Tikait warns Centre against forcibly removing farmers from Delhi borders

Rakesh Singh Tikait, national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), on Sunday told the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre that there would be consequences if they tried to forcibly remove farmers protesting at Delhi’s borders.

The BKU chief said farmers would turn government offices across the country into “galla mandis” [grain markets] if it tried to remove the farmers.

“If there is an attempt to forcibly remove the farmers from the borders, then they will turn government offices across the country into Galla Mandi,” he said on Twitter.

Tikait also said that if the government tried to pull down their tents at the protest site, the farmers would set them up at police stations and the district magistrates’ office.

Also read: Agitated farmers bring more than 100 trains to standstill in ‘rail roko’ protest

“We have come to know that the administration is trying to pull down the tents here. If they do that, the farmers will set up their tents at Police stations, DM offices,” Rakesh Tikait told ANI.

Tikait’s statements come two days after Delhi Police removed cement blocks and barricades from the Ghazipur and Tikri borders.

Last week, the Supreme Court had observed that even though the farmers have the right to agitate, they cannot block roads indefinitely. The farmers, however, told the court that it was the police that had put up the barricades.

The opening of the road stretch at the Tikri border would help thousands of commuters of Bahadurgarh and Delhi as well as those travelling between the national capital and going to Rajasthan from Haryana.

Thousands of farmers have been camping at the three border points – Tikri, Singhu and Ghazipur – protesting the Centre’s three farm laws since November 26, 2020.