Singhu, Tikri Borders Further Fortified as Farmers’ ‘Delhi Chalo’ Moves Ahead
Image courtesy: social media
New Delhi: As the protesting farmers moved ahead for the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march after a night halt, there were reports of fresh skirmishes and scuffles on the Punjab- Haryana border.
The protest to demand a law on minimum support price (MSP), debt waiver among others, is being led by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha.
According to Indian Express, in the face of the determined farmers, the Centre has called for a third round of talks that are likely to be held today (February 14).
Last night the farmer leaders said they were holding a peaceful protest and appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is in Abu Dhabi, to look into their demands.
Meanwhile, fortifying of borders continued, with videos showing more concrete being poured in and roads being dug to stop the tractors from moving ahead. The report also said that the Punjab authorities had objected to the Haryana Police of using drones inside “their territory”. i. e the Shambhu border. Over 100 farmers were reportedly injured on Tuesday as the Haryana police lathi-charged them and also used drones to teargas them.
Security was further tightened on the Sonipat border. Multi-layer barricades, concrete blocks, pickets, iron nails and walls of containers have been placed at Tikri, Singhu and Ghazipur borders. During the early hours of Wednesday, authorities got more concrete poured between the concrete slabs at the Tikri Border to make the arrangements stronger for day-2, said a News18 report.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted on Tuesday that if his party came to power, it would give legal guarantee of MSP to every farmer on crops, as per the MS Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations.
Internet suspension in the affected region and social media accounts of several farmer leaders blocked has also been impacting information flow.
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