Delhi march suspended again as 7 farmers hurt in tear gas shelling

Shambhu/Ambala

The Haryana Police and paramilitary forces on Sunday stopped a group of farmers shortly after they resumed their foot march to Delhi from the Shambhu border in the afternoon, citing prohibitory orders and a lack of requisite permission for the protest, even as farmers alleged that at least seven of them were injured in tear gas shelling from the security forces.

The agitating farmers suspended their foot march and said they will announce their next course of action on Monday.

A group of 101 farmers set off on a foot march this afternoon but were halted by the multilayer barricade set up by the Haryana security personnel. The Haryana Police initially offered farmers tea and biscuits and even showered flower petals, but as the confrontation escalated, police used tear gas shells and water cannons to disperse the protesters.

According to union leaders, seven farmers suffered injuries in the police action compelling both the protesting farmer unions — Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) and Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) — to suspend the Delhi chalo march.

Of the seven injured farmers, one has been referred to the PGIMER, Chandigarh, after his health deteriorated, according of officials of the Patiala health department.

The Friday confrontation had left 15 farmers injured.

The situation on Sunday escalated when a few farmers tried to break the iron mesh on the cemented wall-like structure, forcing the Haryana Police to use tear gas shells, water cannons and chemical sprays to disperse the agitating farmers.

An official statement on Sunday evening said the administration kept appealing to the protesting farmers to reveal their identities but there were some “aggressive people” in the group who repeatedly tried to bring down the police barricades by using ropes and iron hooks.

Ambala police had earlier said the farmer outfits, which are agitating for a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) and other demands, can march to Delhi only after getting permission from the national capital administration.

KMM convener Sarwan Singh Pandher said: “Once again, the entire nation watched how farmers were attacked by Haryana Police officials with tear gas shells and sprays.”

“We have called back the ‘jatha’ (group of 101 farmers). Whatever happened today was seen by the whole country. The (Haryana) administration used tactics like offering biscuits, ‘langar’, and showering flower petals. Immediately after showering flowers, they fired teargas shells and rubber bullets at farmers,” Pandher claimed.

He said the farmers who sustained injuries included Resham Singh, who was referred to the PGIMER, Chandigarh, Dilbagh Singh, Major Singh and Harbhajan Singh.

The farmer leader said that both the unions would hold a joint meeting on Monday to decide the future course of action, and the Delhi Chalo march would remain suspended until then.

Ambala admn meets farm leaders

On the sideline of the stand-off, a meeting between farm leaders and the Haryana government along with Punjab police officials, was held in Rajpura.

The meeting was attended by Patiala range DIG Mandeep Singh Sidhu, Patiala SSP Nanak Singh, Ambala deputy commissioner Parth Gupta and SP Surinder Singh Bhoria.

After the meeting, Sidhu said: “The meeting was held in a positive atmosphere. This is a good sign and dialogue between farmers and officials will continue.”

“We listened to the farmers’ demands in the meeting and efforts will be made to resolve their issues through talks,” Ambala DC Parth Gupta said.

“They (farmers) have asked us to arrange a meeting with the Union government where they could put forward their demands. We will take up their appeal at the appropriate forum so that the issue can be resolved at the earliest,” the DC added.

Dallewal’s health deteriorates

Farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal’s fast-unto-death entered the 13th day on Sunday at the Khanauri border, with farmers claiming that the 67-year-old has lost 8kg weight.

The farmers have been camping at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab-Haryana since February 13 when their march to Delhi was stopped by security forces.

Besides MSP, the farmers are demanding a farm debt waiver, pension for farmers and farm labourers, no hike in electricity tariff, withdrawal of police cases (against farmers), and ‘justice’ for the victims of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence.