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Farmers suspend ‘Delhi chalo’ march as police fire tear gas shells near Shambhu border

Protesting farmers on Friday suspended for the day their foot march to Delhi to press for various demands, including a legal guarantee for MSP, after some of them suffered injuries due to tear gas shells at the Punjab-Haryana border.

Earlier in the day, a ‘jatha’ of 101 farmers began to march towards the national capital from their protest site at the Shambhu border but was stopped a few metres away by multilayered barricading erected by Haryana security personnel.

As the group reached the barricades, security personnel lobbed multiple tear gas shells to disperse the protesting farmers and force them to retreat to their protest site.

Covering their eyes and mouths, several protesting farmers rushed to cover the tear gas shells with wet jute bags to counter the smoke. Many of them were seen uprooting iron nails and barbed wire installed on the road to deter their march.

Chanting ‘Satnam Waheguru’ and holding their union flags, several farmers of the ‘jatha’ crossed the initial layer of barricades easily but could not proceed further.

A few of them were seen pushing an iron mesh put up by security personnel down the bridge constructed over the Ghaggar River. One of the protesters climbed the roof of a tin shade where security forces had been stationed. He was forced to climb down.

Water cannon vehicles have also been deployed at the Shambhu border point.

The Haryana Police asked the farmers not to proceed further, citing a prohibitory order clamped by the Ambala district administration under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) that prohibits the assembly of five or more people.

A farmer leader claimed that five to six farmers were injured due to the tear gas shelling. Sarwan Singh Pandher later announced the suspension of the march for the day and said the injured farmers were taken to a hospital. “We have called back the ‘jatha’ for today in view of the injuries suffered by a few farmers,” Pandher said here.

He added that the two forums of the farmer bodies, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, would decide the next course of action after a meeting.

Earlier, Pandher termed the 101 farmers who were part of the jatha “marjeevras” (someone willing to die for a cause) and slammed the Haryana government for not allowing them to march even on foot.

The farmers are marching towards Delhi to press the Centre for a legal guarantee of Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops. The Haryana government on Friday suspended mobile internet and bulk SMS service in 11 villages of Ambala district till December 9.

The ban was enforced in Dangdehri, Lohgarh, Manakpur, Dadiyana, Bari Ghel, Lhars, Kalu Majra, Devi Nagar, Saddopur, Sultanpur and Kakru villages. District authorities in Ambala have ordered the closure of all government and private schools.

Pandher had on Thursday told reporters that if the government stopped them from carrying out their march, it would be a “moral victory” for the farmers.

“Their leaders at the Centre and in states have been regularly saying that if the farmers do not bring tractor-trolleys, there should be no objection. So if we go to Delhi on foot, there should be no reason to stop the farmers,” he said.

Sikh Guru Teg Bahadur’s martyrdom day was also observed at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points by the farmers. Meanwhile, SKM leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal continued his fast-unto-death at the Khanauri border point on Friday.

The farmers, gathered under the banner of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, have been demanding that the Centre give them a legal guarantee for MSP.

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

Besides MSP, the farmers are also demanding 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.

Reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013 and compensation to the families of farmers who died during the previous agitation in 2020-21 are also part of their demands.