Shambhu (Punjab), Dec 8: Agitating farmers suspended their foot march to Delhi on Sunday after some of them sustained injuries in teargas shelling by Haryana security personnel who thwarted yet another attempt by the protesters to cross the Punjab-Haryana border.
Farmer leaders said they will decide the next course of action on Monday.
As a group of 101 farmers resumed the foot march this afternoon, they were halted by a multilayered barricade set up by Haryana security personnel who surprised the protesters by offering them tea and biscuits and also showering them with flower petals.
But the protesters claimed it was all a “drama” as the police soon lobbed teargas shells and used water jets to disperse them when they insisted on crossing the Shambhu border.
Ambala police had earlier said the farmer outfits, which are agitating for a legal guarantee for Minimum Support Price and other demands, can march to Delhi only after getting permission from the national capital administration.
The protesters, dubbed as ‘marjeevras’, (someone willing to die for a cause), were stopped only a few metres into the march and the standoff continued for over three hours. The farmers called off their march for the day following action of security forces.
Punjab farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher in the evening said six farmers were injured and one of them was rushed to the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in Chandigarh.
He said farmers would decide their next course of action in a meeting of their forums — the Samyuka Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha on Monday.
“We have called back the ‘jatha’ (group of 101 farmers),” he told reporters here.
“Whatever happened today was seen by the whole country,” said Pandher as he slammed the use of teargas against farmers.
“The (Haryana) administration used tactics like offering biscuits, ‘langar’, showering flower petals. Immediately after showering flowers, they (Haryana security personnel) fired teargas shells and rubber bullets at farmers,” he claimed.
The protesting farmers have been pressing the Centre to initiate talks with them to address their issues.
Farmer leader Baldev Singh Zira, who led the ‘jatha’ on Sunday, said it was a “drama” by Haryana Police. “Along with tea, and biscuits, they fired teargas shells,” he said.
“They have been exposed,” he said.
As the protesters reached the barricades, a few police personnel climbed the roof of a tin shed where security personnel have been stationed, and threw flower petals on a group of farmers.
Zira said farmers were moving ahead in a peaceful manner and they were not carrying any weapon as he criticised the Haryana security personnel for using teargas against them.
Pandher said the farmers who sustained injuries included Resham Singh, who was referred to the PGIMER, Dilbagh Singh, Major Singh and Harbhajan Singh.
Pandher claimed that mediapersons were stopped by the Punjab Police from reaching the protest site. He said that Haryana police had asked the Punjab Police to keep the media at least one km away from the protest site.
A Haryana security personnel was seen asking farmers to show permission to march to Delhi and questioned the identity of some of the protesters.
“First we will identify them to see whether they have any permission. We have got the list (of 101 farmers) but they are not those whose names are mentioned in the list. They are not giving their identities which means they are coming in the shape of a mob,” he told reporters at the site.
A farmer said, “They are saying that our names were not on the list. We do not know which list they have. When we asked them whether they would allow us to move ahead after verifying our identities, they told us then we would have to show the permission.”
As the confrontation escalated, the security forces lobbed tear gas shells. The gas forced the farmers, many of whom had covered their faces and were wearing protective eyewear, to recede a few metres. Some tried to cover the shells with wet jute bags.
Pandher said their protest completed 300 days on Sunday.
Farmers under the banner of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha have been camping at Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since February 13 after their march to Delhi was stopped by security forces. (PTI)
