'Jatha' of 101 farmers to march towards Delhi on Sunday

Punjab farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher said on Saturday they have not received any message from the Centre for talks to address their issues and a group of 101 farmers will resume their march to Delhi on December 8.

On Friday, protesting farmers suspended their march to the national capital for the day after some of them suffered injuries due to tear gas shells fired by security personnel, who stopped them at the Punjab-Haryana border. The farmers have been pressing for various demands, including a legal guarantee for Minimum Support Price (MSP).

The Haryana Police has written to its Punjab counterpart asking it to ensure media personnel are stopped at a distance from the protest site for their safety as well as to ensure ease in maintaining law and order.

In Shambhu on the Punjab-Haryana border on Saturday, Pandher addressed reporters and said 16 farmers suffered injuries and one of them lost hearing ability because of the teargas shelling by Haryana security personnel.

Except for four injured farmers, the rest of them have been discharged from hospital, he said. "We have not received any message from the Centre for holding talks. The (Narendra) Modi government is in no mood to hold talks." He further said the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha have already decided that a 'jatha' of 101 farmers will again march towards the national capital on Sunday noon in a peaceful manner.

As part of a call given by the farmer unions SKM (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, a 'jatha' of 101 farmers began its march to Delhi on Friday from their protest site at the Shambhu border to press for their demands.

The 'jatha' was stopped by multilayered barricading erected by Haryana security personnel. Undeterred by prohibitory orders, the farmers attempted to force their way through the barricades but were stopped by security personnel who lobbed multiple tear gas shells to force them to go back to their protest site at Shambhu, which falls in Punjab.

On the action of security personnel against protesting farmers, Pandher said the BJP government at the Centre has been "exposed".

"What did they do yesterday? People are angry with this action. People are asking the BJP that since the farmers were not taking tractor-trolleys along with them then why they were not allowed to move ahead," he posed.

Another farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal continued with his fast unto death at the Khanauri border. Farmers claimed that Dallewal has lost eight-kilogramme weight.

Meanwhile, Haryana Police, in a communication to the Punjab Police chief, said, "It is brought to your notice that on December 6, when the 'jatha' of farmers approached towards the Haryana border, many media persons were also accompanying them despite the request made by this office not to allow media persons near the protest site." "Due to this, Haryana Police faced a lot of problems in handling the law-and-order situation at the border," it said.

"Hence you are again requested to direct all concerned to ensure that media persons are stopped at a safe distance (minimum 1 km) in the interest of the safety of media persons as well as their requirements," the letter stated.

The Patiala Police, under whose jurisdiction the Shambhu area comes, urged the media persons to maintain a safe distance from the border for news coverage.

Farmer leader Pandher on Friday said they had appealed to the government to either hold a dialogue with the protesting farmers or "allow us to move to Delhi". However, the Haryana Police had said the protesting farmers created a ruckus and also made their best efforts to demolish police barricades set up at the Haryana side of the border.

Shortly before the farmers' march, the Haryana government on Friday suspended mobile internet and bulk SMS service in 11 villages of the Ambala district till December 9.

The protesting farmers had earlier attempted to march towards Delhi on February 13 and February 21 but were stopped by security forces deployed at the border points.

Besides MSP, the farmers are also 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.

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. PTI CHS NSD NSD