The Haryana Police on Tuesday lobbed several rounds of tear gas shells, including through drones, at Punjab-Haryana borders near Ambala and Jind, to prevent farmers from reaching Delhi as thousands of farmers started from different parts of Punjab in their tractors as part of a call by farmers’ body Samyukt Kisan Morcah (non-politicial), which has raised several demands including legal guarantee of the minimum support price (MSP).
A drone was also used to drop the tear gas shells and keep an eye on the protesters, PTI reports. Farmers were seen carrying wet jute bags to shield themselves from the effect of the smoke released from tear gas shells, the report said.
After talks ended with the two Central ministers last night, the SKM (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha representatives, without disclosing what transpired in the meeting, had said, that they would discuss in the morning and take a call. Though the leaders claimed that the Centre has refused to accept their demands, Union Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda, who participated in the dialogue, said that a consensus was reached on most issues and a formula was proposed for resolving some others through the formation of a committee.
- Also read: Farmers vow to march to Delhi as scheduled, Delhi Police gear up to manage traffic
Referring to the deadlock with the Centre over their demands, farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher, said, that they did not want a new committee concerning their demands as agreeing to any such committee would mean to put the issue on the backburner.
Chaos or roads
As the curbs imposed by traffic police in Delhi has led to chaos on several roads, even Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, said, he would accommodate lawyers if they are stuck in traffic. If anyone has a problem due to the traffic situation, “we will adjust,” a Bench comprising the CJI and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra told lawyers.
Even as all major farmer bodies of Uttar Pradesh have expressed their dissociation from the “march to Delhi” call, the security curbs with barricades on the Noida-Delhi border and on Ghaziabad-Delhi border have surprised commuters who could not find any farmers on the road. Last week, too, during the farmers protest in Noida, curbs by traffic police led to complete closure of Noida-Greater Noida expressway and a resultant chaos, even as less than ten farmers with tractors were spotted under Mahamaya flyover around 4-5 pm.
Delhi Police has sealed three borders of Delhi – Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur – and put up multiple layers of barricades at various roads leading to the Parliament and the central part of Delhi. Besides, some entry and exit gates of select metro stations in central Delhi have been shut as precautionary measure. The government has also closed the historic Red Fort complex for visitors due to security reasons as during the farmers’ protest in 2021, there were clashes with police at Red Fort.