Eviction notice, high drama at Ghazipur
Protesters say they will not leave the site after officials served them a notice; large contingent of security forces gathers at venue
GHAZIABAD/NEW DELHI: Tension hung in the air at a key protest site on the Delhi-ghaziabad border on Thursday after authorities gave an eviction notice to farmers who have been protesting there since November-end, while they refused to leave the site and alleged a conspiracy to crush their movement.
High drama unfolded at the Ghazipur border, where rumour mills were abuzz throughout the day, and a large number of security personnel were deployed with authorities moving to bring an end to the demonstration at the key intersection.
Farmers protesting there against three central agricultural laws said that power was disconnected in the area on Wednesday night. They feared that police will use force to evict the demonstrators in the cover of the night.
On Thursday morning, they also said that water supply was discontinued, prompting a group of farmers to leave their empty tents behind at UP Gate — as the place is known — and return home.
In the evening, hectic parleys began between officials and farmer leader Rakesh Tikait, whose Bharatiya Kisan Union (Bku)-tikait group is spearheading the protests there. There were indications that farmers were planning to court arrest peacefully in the evening.
But Tikait later said he would fight the “conspiracy” to silence his movement.
“We received a notice from the officers and we are ready to surrender and get ourselves peacefully arrested. But now it seems that it’s a larger conspiracy to attack us. Now, we are not moving from here (the protest site) and ready to face bullets. If they (police) will force us, I will hang myself on the stage. Our agitation will now continue and we will remain here only,” Tikait told the gathering in the evening.
Tikait broke down on the dais and alleged that the district administration was taking help of some “unruly elements”, who he said were brought to attack farmers after he courted arrest.
“So, I have decided that I will not court arrest and will continue the dharna at the site...police asked me to court arrest, but people owing allegiance to the Bharatiya Janata Party were sent by some local MLAS, and those persons were armed with sticks...,” he said.
Tikait is among the farmers’ leaders named in one of the first information reports (FIRS) filed by the Delhi Police in connection with a violent farmers’ protest on Republic Day. Bku-tikait says the government is “misusing” its powers by registering FIRS against farmers and farm leaders. The Ghazipur border is one of the four border points near Delhi fully or partially blocked by thousands of agitating farmers since their protests began in the last week of November.
On Tuesday, groups of farmers deviated from the route agreed upon with authorities for their Republic Day protest and drove their tractors till Delhi’s ITO, where they were involved in a clash with the police.
While a smaller protest at the Chilla border nearby ended on Wednesday in the aftermath of the violence, a majority of the protesters at the Ghazipur stayed put. By Thursday morning, a large number of police and paramilitary personnel arrived at the venue and occupied the pavement of the carriageway on the opposite side of the one occupied by the farmers. They brought water cannons and vehicles used for firing tear gas.
The turn of events — from seemingly courting arrest to staying put -- at the Ghazipur border caught the district officials by surprise. They eventually walked out of the protest site, and marched to the other side of the Delhi-meerut Expressway, where a huge contingent of civil police, Provincial Armed Constabulary jawans and personnel of the Rapid Action Force were deployed.
“We served him (Tikait) the notice...for eviction from the site and he was also to be arrested. But he seems to have played a ploy and unexpected events unfolded, in which he refused to leave the site. We have deployed sufficient police and other security personnel at the site and are also in talks with other farmer leaders,” said Ghaziabad additional district magistrate (city) Shailendra Kumar Singh, who went to the protest site to serve the notice.
By night, the ripples of Thursday’s developments were felt at Muzaffarnagar’s Sisauli village in Uttar Pradesh, where over 5,000 farmers gathered in support of Tikait after his breakdown in front of television cameras. Before officials arrived at the Ghazipur border with a huge contingent of armed police, some people came in groups and began raising slogans against Tikait and demanded complete eviction of protesters from the site.
“Tikait is lying since the beginning to farmers and brought them here for the protest. Many of these protesters went to Delhi on Republic Day and clashed with police...he is just trying to evade arrest and making unwanted statements against the BJP and even the BJP MLAS,” said Sunil Sharma, the party legislator from Sahibabad. The area on the Uttar Pradesh side falls under his constituency.
“None of the people who arrived near the UP Gate site were BJP supporters; they were local people furious after the incidents at the Red Fort and in Delhi,” Sharma, who was not present at the border on Thursday, said.
As tension spiralled, the Delhi Traffic Police closed off entry and exit from Ghazipur border on Thursday evening. Till afternoon, vehicles going from Delhi to Uttar Pradesh were allowed, while the opposite carriageway was closed. The action led to long traffic snarls in the national capital, with commuters getting stuck for several hours amid unannounced diversions and high traffic volume. Snarls were reported on the Noida Link Road, Ashram crossing, Vikas Marg, ITO intersection, Sarai Kale Khan, Barapullah, Pragati Maidan, Bhairon Marg and Lajpat Nagar.
Satpal Singh, a farmer from Rampur, said many protesters left the site after panic set in. “It was a trick that the police used to intimidate farmers,” he said, referring to allegations that power and water connections were disrupted at the site.
Sompal Singh, a farmer from Muzaffarnagar, said, “Since it was dark, we switched on lights of our tractors and lit log fires at many places,” he said.
The standoff continued till the time of going to print.