After facing a day of teargas firing by the Haryana Police at the Shambhu border point in Punjab, protesting farmers on Sunday evening postponed their walk to Delhi for a day as Haryana administration officials met their leaders and assured them of talks.
Officials met leaders of Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) and United Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and assured them that they would work for a solution to their demands after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Haryana on Monday.
“Ambala Deputy Commissioner Partha Gupta, SSP Nanak Singh, and SP Surinder Singh Bhoria met us at Rajpura (13 km from Shambhu) in Punjab,” said KMM coordinator Sarwan Singh Pandher. “They asked us to wait for a day because the Haryana administration is busy with the Prime Minister’s visit on Monday. They told us that we cannot go to Delhi without permission from the Delhi Police.
“We will wait for a day to see the response of the Haryana administration and decide our next steps accordingly,” he said.
Earlier in the day, a second marjivda jatha (willing to die for any cause) of 101 farmers faced intense police action from the Haryana side, including heavy tear gas and water cannons, at the heavily barricaded Shambhu border crossing when it resumed. their march. Six farmers were injured in the police clash. One of whom was referred to PGI Chandigarh for treatment.
The farmers started their march from their protest site in the afternoon, aiming to reach the first barricade, a cement wall about 500 meters away. At the barricade, Haryana police personnel showered flowers on them but they will not be allowed to enter the state without permission to protest in Delhi. The police termed the list provided by the Kisan Union as ‘fake’ which contains the names of those who participated in the jatha. They said the names on the list did not match the identities of those actually at the barricade. Farmers’ union leaders refuted the claim and claimed that there was transparency in the Jatha project.
As the situation became tense, the police fired water cannons and tear gas at around 12:30 PM to disperse the crowd. Tear gas was fired continuously for three hours.
Amidst the tear gas shelling, there were mixed signals from the Haryana Police, who gave tea, biscuits and water to the farmers and also played Gurbani on loudspeakers. Farmer Harpreet Singh said, “In the same breath they fire tear gas. What are they trying to achieve?”
Inspector General of Police (Ambala Range) Shibas Kaviraj said that the police used force when the farmers tried to remove the barricade at Shambhu Naka. ‘No one will be allowed to take the law into their hands. Action will be taken if someone violates the rules,’ he said.
In a statement, the Haryana Police said that “no responsible farmer leader” was present at the border point. Protesters repeatedly tried to remove the barricade. “In addition to taking proper action to maintain peace and security, the police have planted flowers on the farmers,” the statement said.
The Punjab Police had initially barred media persons from approaching the barricades following a directive from the Haryana DGP. “It looked like an attempt to prevent the scenes from being captured, but they couldn’t stop it,” alleged Ranjit Singh Raju, president of the Rajasthan-based Rural Farmers-Labor Organization.
At 3:30 in the afternoon, the farmers’ leaders decided to call back the rally. A meeting of KMM and SKM (Non-Political) has been called on Monday afternoon to decide the future course of action.
Farmers have been protesting along Shambhu and Khanauri borders on NH-44 and NH-52, respectively, since February 13, demanding legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) and loan waiver. However, the Haryana government did not allow them to go towards Delhi.
Sunday’s Delhi Chalo March marked the second attempt by KMM and SKM (Non-Political) to cross the border since December 6. In the first attempt, 16 farmers were injured in police action.
Pandher of KMM alleged, “Today’s tear gas was more deadly and poisonous. The main targets were media persons and elderly farmers. To our shock, we heard the Haryana Police over the loudspeakers referring to the media persons as ‘fake media’ and ‘Khalistani media’. So far such comments were directed only at the protesting farmers.
Among the injured was 65-year-old Resham Singh of Bathinda, who sustained a tear gas bullet injury on his head and was referred to PGI Chandigarh. A 70-year-old farmer from Patiala, Karnail Singh Lung, was trying to rescue the injured when he was exposed to toxic fumes. He is being given oxygen support at the civil hospital in Rajpura. Three more members of the rescue team – Dilbagh Singh Gill, Harbhajan Singh and Kulwinder Singh Atwal – were also admitted to hospital after being exposed to smoke.
BKU Krantikari General Secretary Sukhwinder Kaur said, “The Haryana government has played a game with the farmers today. First, they threw flower petals at us, then followed with tear gas…”
Shaheed Bhagat Singh-Haryana spokesperson Tejveer Singh criticized the use of tear gas. “The rules clearly state that shells should not be fired directly at people, but they were. It’s inhumane,” he said.
Farmer leaders have said that they are ready for talks, but the central government has not addressed their demands. BJP spokesperson Pritpal Singh Baliawal said his party approached prominent farmer leaders two days ago to collect a list of their demands for representation at the Center but they did not provide them.
(with inputs from Sukhbir Siwach in Chandigarh)