New Delhi: After a tense night at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border at Ghazipur, where a massive police force tried to remove protesting farmers until almost midnight, a major group of protesters has called a "Mahapanchayat" or meeting amid a huge backlash over violence during their tractor rally on Tuesday. That part of the border has been closed to traffic. Last evening, the Uttar Pradesh government ordered cops to remove the farmers protesting against three central laws for over two months.
Here's some point cheatsheet to this big story:
Late last evening, more security personnel were deployed at the Ghazipur border. Some 300 CAPF (Central Armed Police Forces) personnel, six companies of Provincial Armed Constabulary, and 1,000 police personnel arrived at the border.
As police in riot gear tried to drive the farmers out, the Bharatiya Kisan Union's Rakesh Tikait declared they would not budge. Speaking from a stage, he also appealed to farmers not to leave and declared that he is "ready to face bullets" if needed.
"The Supreme Court has justified the peaceful sit-in," Rakesh Tikait told reporters. "There has been no violence on the Ghazipur border. Despite this, the government is adopting a repressive policy. It is the face of the Uttar Pradesh government," Mr. Tikait said.
Uttar Pradesh decided to take action two days after the violence during the Republic Day tractor rally when farmers clashed with the police in various parts of Delhi after forcing their way in through barricades.
The other two key borders -- Tikri and the epicenter of farmers' protests, Singhu -- have also been placed under heavy security. The police have dug up roads using JCB machines.
The administration had cut off power and water supply to the hundreds of farmers, who have been camping out on the roads. The power and water supply were restored this morning.
A huge security build-up has started at the Delhi-Haryana border at Singhu -- seen as an indication of action. But despite the huge police presence, tension rose as a group of 100 people, who claimed to belong to a right-wing group, managed to get past the security cordon and demanded that the farmers be evicted.
"The government's efforts to discredit the ongoing farmers' movement are continuing. The nervousness of the government is evident from how it is installing security forces on all borders. The government wants to show this movement as 'violent' again and again, but the Samyukta Kisan Morcha has a unanimous approach to ensure that the movement will remain peaceful," farmers' group Samyukta Kisan Morcha said in a statement.
Source: NDTV
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