Punjab farmers continue their march towards Delhi

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 28

Punjab farmers resumed their 'Delhi Chalo' march against the Centre's new farm laws on Saturday morning after halting for the night to join thousands who have already reached the national capital's borders.

Nearly a thousand unidentified protesting farmers, riding on tractor-trailers, have been booked by Meham police in Rohtak on charges of rioting, obstructing the public servant from performing duty, assault or criminal force to the public servant and violations of COVID-19 guidelines during the ‘Delhi Chalo’ protest on Friday.

Two separate FIRs have been registered on the complaints of duty magistrate and a police official in this respect.

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Farmers from Punjab also staged a dharna at Delhi’s Tikri border, adjacent to Bahadurgarh town, and disrupt vehicular traffic by placing tractors on the road.

Farmers continue to stage a dharna at Delhi's Tikri border, adjacent to Bahadurgarh town.

Groups can be seen preparing food and serving it to protesters.

The protesters say they want to go to Ram Leela ground but the Centre is not allowing them.

“We will wait for the decision of their top leaders about next course of action while staying at the Tikri border,” farmers said.

Delhi police personnel are deployed in a large number at the border.

By Friday evening, all Haryana Police barricades at the border with Punjab and along the highway to Delhi had been lifted. Hundreds entered the national capital to hold a peaceful protest at a north Delhi ground after facing teargas and water cannons and clashing with security personnel, while thousands remained at border points, undecided whether to go to the demonstration site identified by police.

"We have again started heading towards Delhi in the morning after a night halt at Meham in Rohtak district of Haryana," Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta-Ugrahan) leader Shingara Singh said on Saturday.

Another group of farmers made a night halt at Julana in Haryana's Jind district, he said, adding, "They have also resumed their journey towards Delhi."

Farmers with the outfit had on Friday broken through police barricades at Khanauri and Dabwali border points between Punjab and Haryana.

More farmers under the banner of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC) will enter Haryana on Saturday for their march towards the national capital.

"Our group of farmers on tractor-trolleys will soon enter Haryana through the Shambhu inter-state border," said KMSC general secretary Sarwan Singh Pandher. They had begun their march from Amritsar on Friday.

Pandher lashed out at the Centre for bringing the "black laws" against the farming community.

Punjab farmers in large numbers had on Friday crossed the state's border with Haryana. Some even faced water cannons and teargas.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has welcomed the Union government's decision allowing farmers to enter the national capital and hold peaceful agitation.

Farmers protesting against the Centre's three farm laws have expressed apprehension that the laws would pave a way for the dismantling of the minimum support price system, leaving them at the "mercy" of big corporates.

The Centre has invited several Punjab farmer organisations for another round of talks in Delhi on December 3. — With PTI

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