Police ask farmers to reconsider Parl protest
NEW DELHI: A Delhi Police delegation on Sunday met farmer leaders at Singhu border and asked them to reconsider their proposed July 22 march to Parliament, as all public gatherings are banned in Delhi under the Delhi Disaster Management Authority’s (DDMA’S) Covid-19 guidelines, senior police officers privy to the development said.
The police have also asked the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) to close Janpath, Lok Kalyan Marg, Patel Chowk, Rajiv Chowk, Central Secretariat, Mandi House and Udyog Bhawan from Monday (July 19) onwards, if needed, till the Parliament’s monsoon session is over, to prevent protesters from reaching Parliament. The Metro has also been told to maintain extra vigil at all stations falling in New Delhi district in view of the protest call given by the Samkyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) – an umbrella body of more than 40 farmer groups – which is spearheading the agitation against the three farm laws.
“We requested the farm leaders to reconsider their proposed protest at Parliament. They told us that theirs will be a peaceful protest and not more than 200 agitators will reach their proposed venue. We told them that following the DDMA’S Covid-19 orders, the Delhi Police will not give permission for the protest. Hopefully, they will review their decision and let us know in the next meeting we will have, maybe tomorrow (Monday),” said a senior police officer, who was present in the meeting, and asked not to be named.
Emphasising that they don’t plan to gherao or forcibly enter the Parliament, farmer leaders described it as a “constructive meeting”.
The police delegation led by joint commissioner of police (New Delhi range) Jaspal Singh met the nine-member coordination committee of SKM at a pre-decided place near the Singhu border protest site to discuss the proposed July 22 march to Parliament.
They said the police apprised the committee about the current
Covid-19 situation and the DDMA guidelines against holding all political rallies and cultural events in the Capital. They were also informed about the cancellation of kanwar yatra in many states.
“When the committee members told us that 200 farmers will have a symbolic protest outside the Parliament, we only told them why 200, why not five. We did not offer any number or a protest venue in the city,” the officer who attended the meeting said.
Swaraj India chief Yogendra Yadav said the meeting was “constructive” and the police officers heard them “carefully”.
“We told them that SKM will issue ID cards to 200 protesters who will be reaching the permissible limit from the Parliament to carry out a protest. The details of the ID cards and the protesters will be shared every day with the police. The protesters will return to their respective venues (Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur) after the session is over. A fresh batch of 200 protesters will be sent every day till the monsoon session continues. We assured the officers that our objective is not to disrupt the Parliament session. They told us they will update us on their decision,” said Yadav.