Chandigarh: The situation again turned intense at the Punjab-Haryana interstate border at Shambhu on Sunday (December 8) as another jatha or contingent of 101 farmers faced tear gas shells soon after they attempted to pass through a wall of cement put up as a barricade by Haryana police personnel during their “Delhi chalo” march.
On Friday, farmers faced similar action from Haryana, injuring 15 of them and leading to the suspension of their protest.
As they resumed their march on Sunday at noon, another round of confrontation began between farmers and the Haryana police.
Later on Sunday, farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher said the protest had been suspended for the day and asked agitating farmers to return from the barricade wall.
Pandher in a press conference late Sunday afternoon told the media that no contingent will leave for Delhi on Monday.
“We will hold a meeting of all farmers’ unions on Monday afternoon to chalk out our next strategy and will accordingly inform the media by Monday evening,” he said.
Initially on Sunday, in order to placate the protesting farmers, Haryana police personnel offered them water bottles, tea and biscuits and asked them to go back.
But soon, their discussions turned into heated arguments, with farmers questioning the Haryana police’s forceful move to stop their march to Delhi.
Security forces wait behind a protective grill at the barricades at the Shambhu border. Farmers have periodically attempted to remove this grill, following which forces retaliate with tear gas. Photo by arrangement.
The Haryana police for their part repeatedly told them to go back as they did not possess clearance from the Delhi police to protest in the national capital.
Amid the arguments, a few farmers attempted to pull out the iron mesh fencing over the concrete barricade wall.
This prompted the Haryana police to use pepper spray and tear gas shells to disperse the crowd.
Media persons covering the event live were also seen running away along with protesting farmers as they too were exposed to the smoke.
Due to strong winds, smoke from the tear gas shells also caused problems for Haryana security personnel.
Several farmers were seen wearing face masks and eyewear to protect themselves, but tear gas shells lobbed at the crowd affected several people who were exposed to the gas. Many older protesters complained of chest pain.
According to Pandher, at least six farmers suffered injuries during the clashes.
The police’s offering tea and biscuits to protesting farmers was just a gimmick, Pandher charged. He claimed that police fired rubber bullets at protesters.
Many took first aid from the medical assistance teams stationed here along with ten ambulances and ten cars.
Farmers protest near the Shambhu border on December 8. Photo by arrangement.
Baldev Singh Zira, a farmer leader leading Sunday’s jatha, condemned the police action, saying that the Haryana government had no locus standi to stop farmers from reaching Delhi. Their frequent use of force exposed the BJP-led Union government and the state as they were killing dissent in the country, Zira said.
“Despite the fact that we were unarmed and were marching peacefully, we were not allowed to march. This is dictatorship,” he added.
Legalising minimum support price for crops has been the farmers’ key demand, which has been a contentious issue between them and the Union government for some time now.
Farmers claimed that the Modi government had promised legal guarantees for MSP at the time of the withdrawal of three farm laws in November 2021 after year-long protests outside Delhi but did not fulfil its promise.
An earlier attempt by Punjab farmers to move towards Delhi in February this year was met with stiff resistance from Haryana authorities, leaving one farmer dead and scores injured.
Speaking to the media on Sunday afternoon, Haryana police DSP Varinder Kumar said the action – that is, the dropping of tear gas shells – was taken after protesting farmers started pulling at the iron mesh, which is security forces’ last line of defence. He claimed that while farmer leaders shared a list of 101 farmers, around 300 farmers arrived near the barricade.
“We have been given a task to maintain law and order and we have just followed the order. The action was taken as some of the farmers took law in their hand,” he said.
Row over list of farmers
Meanwhile, both sides indulged in a war of words over the list of farmers participating in Sunday’s jatha.
The Haryana police maintained that farmers who were part of today’s jatha were different from those in the list of farmers provided to them.
On this, the agitating farmers claimed that the police were being misleading and that their list was fake and meant to disrupt the protest.
When the farmers offered to provide the Haryana police with a new list and the identity proofs of every farmer on the condition that the police would not stop their march, the latter claimed they would forward the ID proofs to authorities but said that they would deny them the way forward.
They told farmers that unless they arranged for permission from Haryana and Delhi, they would not be allowed to march ahead.
Pandher said farmers were ready for any kind of sacrifice. “It’s the prime minister who has the solution to our problems. Either he does [implements] it or lets us march to Delhi,” he said.
This article was updated at 4:50 pm with news of the protest being suspended for the day and at 6:25 pm with more statements from Pandher and Varinder Kumar.
