Having failed to convince farmers to stay outside Delhi’s borders despite talks last week, the On Saturday the Delhi police granted them permission to hold a tractor parade on Republic Day within the Capital, but with modifications to their planned route and on the condition that they begin only after the completion of the official parade on Rajpath.
Under the agreement, farmers will enter Delhi from the three borders where thousands of them have been protesting for the past two months, but will remain in adjacent areas and will not venture into central Delhi.
Thousands of tractors are heading to Delhi from Punjab and Haryana to participate in the parade. Kulwant Singh Sandhu, Secretary General of Punjab Jamhoori Kisan Sabha, said.
“Around 2.5-3 lakhs of tractors will take to the roads near the protest sites. The parade will be absolutely peaceful from our end. “
Buta Singh Shadipur, President of Bharatiya Kisan Manch in Punjab, said: “We are still deliberating on the route and locations. On January 26, the vehicles will march to the selected points and return to the borders. “
The Delhi Police had held a series of talks with farmers trying to convince them first to cancel their parade and then to keep it out of the capital, even as security was tightened in view of Republic Day.
Sources said a meeting was also held on Saturday, which lasted around four hours, after which farmers and senior police officers from Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana reached an agreement on the demonstration to be held on 26 from January.
“Farmers have been asked to submit a written request, specifying the proposed routes, the number of tractors and farmers participating in the parade and the schedules. Tomorrow we will discuss the route with them. But they have said the tractor parade will only be in the areas around the borders where they are protesting. They have been assured medical assistance and security during the parade, ”said police sources.
According to sources, while the parade from Singhu’s side could be about 100 km, the tractors will travel 125 km around the Tikri border.
The sources said that the first meeting with the farmers had been chaired by a JCP-ranking officer of the Delhi Police in Kondli, where they reasoned with protesters that holding a demonstration inside the capital on Republic Day posed a threat to the security. But the farmers, the sources said, did not budge. “At another meeting, a special CP rank officer was dispatched from Delhi Police Headquarters to join the meeting to discuss the route and arrangements for the proposed rally on January 26. They asked the farmers to hold their tractor rally on the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway, but this was also rejected by the farmers, ”said a senior official.
In view of the Republic Day celebrations, the Delhi Police have deployed five-layer security in and around the city. More than 40,000 police, ITBP and CRPF personnel will be deployed to the Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur borders, police said.
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