Midnight meet in Ghaziabad helped end farmers’ stir

NEW DELHI: The farmers’ protest at NH-24 had threatened to spin out of control on Tuesday and hold the city to ransom on Wednesday.

What saved the day was a midnight meeting of a handful of people at an undisclosed location in Ghaziabad and a special envoy who brought the farmers’ leader from Radisson Hotel to the spot to defuse the situation.

A day after the farmers returned home, sources in the establishment narrated how the feat was pulled off. At Tuesday noon, cops were in a tizzy after a fringe group tried to force its way into Delhi by driving tractors over the multi-layer barricades.

Peaceful farmers incited by a small group, say officials

Officials said the followers of the late farmer leader, Mahender Singh Tikait, remained peaceful but a small group started creating unrest by inciting the protesters to march ahead and use lathis if stopped. Police first resorted to using low to medium pressure of water cannon jets. When they did not stop, they progressed to tear gas shells to stop the protesters.

However, it was soon clear to the police brass that this could turn into a tricky situation. There was no way that around 5,000 police personnel would have been able to stop a 25,000-strong crowd if the violence escalated.

Sensing the situation, police chief Amulya Patnaik rushed special CP R P Upadhyay to the spot. The police brass then contacted Rakesh Tikait, brother of main Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Naresh Tikait, and sent a special vehicle along with a few officers requesting him to rush to the spot. Tikait was persuaded to address the outraged farmers.

His five-minute speech worked wonders and cooled tempers.

Simultaneously, Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat arrived at the spot after a meeting with home minister Rajnath Singh and others to inform the farmers that the government had accepted their demands.

The police, meanwhile, made sure that they were provided with water etc and officers led by joint commissioner Ravindra Yadav went to farmers individually to convince them to settle down.

After a three-hour exercise, the farmers finally decided to hold a sitin on NH 24. This was around sunset and the police brass had begun to prepare for what was expected to be a chaotic morning.

Between 6pm and 11pm, farmer leaders, a few officers of Delhi Police and the Ghaziabad police and administration exchanged around two dozen calls and finally a meeting was scheduled at a guesthouse in Ghaziabad. Naresh Tikait was not well but attended the meeting.

Tikait was requested to help end the deadlock and he eventually agreed. But the establishment’s happiness was short-lived as the farmers refused to return without offering homage at Kisan Ghat.

This, they said, was non-negotiable.

The police brass then took a calculated risk and provided a cordoned route and buses to farmers to go to Kisan Ghat around 1am. In the melee, some farmers entered with their tractors as well.

A majority of farmers were then escorted to railway stations and bus stands by 5am. By 7am on Wednesday, most of the NH-24 was vacated.

Several farmers, however, had to stay back to get their tractors repaired. Many of the tractors had deflated tyres. They passed time playing cards and smoking hookahs.

The police remained deployed through the day and many were seen sharing poori-sabji with the farmers and recalling Tuesday’s events.

On Wednesday evening, the police chief congratulated the officers, many of whom had remained awake for over 36 hours at a stretch.

Traffic movement on NH-24 was restored to normalcy on Wednesday. Hindon Elevated Road, barred since 12am on October 2, was also thrown open on Wednesday.