Questions raised after police fail to stop breach
NEW DELHI: Multiple barricades, deep trenches, and at least 1,000 personnel of Delhi Police and paramilitary forces failed to stop a mob of 200 people from reaching the stage of the farmer protest at Singhu border, attacking the protesters with sticks, and pelting stones at them in a breach that sparked clashes at the site on Friday afternoon.
This was the first incident of violence at the protest site, and forced police to lob tear-gas shells and lathi-charge both farmers and the mob, who claimed to be local residents. Television visuals also showed police and some counter-protesters beating a farmer.
Many farmers at the site accused Delhi Police of being mute spectators while the mob came dangerously close to the farmers and attacked them. They also pointed out that the security forces had stopped several journalists and politicians from reaching the stage of the site earlier.
“If police wanted, they could have stopped those goons. Carrying national flags and shouting slogans, it was clear that they were protesting against us. Police should have stopped them from coming here. It wasn’t difficult to make out that they are not among us protesters. The violence could have been avoided,” said Joginder Kaur, 55, a farmer from Kot Budha village in Tarn Taran district of Punjab, who was near the stage when the violence started.
The site is divided in two parts. First is the Kisaan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC) stage, and then a larger Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) stage about 500 metres away. Vehicle coming to Singhu are stopped at the first barricade set up a kilometre away from the KMSC stage. Only police officers, media personnel, and people connected to the protests are allowed to pass through the barricaded highway.
But on Friday, the mob managed to walk past barricades and security forces from the first barrier to the KMSC stage. The farmers also alleged that the mob shouted slogans like “Goli Maaro... ”.
“Police stopped water tankers from reaching us. This morning, I walked up to the barricades requesting them to let the tankers enter but the police did not allow. Some politicians were also stopped . Then, why did they allow the mob shouting provocative slogans reach till the stage area? The videos are there for everyone to see,” said Jaswant Singh, 32, a farmer from Jalandhar district.
He was referring to videos on social media -- not verified independently -- that showed a group of men pelting stones while police personnel stood next to them. One video showed a masked man throwing stones. Another showed some police personnel in anti-riot gear standing during the stone pelting.
A photograph of a man, who was identified by many on social media as Aman Dabas, husband of Bharatiya Janata Party councillor from Bawana Anju Dabas, also went viral on social media. Anju Dabas confirmed her husband was in Singhu but said he was not there as a party representative. “He was there as any other local who is facing problem due to the ongoing agitation of farmers,” said Anju.
Delhi Police issued a statement, which said that around 1.30pm, around 200 locals reached the GTB Memorial, towards Singhu and went to meet the farmers. “They said they have been providing all kinds of help to protesters for last two months but now their livelihood is getting affected, hence they are requested to open the border and vacate the road,” a Delhi police spokesperson said.
“This was resisted by some farmers and pushing-pulling of the police barricades kept to secure the langar tents...during this stone pelting started,” the spokesperson added. The statement did not clarify which group pelted the stones.
A senior officer in Singhu said police did not let the locals reach the stage. “The place near the stage, where the locals reached today is an open area. People are free to walk until this point. After today’s incident, people will not be allowed to walk up to that point too,” said the officer.
Until late Friday, police arrested 44 persons from both sides.