Farmers’ Protest: Dramatic footage from the scene showed water cannons fired into the large crowd.
Farmers protesting in BJP-ruled Haryana found it difficult to march to Delhi today as state police set up barricades and deployed water cannons across the state. After crossing the barricades in Ambala, hundreds of farmers faced water cannons in Kurukshetra. Dramatic footage from the scene showed huge jets of water being fired at a large crowd on the road barricaded by police.
People, completely soaked in the cold winter night, ran rampant. Still, the farmers managed to break through the barricade. Now they march through Kurukshetra on the way to Karnal.
A section of farmers is already marching to Sonipat, where they will spend the night and depart for Delhi tomorrow morning.
Great security arrangements have been made at the Delhi-Haryana border at Gurugram. The build is the heaviest on Haryana’s side. Delhi police have also gathered at the scene, determined not to let the protesters enter.
Previously, Delhi police had rejected all requests from farmers’ organizations in six states (Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarkhand, Rajasthan, Kerala and Punjab) to hold a protest in the national capital against agricultural laws and said they would take legal action. . against offenders. Police had cited the law banning gatherings in light of the coronavirus outbreak.
But the farmers, undaunted, have planned to reach Delhi on November 26 via five highways as part of their “Delhi Chalo” march call.
Haryana, ruled by the BJP, had also refused to allow protesting farmers to pass. For the past two days, Haryana police have been issuing traffic advisories, warning travelers of a series of roadblocks in Ambala, Bhiwani, Karnal, Bahadurgarh, Jhajjar and Sonipat. Blockades were also placed on the four main national roads leading to Delhi, from Ambala, Hisar, Rewari and Palwal, and at the Haryana entry points to Delhi.
The march to Delhi was called when Punjab farmers suspended their weeklong rail blockade for 15 days to allow essential items to enter.
The Center has summoned farmers, who want a repeal of farm laws, for a second round of negotiations on December 3. But with the first round of meetings failing last month as both the agriculture minister and his deputy failed, the farmers have decided to make their point with the large protest march.
In a series of tweets today, Akali Dal’s boss Sukhbir Singh Badal recorded his protest. “By preventing Punjabi farmers from peacefully exercising democratic rights, the Center is repeating in 1980 when the Akalis were prevented from entering Delhi to protest. The painful history should not be forced to repeat itself,” its publication read.
In another post, he condemned the actions of the Haryana government in “isolating Punjab from the rest of the country.”
“The PMO must intervene to ensure that this is stopped immediately and that the Annadatas are not harassed, humiliated or prevented from reaching Delhi. The nation owes an eternal debt to Kisans and Jawans,” read a second post.
For nearly three months, farmers have faced laws the Center has called “landmark reforms” in the agricultural sector. The laws, the government said, would help farmers increase their income and free them from the interference of middlemen.
Under the new laws, farmers can sell their produce anywhere in the country and deal directly with large corporations, a situation that farmers have found alarming. Most feel that they would be left at the mercy of large corporations and that with the phasing out of wholesale agricultural APMC markers, they will not get even the minimum price of support for their products.
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