendra Yadav told TOI that this was an “avoidable deadlock”. He described the decision to allow farmers to enter Delhi with their tractor wagons as a “historic” decision, recalling that it was happening three decades after the 1988 Bharatiya Kisan union turmoil. He said there was no need for any provocation and “fortunately , there has been no violence. ”
The Center had invited farmers to discuss agricultural bills on December 3. The decision to allow them to enter the capital came after discussions with the interior ministry, the deputy governor of Delhi and intelligence agencies, the sources said.
Delhi police stepped up deployment across all borders Thursday night to prevent farmers from entering the city at all costs. All senior police officers, including Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava, were on a nightly vigil.
The shoving at the Singhu border led the police to use light force and tear gas projectiles; some farmers had tried to break through the barricades and throw stones. There were also clashes on the Tikri border, where, according to a senior police officer, 200 tractors were parked on the other side.
Meanwhile, work was under way to establish essential facilities on the Nirankari grounds in Burari with
portable toilets, water cisterns, a mobile dispensary and a langar service for farmers. The place was also being fumigated.
The national coordinator of the All India Kisan Sangarsh Coordinating Committee, VM Singh, surveyed the area and asked for between 300 and 400 toilets and food arrangements. AAP MLA Raghav Chadha He also visited the site and announced that the Delhi Jal Board had appointed Nodal Officers to ensure that the farmers had clean water. “All possible food and shelter arrangements have been made. In addition, each MLA in the Aam Aadmi Party it will help our farmers, “he said.
The BJP-led northern corporation said it had deployed teams to sweep the site, collect garbage and fumigate the area. In addition, volunteers from the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee had installed a langar on the site.
Sunita Rani, member of Punjab Istri Sabha, who had traveled from Fazilka district in Punjab along with five other women to support farmers, said it had taken them two days to reach Delhi. She said they had camped on the roadside despite the cold, but getting to Delhi was important so they could speak out against the farm bills that were hurting thousands of farmers across the country. “Each and every one of the voices counts. We are willing to face the cold so that the government understands the magnitude of the problem,” Rani said.
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