The protests against the laws have been ongoing for more than a month in Punjab and Haryana but now the farmers have decided to shift the battleground and attain Delhi. (ANI)
Farmers’ March to Delhi: Thousands of farmers from Punjab are camping at Haryana border for their planned march to Delhi on Thursday. The farmers are protesting against the lately passed 3 farm laws, saying the acts would hurt them as they nowhere assures farmers of minimum help cost or MSP. The protests against the laws have been ongoing for more than a month in Punjab and Haryana but now the farmers have decided to shift the battleground and attain Delhi.
Currently, farmers have gathered in Karnal to protest against farm laws. They are on their way to Delhi. Speaking to the media, a protester says, “They (government) have barricaded the roads but we’re still going to walk through. The public is facing problems. They shouldn’t have closed the road.”
Haryana Police are applying tear gas shells to disperse farmers who are gathered at Shambhu border close to Ambala to proceed to Delhi. Heavy safety has been deployed on Delhi-Jammu highway close to Karna Lake in Karnal. Speaking to ANI, a commuter says, “The highway has been blocked since late last night. Many vehicles are stuck here.”
Farmers marching to Delhi are not from Punjab but also from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and Kerala. While farmers are determined to attain the national capital, Delhi has refused to permit any rally in the city citing rise in Covid. Haryana as well has sealed its border with Punjab for two days — Thursday and Friday.
Haryana has created huge safety arrangements on roads from Punjab to cease any protest march to Delhi. It has deployed riot autos, place barricades and water cannons to disperse the protesters.
On Wednesday, Haryana Police applied water cannons to disperse farmers who had gathered in Kurukshetra to proceed to Delhi to stage a demonstration. The Manohar Lal Khattar government has also banned big gatherings in the state. Not only this, the state has also suspended bus service to and from Punjab.
In the view of farmers’ march, the Delhi Metro has suspended its solutions to neighbouring cities till two pm on Thursday. In a statement, the Delhi Metro stated that no metro solutions will be readily available from Anand Vihar to Vaishali and New Ashok Nagar to Noida City Centre till two pm on Thursday.
The solutions will also be suspended involving Sultanpur and Guru Dronacharya metro stations. Reports recommend that eight firms of paramilitary forces will be stationed at the borders to thwart any attempts created by farmers to enter Delhi.