Day after clashes at borders, farmers, police step up vigil
NEW DELHI: As the number of protesters at three of Delhi borders continued to surge on Saturday, the police worked through the day to seal and isolate the agitation spots, even as farmer leader Rakesh Tikait warned of a response if “even one more” stone was pelt at any of the farmers.
“I want to tell the government that the stone-pelting must stop now. From Sunday, the khap panchayats of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh will be here. If there is even a single stone pelted after this, volunteers of the khap panchayats will catch them and treat them appropriately,” Tikait said on Saturday, as the crowd at Ghazipur border cheered on.
Tikait’s was seemingly referring to stones pelt at farmers at Singhu border on Friday afternoon, allegedly by “local residents”. The incident led to clashes in which 15 farmers and six police personnel were injured and ended in the arrest of 44 people.
In a similar incident at the Tikri agitation on Friday, a group claiming to be locals protested against the blockade, which they said was affecting their businesses and daily lives. Farmer bodies have dismissed these groups as people “propped up by the Centre”.
But these clashes have led to the police sealing the borders in a way that has disrupted the farmers’ regular movement, and restricted their access to food, water, and toilets.
At Singhu, the police on Saturday broke up the road behind the main protest site, a day after they had razed inner lanes that farmers and residents used for their commutes.
But the worst affected at Singhu was the first stage, where Friday’s clashes broke out.
The primary protest site at Singhu border, which stretches for over 10km, is divided into two parts, the first of which is occupied by the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC). The second, larger, stage around 500 metres away houses protesters of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), and is behind the police barricades.
“We cannot walk to the Guru Tegh Bahadur Memorial a few hundred metres away, or use the toilets in that area. We are forced to relieve ourselves in the fields. Now, we have to make multiple trips to a spot about two kilometres away to bring water, whereas earlier we just used pipes to get water from Delhi Jal Board (DJB) tankers. The barricades have been placed only to cut off our supplies,” said Gursahib Singh, 25, a farmer from
Theh Naushera village in Tarn Taran district in Punjab.
Hussandeep Singh, 23, a farmer from Amritsar who has been serving as a volunteer at the KMSC stage, said, “Except for a narrow lane, our stage has been cut off from the main protest site. We worry that the single lane too will be cut off soon. If that happens, we will be completely isolated and vulnerable to attacks like the one on Friday,” he said.
The barricades have also made it difficult for farmers reach the main stage to access vital supplies.
On Saturday, the area remained tense. Around 3.40 pm, volunteers said they spotted a group of people attempting to march towards the stage area again. “As soon as our volunteers alerted us, we ran towards the spot to see. The group had dispersed by then,” said Major Singh, 65, a farmer from Kasel in Tarn Taran district, who is also a member of KSMC.
A senior police officer, refusing to be named, said, “A group had arrived but we made them go back from the first barricade nearly 1.5km away.”
Responding to complaints
raised by farmers on multiple barricades, the officer said, “We have kept one side open for them and all sympathisers or protesters can travel from that road. That stretch is around 3km long.”
Access to Ghazipur protest curtailed
The Ghazipur protest site too has been cut off from the Delhi side, making it difficult members of the public to access the farmers. But the mood here was relatively upbeat, a day after the gathering increased exponentially, after a video of Tikait in tears went viral online. In fact, the crowd, farmers said, had doubled on Saturday.
A majority of the protesters gathered in front of the stage from which Tikait spoke, visibly more composed than a couple of days earlier.
“People say Rakesh cried. Rakesh Tikait doesn’t cry. What you saw were not tears, they could be the water we use to irrigate fields,” he said.
Tikait also used the stage to extend displays of inclusivity. “When I thought of quitting the protests, I remembered my Sikh brothers who fed me here for the last two months. I realised that this was a conspiracy to topple the turbans of Sikh farmers,” he said.
While farmers were supposed to observe a day’s fast to mark Mahatma Gandhi’s death anniversary, this was limited to a few protesters and leaders, while langar continued uninterrupted.
“If we don’t eat, how will we be able to fight this government?” said Manjeet Singh, a farmer from Pilibhit, who had organised a langar at Ghazipur border.
Tikait, in his speeches, didn’t focus on the fasts either. Instead, he said rations and other necessities were in sufficient supply.
“Some BJP office bearers have sent us 2,000 blankets, sugar and potatoes. They requested me not to identify them, so I won’t,” Tikait said, drawing laughs from the gathering.
Ghazipur was transformed on Saturday, with several more tents being set up overnight, and the road packed with vehicles for almost a kilometre.
Like Friday, political leaders continued to swarm the stage. On Saturday, Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader Abhay Chautala arrived, accompanied by supporters in a large fleet of cars. Chautala resigned from the Haryana Assembly on Wednesday against the farm laws.
Singhu and Tikri borders too saw the crowd swell.
“More farmers from Haryana and Punjab will reach by Sunday. Khap panchayats are being held in villages across Haryana, and people from every household are arriving at the protest site. Around 2,000 tractors packed with farmers are on their way to Tikri border as well,” said Deepak Deswal, a farmer leader and a member of Sanyukt Kisan Morcha, said.
Kulwinder Singh, a farmer leader who reached Tikri border from Sirsa on Saturday afternoon, said the police were stopping farmers at many locations in Haryana to discourage them from reaching the protest site. “Many tractors at places like Rohtak, Jind, Bahadurgarh in Haryana have either been stopped or diverted. But we will not relent as more will join us in the next 24 hours,” Singh said.
We now have to make multiple trips to a spot about 2km away to get water. Earlier we just used pipes to get water from DJB tankers GURSAHIB SINGH, a farmer from Tarn Taran district in Punjab