Singhu, Ghazipur: The situation continues to remain tense at both the Singhu and Ghazipur borders, where farmers have been protesting, with authorities increasing the deployment of police personnel, Rapid Action Force, CISF and CRPF.
Crowds had Thursday thinned at both borders, with very few protesters left at Ghazipur while a relatively bigger crowd was present at Singhu. Protesting farmers from Punjab and Haryana who were camped near the Guru Tegh Bahadur Memorial ground for the past two months vacated the Singhu protest site Thursday.
At Singhu, farmers blamed police for the protesters vacating the sites.
“Police are building pressure on us to leave. Many of our brothers and sisters have left,” said Balbir Singh, a farmer at Singhu. “When only a few of us will be left, they will force us to vacate. They have also told us verbally that it’s time to go home.”
Police have, however, denied the allegations.
“They have themselves left over fear of arrests and seeing heavy police force,” a senior police officer at Singhu told ThePrint.
Police have cordoned off the Singhu protest site, barring a small lane for locals to enter and exit. They are also using cranes to dig up the ground and have increased the barricading to about 2 kilometre from the protest site.
“We have barricaded the area; you can see now how they have been pushed behind,” another police officer at Singhu said. “If it works out, this area shall be cleared in the next couple of days”.
Delhi Police, however, said they haven’t asked the farmers to vacate the Singhu border.
“We haven’t given any orders to vacate,” Sanjay Singh, special CP, Delhi Police, told ThePrint. “The situation remains tense after the Republic Day violence. Let’s see for the next 2-3 days. As of now we haven’t asked them to leave.”
Ghaziabad DM issues notice to farmers
At Ghazipur, the Apar Nagar Ghaziabad district magistrate’s office has issued a notice to farmer leaders Rakesh Tikait, Jagtar Singh Bajwa, Tejindra Singh Virk and the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, the umbrella organisation of the protesting farmers, to vacate the area.
The notice, a copy of which is with ThePrint, lists seven reasons including threat to life, increasing litter, loud sound apart from “nuisance” resulting in difficulty for Delhi-Ghaziabad commuters for the decision.
Majority of the protesters here have already left the site even as Rakesh Tikait, the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader urged the farmers to stay put.
The situation escalated in the evening when police marched onto the site. Tikait and other leaders went onto the stage. “Goli kha lenge par yahan se nahi jayenge (Even if we face bullets, we will not leave here),” Tikait said on stage. “I was going to surrender but now I won’t.” He also said he was calling more people from UP villages to join the protests at Ghazipur.
Tikait is among the farmer leaders against whom the police has registered an FIR under sections of criminal conspiracy, attempt to murder, dacoity, robbery, criminal conspiracy, rioting, vandalising public property, and stopping public servants from doing their duty, among others.
The few farmers left at the Ghazipur border told ThePrint that they were “scared” and fear that police would use “force” to displace them. They complained that the local administration had stopped water supply and electricity in the morning but refused to give their names to reporters over fear of getting “detained”.
ThePrint contacted Ghaziabad DM Ajay Shankar Pandey through calls and messages but there was no response until the publishing of this report.
Protests continue
The protests, however, continued at both borders days after the violence that rocked Delhi on Republic Day Tuesday.
Chants of “Hindu Muslim Sikh Isai” and “Haryana Punjab Bhai Bhai” rented the air at Singhu Thursday.
“We are chanting this so that our brothers from Haryana stay put,” Amarpreet Singh from Punjab said. “We are decreasing in number; this is what the government wants. We have to stay united now.”
Farmers were seen holding the tricolour and chanting ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai‘.
“People have gone against us thinking we are anti-nationals. Therefore we are holding a rally here itself with the tiranga (tricolour) to show that we are not traitors,” said Balbir Pal, a farmer from Punjab.
On Thursday, a group claiming to be residents of the area staged counter-protests at the Singhu border demanding the removal of farmers from the protest sites. “We are only protesting now, but can also resort to other action if this area isn’t vacated in the next 3-4 days,” Ajay Jat, one of the protesters, said.
Speaking to ThePrint at Singhu, Darshan Pal, the Kranti Kisan Union leader accused the police of attempting to end the protest. “The police have laid out a plan to vacate the sites and diminish the agitation,” he said. “FIRs against us are completely unfair.”
The Delhi Police has so far lodged 33 FIRS in connection with the 26 January violence. The police’s special cell has also registered a case under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and sedition sections against the rioters for the Republic Day violence.
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