Sukhbir Badal, Harsimrat, other Akali leaders court arrest following protest outside Parliament

Tribune News Service 

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Chandigarh/New Delhi, September 17

SAD president Sukhbir Badal, Harsimrat Kaur Badal and 13 other Akali leaders courted arrest on Friday following a protest outside Parliament.

Defying Delhi Police’ barricades and ban on protest march, a large number of Shiromani Akali Dal workers had a showdown with the police in the national capital since Thursday night.

While police had sealed borders and erected barricades at entry point to Delhi and on roads to Parliament, Akali workers, especially youth activists, were seen breaking barricades demanding they had the right to protest.

The SAD is observing September 17 as a Black Day to mark one year of the passage of the contentious farm laws. The Akalis also look to gain much ground with farmers after the later protested against the ‘100-day Gal Punjab Di Yatra’ launched by the party as a run-up to the Assembly polls.

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“It is an undeclared emergency in New Delhi,” said SAD spokesperson Daljit Singh Cheema on Twitter regarding the situation in the capital. Youth Akali Dal chief Parambans Singh Romana said Akalis had announced a peaceful march and it was a murder of democracy to stop such a march. He said youth Akali workers were sitting on a dharna on several points in the national capital to mark protest.

Sukhbir Badal and other senior leadership had reached Gurdwara Rakabgunj on Thursday night to lead the protest.