The Haryana Police on Wednesday used a water cannon after Lok Insaaf Party workers, who were taking out a bike rally from Punjab to Delhi to protest against the Centre’s farm bills, tried to jump over barricades put up at Shambhu village on the inter-state border near Ambala.
Police said it had warned the LIP workers not to cross the barricades and denied permission for movement of a large group of protesters in view of restrictions in place due to the coronavirus pandemic.
A tense situation prevailed at Shambhu village as the LIP workers led by their party leaders Simarjeet Singh Bains and Balwinder Singh Bains remained adamant to move on the national highway to Delhi. The Haryana Police, meanwhile, was continuously making announcements asking the LIP workers to move back and disperse.
The police had sealed the area near the Shambhu border to maintain law and order. On being stopped, the LIP leaders said that they have a democratic right to protest.
“We want to raise our voice against the anti-farmer bills,” Simarjeet Singh Bains told reporters at the Shambhu border. The Lok Insaaf Party had earlier announced to gherao Parliament in Delhi against the farm bills.
Earlier in the day, thousands of party workers with black flags took out the bike rally from Fatehgarh Sahib in Punjab as part of their protest. In Panipat also, the police used a water cannon to stop a Haryana Youth Congress organised ‘tractor rally’ to Delhi to protest against the new bills.
The Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill were passed in both houses of Parliament, amid protests by opposition parties like the Congress, TMC, DMK and the Left, as well as some farmer groups. The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020, was passed in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.