- Monday, December 02, 2024
Delhi Police has put up barricades and issued advisory for commuters travelling from Noida to Delhi
By: Shajil Kumar
FARMERS from Punjab, who announced that they will march towards Delhi to demand a discussion on Minimum Support Price (MSP), broke police barriers in Noida on Monday and began moving towards Delhi, according to media reports.
With the first group of farmers, led by the Bharatiya Kisan Parishad, kickstarting their march on Monday, police in Delhi put up barricades and issued advisory for commuters travelling from Noida to Delhi. The barricades had caused massive traffic snarls on Monday.
Additional Commissioner of Police (east) Sagar Singh Kalsi said, “We have made adequate arrangements in east Delhi borders and have taken all precautionary measures, including anti-riot equipment. We are using drones for vigilance and are also coordinating with traffic police for smooth vehicular movement in the area.”
Aprajita Singh, a resident of Greater Noida, said the barricades were put up at the Chilla border were causing inconvenience to commuters.
“It took me about an hour to get through that stretch. The police set up barricades on both sides of the Delhi-Noida border, causing significant traffic congestion, especially on the carriageway heading from Noida to Delhi,” she said.
Farmers’ plan
Farmer leader from Punjab Sarwan Singh Pandher said in Chandigarh on Sunday that a group of farmers will march towards Delhi on foot on December 6.
Farmers under the banner of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) have been camping at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since February 13, after their march to Delhi was stopped by security forces.
Addressing reporters in Chandigarh, Pandher said farmers have been protesting at Shambhu and Khanauri for 293 days.
Sharing details about their plan to march towards the capital from Shambhu, Pandher said the first “jatha” (group) of farmers will be led by Satnam Singh Pannu, Surinder Singh Chautala, Surjit Singh Phul and Baljinder Singh.
The group that will carry essential items with it will head towards Delhi peacefully, he said.
The first group of farmers, during their march to Delhi, will stop at the Jaggi city centre in Ambala, the Mohra grain market, Khanpur Jattan and Pipli in Haryana, he said.
Pandher said the farmers will walk every day from 9 am to 5 pm and spend the nights on the road.
He added that the number of farmers in the first group will be shared later.
Lashing out at the BJP-led Centre, Pandher said it has not held any talks with the protesting farmers since February 18.
Accusing the Centre of running away, he said, “They have stopped the talks with us.”
“Contract farming is not acceptable to us. We are demanding a legal guarantee on the MSP (minimum support price) for crops,” he said.
A panel of three the then Union ministers – Arjun Munda, Piyush Goyal and Nityanand Rai – held talks with the farmer representatives on February 18.
The farmers had then rejected the Centre’s proposal of buying pulses, maize and cotton at the MSP by government agencies for five years.
Farmer leader Guramneet Singh Mangat said when the first group of farmers starts marching towards Delhi on December 6, farmer bodies in Kerala, Uttarakhand and Tamil Nadu will take out marches towards their respective state assemblies.
Meanwhile, SKM (non-political) leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal continued his fast unto death at the Khanauri border point.
The protesting farmers had attempted to march towards Delhi on February 13 and February 21 but were stopped by the security forces deployed at the capital’s borders.
Their other demands include farm loan waiver, pension for farmers and farm labourers, no hike in the electricity tariff, withdrawal of police cases and “justice” for the victims of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence, reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013 and compensation to the families of the farmers who died during a previous agitation in 2020-21.
Don’t block highways: Supreme Court
The Supreme Court on Monday asked Punjab farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who is on a fast-unto-death at the Khanauri border point to press for the acceptance of farmers’ demands, to persuade the protesting farmers not to obstruct highways and cause inconvenience to people.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan disposed of a habeas corpus petition filed on behalf of Dallewal, who was removed from the Khanauri protest site on the Punjab-Haryana border on November 26.
“We have seen that he has been released and he even persuaded a fellow protestor to end his fast-unto-death protest on Saturday,” the bench said, adding that the issue raised by the farmers has been noted by the court and is considered in a pending matter.
“In a democratic setup, you can engage in peaceful protests but do not cause inconvenience to people. You all know that the Khanauri border is a lifeline for Punjab. We are not commenting on whether the protest is right or wrong,” the bench told advocate Guninder Kaur Gill, appearing on behalf of Dallewal.
Justice Kant said that Dallewal could persuade the protestors to organise peaceful protests under the law and without causing any inconvenience to people.
The bench said that at this stage, it was not entertaining Dallewal’s petition but he could approach later.
Hours before beginning his fast-unto-death on November 26, Dallewal was allegedly forcibly removed from the Khanauri border and taken to a hospital in Ludhiana. He was discharged on Friday evening.
The plea was moved in the apex court on November 29 challenging his alleged illegal detention by the Punjab Police.
On November 30, a day after he was released, Dallewal joined the fast-unto-death at the Khanauri border point to press for the acceptance of the farmers’ demands. (PTI)
