Amid the ongoing turbulent Winter Session, farmers’ organisations including, the Bhartiya Kisan Parishad (BKP), Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) and the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) have decided to march towards the Parliament on Monday, December 2.
The protest began from the Mahamaya Flyover in Noida and will proceed towards the Parliament on foot and tractors. Farmers from 20 districts, including Gautam Buddh Nagar, Agra, Aligarh, and Bulandshahr, are expected to participate in the march.
What are farmers demands?
The farmers have been protesting a slew of demands, which include compensation guaranteed under the newly enacted agricultural laws, job opportunities to kin of landless farmers and seeking a 10 per cent allocation of plots and a 64.7 per cent hike in compensation under the previous land acquisition law. For land acquired after January 1, 2014, the farmers demand 20 per cent of the plots.
“We will not turn back till the government accepts our demands,” said a protesting farmer.
Farmers’ protest leads to traffic jam
Traffic chaos gripped roads on the Delhi-Noida border as law enforcers put up barricades and diverted vehicles in their attempt to prevent the protesting farmers.
Besides restricting the movement of heavy vehicles on the Yamuna Expressway and the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway, Noida Police issued a traffic advisory ahead of the protest.
However, many office-goers were caught unawares by the curbs and diversions, causing kilometre-long jams near the DND flyway, Kalindi Kunj and Chilla border points.
Three-layer security
Police have setup a three-layer security to prevent any riot-like condition from taking place. Barriers have been set up to prevent farmers from marching to the national capital. Some protesters, wearing red caps and holding flags of communist organisations, managed to climb the containers and shout slogans.
“Over 4,000 police personnel have been deployed. There is three-layered security. Some farmer leaders have been detained. We will not allow the farmers to go to Delhi at any cost,” additional commissioner of police (CP) (Law and Order) Noida, Shivhari Meena said.
Do not cause inconvenience to public: SC
The Supreme Court asked Punjab farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who is on a fast-unto-death at the Khanauri border point to press for the acceptance of farmers’ demands, to persuade the protesting farmers not to obstruct highways and cause inconvenience to people.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan disposed of a habeas corpus petition filed on behalf of Dallewal, who was removed from the Khanauri protest site on the Punjab-Haryana border on November 26.
“We have seen that he has been released and he even persuaded a fellow protestor to end his fast-unto-death protest on Saturday,” the bench said, adding that the issue raised by the farmers has been noted by the court and is considered in a pending matter.
“In a democratic setup, you can engage in peaceful protests but do not cause inconvenience to people. You all know that the Khanauri border is a lifeline for Punjab. We are not commenting on whether the protest is right or wrong,” the bench told advocate Guninder Kaur Gill, appearing on behalf of Dallewal.
Farmers 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.
The protesters have accused the Centre of not taking steps to address their demands, claiming that it has not held any talks with them on their issues since February 18.
(With inputs from agencies)
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