Chandigarh: Farmers’ unions called off their march to Delhi on Saturday (December 14) – their third in two weeks – after the Haryana police once again deployed water cannons and tear gas on agitating farmers from Punjab at the Shambhu border crossing into Haryana.
While official confirmation is awaited, farmers’ unions claimed that 15 farmers suffered injuries in the police action on Saturday. One farmer was seriously injured after a tear gas shell hit him with high velocity, they said.
Several farmers were taken away in stretchers on Saturday.
Kuldeep Singh, Sukhdev Singh, Shamsher Singh, Mukhtar Singh, Darshan Singh, Meehan Singh, Jaswinder Singh, Jageer Singh and Paramjeet Singh were initially identified as among those injured.
The farmers are pressing the Union government for the fulfillment of their demands, including a legal guarantee for minimum support prices for their crops.
On December 6 and 8, farmers faced similar action from Haryana. Nearly two dozen farmers suffered injuries, leading to the suspension of their protest then as well.
Like on previous occasions, the police action on Saturday began as soon as protesting farmers attempted to pass through a cement barricade put up by Haryana police personnel near the Shambhu border.
Farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher announced the suspension of Saturday’s march to Delhi in a press conference late on Saturday afternoon in light of the action taken by the Haryana police.
While Pandher said the unions will decide their next course of action in a joint meeting soon, he announced that a rail roko or train-stopping protest would take place across Punjab on December 18 between noon and 3 pm. He also said there would be a ‘tractors’ march’ in the state on Monday.
Appealing to society to support the farmers’ movement, Pandher said that while parliament was debating the constitution to mark the 75th year of its adoption, no one was raising farmers’ issues in the legislature.
“We want to know which constitution applies to our protest. How can a contingent of 101 farmers pose a threat to the country’s law and order?” Pandher asked.
Protesters face the use of water cannons by security forces. Photo by arrangement.
Prior to the police action on Saturday, senior officials of the Haryana government, including Ambala senior superintendent of police Surinder Singh, asked protesting farmers to turn back as they did not have permission to hold a protest in Delhi.
Singh also cited the Supreme Court’s interim order on December 13, claiming that the top court had already empowered a high-level committee to hold discussions with all stakeholders, including farmers and the Union government, to hammer out an amicable solution.
He asked farmers to wait till December 18, saying the Supreme Court-appointed committee would soon meet them and take up their issues with Union government nominees.
On this, protesting farmers told him they had no faith in any committee. They cited examples of several such committees from the past, including the M.S. Swaminathan committee, whose appointment they said went in vain.
As the farmers were adamant to march to Delhi to protest against the Union government, the Haryana police began lobbing tear gas shells to disperse the crowd, pushing the protesters back.
In his press conference on Saturday afternoon, Pandher alleged that the water used to disperse protesting farmers had been mixed with “chemicals” and that more tear gas shells than last time were used today.
However, Ambala cantonment’s deputy superintendent of police Rajat Gulia denied Pandher’s allegations of security personnel using chemical-mixed water in their water cannons.
Gulia also claimed that the police resorted to using force when farmers tried to remove the cement barricade, the police’s last line of defence, despite senior officers repeatedly appealing to them to maintain law and order.
Earlier on Saturday, Pandher had told the media that the entire country was watching how the BJP-led Union and Haryana governments were using force on the farmers’ peaceful protest. This indicated how insensitive the current ruling government was to the issues of farmers, he charged.
Pandher alleged that the way BJP MPs were engaging in ‘bayanbazi’ (rhetoric), it appeared that they could go to any extent to create disturbances at the site of the farmers’ morcha.
On the other hand, Punjab BJP spokesperson Pritpal Singh Baliwal flayed the farmers’ march to Delhi. He wrote on X that when Punjab governor Gulab Chand Kataria had invited farmer leaders for dialogue, the fact that 101 farmers were sent towards Delhi in a protest march was merely an attempt to politicise the issue.
Mobile internet and bulk SMS services were suspended early Saturday in 12 villages in Haryana adjoining the Shambhu border.
The order to suspend mobile internet in 12 villages, namely Dangdehri, Lehgarh, Manakpur, Dadiyana, Bari Ghel, Choti Ghel, Lharsa, Kalu Majra, Devi Nagar (Hira Nagar, Naresh Vihar), Saddopur, Sultanpur and Kakru villages in Ambala was issued to prevent any disturbance of peace and public order, according to an order issued by additional chief secretary (home) Sumita Misra.
The Ambala administration also extended prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the BNSS, which bans the unlawful assembly of five or more people, in the district.
Meanwhile, wrestler and working president of the All India Kisan Congress Bajrang Punia reached the Shambhu border to support the protesting farmers.
He wrote on X on Saturday afternoon saying he had arrived at the border and that multiple farmers had been injured.
“It has been a short time since I have come here and many farmers have been injured and the police is constantly firing tear gas shells. So much cruelty on the farmers…” he posted.
Haryana security personnel erected multiple layers of barricades to prevent the agitating farmers from marching towards Delhi. Sensing more trouble, the police beefed up security and are using drones to keep a constant check on the farmers’ movements.
Paramilitary forces were also deployed at the site of the protest.
This article was updated at 4:57 pm with information on the march being called off.
