‘Chakka jam’ passes off largely peacefully
Heavy deployment ensures no untoward incident; ‘not going back until demands are met’, says farmer leader Rakesh Tikait
NEW DELHI/CHANDIGARH: Delhi turned into a virtual fortress on Saturday amid heavy deployment of security forces as farmers protesting against three contentious agricultural laws held demonstrations in some states including Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan as part of a three-hour “chakka jam”, even though no demonstrations were held in the national capital.
Thousands of farmers across the country blocked roads with vehicles and boulders to demand a repeal of the three laws, with no major incidents of violence being reported. The government and farm unions have not been able to find a solution to the stand-off over 11 rounds of talks, and the farmers have rejected a proposal by the Centre to put the laws on hold for 18 months.
On Republic Day, farmer groups broke through barricades, clashed with the Delhi Police and stormed the Red Fort, hoisting the Nishan Sahib, the flag of the Sikhs, on its ramparts.
While the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of farmers unions spearheading the agitation, said earlier that the
“chakka jam”, or road blockade, would not impact Delhi and the national capital region (NCR), there was heavy police deployment across the Capital, with at least 40,000 personnel standing guard at various spots. Mobile internet services were again suspended at three border points – Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri – until Saturday night, according to a Union home ministry order.
Farmer leader Rakesh Tikait declared that their protest on Delhi’s outskirts will continue till October 2 and an effort will be made to “connect every village” with the agitation. He said inputs were received regarding some “miscreants trying to disrupt peace” during the “chakka jam”. “Because of these inputs, we had decided to call off the ‘chakka jam’ in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand,” the 51-yearold Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader, credited with reviving the farmers’ stir after the Republic Day violence, said.
After the “chakka jam” concluded, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha said on Saturday evening that the protest once again proved that farmers across the country were united against the three central farm laws. It said the call for “chakka jam” received huge support across the country.
Shouting slogans against the Centre and the three farm laws, many farmers parked their tractor-trailers and blocked roads in Punjab and Haryana, impacting highways including Chandigarhzirakpur, Amritsar-pathankot, Tarn Taran-kapurthala, Ferozepur-fazilka, Muktsar-kotkapura, Bathinda-chandigarh, Ludhiana-jalandhar, Panchkulapinjore and Ambala-chandigarh.
Farmers also squatted on roads in Odisha, Karnataka, Maharashtra and other states with flags and banners protesting against the laws. Thousands of farmers blocked the Kundlimanesar-palwal (KMP) Expressway in Haryana.
No incidents of violence were reported in the Capital, even as the Delhi Police detained 62 people from outside Shaheedi Park near Maulana Azad Medical College, where they had gathered to hold a protest in solidarity with the ongoing farmers’ agitation and the three-hour-long “chakka jam” protest. They were released later in the evening, according to officials. The police also used drone cameras at several places including the protest sites at the borders for aerial surveillance. On Friday evening, they began conducting checks at entry points at Delhi’s borders.
At places such as India Gate, Red Fort, and residences of the Prime Minister and President, police were on high alert and monitored the movement of vehicles. At India Gate, along with the riot control force, the police also stationed water cannons for emergency use. Deputy commissioner of police (New Delhi) Eish Singhal said: “The security around the iconic structures and important buildings was tightened. There were no protesters in the New Delhi area.”
As a precaution, the entry and exit gates of many Delhi Metro stations were also shut. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation said in a statement on Saturday morning that the entry and exit gates at Mandi House, ITO, Delhi Gate, Vishwavidyalaya, Lal Quila, Jama Masjid, Janpath, Central Secretariat, Khan Market and Nehru Place metro stations were closed for public. The gates were opened after 3pm, when the three-hour “chakka jam” concluded. A Delhi Metro official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the gates were closed on the police’s instructions to prevent unruly protesters from entering the Metro premises or gathering at important locations.
At the three border points – Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur – the protests remained peaceful after farm leaders repeatedly told the protesters not to cross the barricades to enter Delhi or indulge in violence. The Delhi Police have placed multiple layers of barricades and cement boulders at the borders to ensure that the protesters do not drive their tractors into the national capital.
Many among the protesters said they would ensure that their agitation was not marred by violence like the one during the tractor rally on January 26. At least 394 police personnel and 10 farmers were injured when the protesting farmers on their tractors deviated from the pre-approved route of the rally, assaulted police personnel when they were stopped from entering parts of central Delhi, and also stormed the Red Fort premises.
“We have been sending out messages to our brothers in other states that instead of coming to Delhi for the protests, on Saturday, they should support the movement by blocking their respective state highways and internal roads. The gathering here might be fewer than usual, but that is because the participation at the highways was immense,” said Sahil Kamboj, a volunteer at the Tikri border.
Farmer leader Tikait, while addressing a gathering at Ghazipur, said the Centre should repeal the farm laws by October, failing which they will intensity their protest further. “We have given time to the government till October 2 to repeal the laws. After this, we will make further plans. We won’t hold discussions with the government under pressure. We won’t return home unless our demands are met,” he said.
In other parts of the country, scores of protesters were held briefly by police as they stalled traffic on roads in Maharashtra, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. However, no untoward incident was reported during the protests across the states.
Farmers’ associations supported by opposition parties, including the Rashtriya Janata Dal, held an hour-long “chakka jam” in Bihar in response to the nationwide agitation.
In Rajasthan, farmers at many places including Ganganagar, Hanumangarh, Dholpur and Jhalawar stalled traffic on the highways and main roads, police said.
The Congress and Left parties, too, held protests in some states in support of the “chakka jam” called by the farmer unions. “Rasta roko” protests were staged in Karad and Kolhapur cities in Maharashtra.
At least 40 protesters, including senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan’s wife Satvasheela Chavan, were detained for holding a protest on a busy road at Kolhapur Naka in Karad in western Maharashtra this afternoon, a police official said.
In Telangana, police said several people were taken into preventive custody as leaders of opposition parties joined the farmers in “Raasta Roko” protests.
Farmers also blocked highways in different parts of Karnataka to show their solidarity, following a call given by various farmers’ associations.
Protests were also held in Chennai and other parts of Tamil Nadu.
Condemning the protests, Union minister DV Sadananda Gowda said the Narendra Modi government has implemented the recommendations of the Swaminathan Committee report to address the agrarian distress and farmers’ suicide.
Ahead of the nationwide “chakka jam”, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the peaceful “satyagraha” of the “annadatas” is in national interest as the farm laws are “harmful” for the country. Party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also criticised the government over the farmers’ issue by posting on Twitter a picture of the multilayered barricading at one of the farmer protest sites. “Why are you scaring us with the wall of fear?” she tweeted along with the picture.
The farm unions have pressed on with a protest against the Centre, opposing the agricultural laws that ease restrictions in farm trade, allow traders to stockpile large quantities of food stocks for future sales, and lay down a national framework for contract farming based on written agreements. The farmers say the laws will leave them at the mercy of big corporations.
“This government has to go. If they can attack me, then I can understand what the common people are going through in West Bengal,” Nadda said.
“Mamata stood as a barrier and deprived people from getting benefits of the Ayushman Bharat. Now Mamata will go and the people will get the direct benefits of Ayushman Bharat,” he added.
The Trinamool Congress hit back, saying that local BJP leaders were misleading Nadda and that he was raising baseless allegations.
“The TMC will hold a public rally at Nabadwip on Sunday. Every allegation will be countered. The crowd that was seen at Nadda’s rath yatra is usually seen at a block level meeting of the TMC,” said Kunal Ghosh, TMC spokesperson.
A senior police official told PTI that while permission was granted for the BJP’S public rally, a public interest litigation was pending with the Calcutta high court against a “Rath Yatra”.
The BJP has previously said it did not plan a “Rath Yatra” but a “Parivartan Yatra” in the state. the world during the pandemic,” he said.
Invoking his government’s Digital India mission, Modi said it has helped to rapidly modernise the judicial system. “Today, more than 18,000 courts have been computerised in the country. With video-conferencing and tele-conferencing getting legal sanctity from the Supreme Court, e-proceedings have gained pace across all courts.”
“We feel proud to hear that our Supreme Court has become the top among the apex courts in terms of conducting hearings through video conferencing,” he said.
The PM said that a Supreme Court committee and National Informatics Centre (NIC) are working together to further ease the justice system in India. “To make our justice system futureready, the possibility of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is also being explored,” he added.
Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Supreme Court judge Justice MR Shah, Gujarat high court chief justice Vikram Nath, Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani too were in attendance at the event, where the Prime Minister also released a commemorative stamp based on the high court.