At Red Fort on January 27, 2021 (Express Photo: Praveen Khanna)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah visited two hospitals in the national capital on Thursday where the police personnel who were injured in the Republic Day violence are being treated. "We are proud of their courage and bravery," he said. As many as 394 personnel were injured in the violence at Delhi's ITO, Red Fort and other areas.
In other news, the Noida Police has registered an FIR against eight people, including Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, and journalists Rajdeep Sardesai, Mrinal Pandey and Zafar Agha, for spreading violence on Republic Day through social media posts.
Meanwhile, sources told The Indian Express the central government wants to resume talks with farmer unions only after its offers are accepted. "They lost a good opportunity... They have (now) lost the moral authority. Now, we have to see whether they accept that offer or they come with a counter proposal," a source said.
On Wednesday, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella organisation of farmer unions, called off the march to Parliament House on February 1. However, it said the farmers' agitation would continue and there would be public meetings and hunger strikes across the country on January 30. Two organisations also withdrew from the protests at Delhi's borders in light of the violence.
After two months of peaceful protests at Delhi's borders and 11 rounds of negotiations with the central government, the Republic Day tractor parade spiraled into chaos Tuesday. One protester died when his tractor overturned while ramming a road barrier at ITO, and scores were injured, as mobs resorted to violence and vandalism while forcing their way to the Red Fort and hoisting their flag there.
The Delhi Police has registered 25 FIRs after the violence, and booked 37 of the farm leaders who were involved in the talks.
The six SKM spokespersons who have been named are: Jagjit Singh Dallewal, president, BKU (Sidhupur); Balbir Singh Rajewal, president, BKU (Rajewal); Darshan Pal, president, Krantikari Kisan Union; Rakesh Tikait, president, BKU; Kulwant Singh Sandhu, general secretary, Jamhoori Kisan Sabha; Yogendra Yadav, president, Swaraj Party India. Barring Yogendra Yadav, all the others took part in the talks with the government.
The others who were also among the farm union representatives involved in talks with the Centre and have been named in the FIR are: Boota Singh Burjgill, president, BKU Dakaunda; Nirbhai Singh Dhudike, president, Kirti Kisan Union; Ruldu Singh Mansa, president, Punjab Kisan Union; Inderjit Singh, president, Kisan Sangharsh Committee; Harjinder Singh Tanda, president, Azad Kisan Sangharsh Committee, Punjab; Gurbaksh Singh, president, Jai Kisan Andolan; Satnam Singh Pannu, president, Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee; Kanwalpreet Singh Pannu, president, Kisan Sanghrash Committee; Joginder Singh Ugrahan, president, BKU-Ugrahan; Surjit Singh Phool, president, BKU Krantikari; Harmeet Singh Kadian, president, BKU Kadian; Satnam Singh Sahni, general secretary, BKU (Doaba); Bogh Singh Mansa, president, BKU (Mansa); Balwinder Singh Aulakh, president, Majha Kisan Committee; Satnam Singh Behru, president, Indian Farmers Association; Bharat Boota Singh Shadipur, president, Bharti Kisan Manch; Baldev Singh Sirsa, president, Lok Bhalai Insaaf Welfare Society; Jagbir Singh Tanda, president, Doaba Kisan Samiti; Mukesh Chandra, Doaba Kisan Sangharsh Committee; Sukhpal Singh Daffar, president, Ganna Sangharsh Committee; Harinder Singh Lakhowal, general secretary, BKU Lakhowal; Kirpal Singh Nathuwala, president, Kisan Bachao Morcha; Prem Singh Bhangu, president, All India Kisan Federation, Punjab unit; Gurnam Singh Chaduni, president, BKU Haryana; Kavita Kuruganti, Mahila Kisan Adhikaar Manch; Rishipal Ambavatta, president, BKU Ambavatta; Prem Singh Gehlot, president, All India Kisan Mahasabha, Haryana Unit.
One of the FIRs, on the Red Fort incident, names Punjabi film actor Deep Sidhu and Lakhbir Singh Sidhana alias Lakha Sidhana, gangster-turned-politician and president of the Malwa Youth Federation.
Protesters at Singhu border on Thursday (Express Photo: Gajendra Yadav)
Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Ajit Singh has announced support to the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), the members of which are staging a protest against the Centre's new farm laws at the Delhi-Ghaziabad border. The former Union minister has spoken to BKU president Naresh Tikait and spokesperson Rakesh Tikait, RLD vice president and his son Jayant Chaudhary said.
"It is a matter of life and death for farmers, but do not worry. All have to stay together, united in this -- this is Chaudhary saahab's (Ajit Singh's) message," the RLD vice president said in a tweet in Hindi.
The Tikait brothers, sons of legendary farm leader Mahendra Singh Tikait, are leading the BKU, the members of which are camping at the UP Gate (Ghazipur border) for two months now demanding a rollback of the contentious farm laws brought by the Centre in September last year.
Hundreds of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) members stayed put on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway on Friday as the crowd swelled there overnight, notwithstanding the Ghaziabad administration's ultimatum to vacate the UP Gate protest site.
On a call of the BKU, more farmers from western Uttar Pradesh districts such as Meerut, Baghpat, Bijnor, Muzaffarnagar, Moradabad and Bulandshahr reached the UP Gate by early morning to join the stir, even as the security forces at the protest site thinned out overnight.
A confrontation was building up at the UP Gate in Ghazipur even as frequent power cuts were witnessed on Thursday evening at the protest site, where BKU members, led by Rakesh Tikait, are staying put since November 28 last year.
Ghaziabad District Magistrate Ajay Shankar Pandey and Senior Superintendent of Police Kalanidhi Naithani visited the protest site post midnight to review the situation there even as hundreds of security personnel in anti-riot gears were deployed since Thursday.
The Ghaziabad administration has given an ultimatum to agitating farmers to vacate the UP Gate protest site by Thursday night even as union leader Rakesh Tikait remained adamant, saying he would commit suicide but won't end the stir.
A confrontation was building up at the UP Gate in Ghazipur bordering Delhi with heavy security deployed while frequent power cuts were witnessed in the evening at the protest site, where Bharatiya Kisan Union members, led by Tikait, are staying put since November 28.
The "verbal" communication from the district administration to BKU on Thursday comes after three farmers union withdrew their protest against the three central farm laws over the violence in Delhi on Republic Day. "Ghaziabad District Magistrate Ajay Shankar Pandey has communicated to the protesters camping at the UP Gate at Delhi border to vacate the spot by tonight or the administration will remove them," a district official told PTI.
The Bharatiya Kisan Union (Lok Shakti) here on Thursday announced it was ending its protest against the new central farm laws. BKU (Lok Shakti) chief Sheoraj Singh made the announcement during a press conference here, a day after two other farmers' union ended their stir. "The protest has been called off," BKU (Lok Shakti) spokesperson Shailesh Kumar Giri told PTI.
The farmers' union had been camping at the Dalit Prerna Sthal since December 2, demanding withdrawal of the three new farm laws, legalisation of minimum support price (MSP) for crops and implementation of the recommendation of Swaminathan Committee's report. BKU (Lok Shakti) met Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and said they ended their protest in the wake of the violence during farmers' tractor rally on Republic Day.
AAP leader Sanjay Singh on Thursday said the party stands with farmers agitating against the Centre's contentious farm laws and its leaders will "voluntarily" court arrest if the police will try to forcibly remove peasants from protest sites.
He said Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal spoke to Bharatiya Kisan Union's (BKU) national spokesperson Rakesh Tikait who told him that the water supply to the UP Gate protest site in Ghaziabad had been cut.
The Rajya Sabha MP further said the party would raise the issue in Parliament. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader's remarks come after the Ghaziabad administration gave an ultimatum to the agitating farmers to vacate the UP Gate protest site by Thursday midnight.
Uttar Pradesh Police Thursday lodged an FIR against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and several journalists, including India Today’s Rajdeep Sardesai, National Herald’s Mrinal Pandey, Zafar Agha of Qaumi Awaz, and The Caravan’s Anant Nath and Vinod Jose, for allegedly spreading misinformation on the farmers’ tractor rally on January 26.
The FIR has been lodged under 11 IPC sections, including Section 124A (sedition), 153-A (promoting enmity between groups), section 295A (deliberate and malicious act intended to outrage religious feelings), Section 504 (intentional insult), Section 506 (criminal intimidation) and Section 120B (criminal conspiracy to commit offence punishable by death).
Setting the stage for a stormy Budget session of Parliament, 17 Opposition parties announced Thursday that they would boycott President Ram Nath Kovind’s customary address to the joint sitting of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha Friday. They said this would be an expression of solidarity with farmer unions who have been protesting at Delhi’s borders for over two months, demanding the repeal of new agriculture laws.
Responding to the announcement, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi said: “I appeal to leaders of all parties not to boycott the President’s address. The government is ready to discuss all issues threadbare, and as much time as is required will be set aside when the Business Advisory Committees of both Houses meet.”
Tensions rose at Delhi’s Ghazipur border Thursday after the administration in neighbouring UP’s Ghaziabad district issued orders for protesting farmers to vacate the site by night.
By evening, as police in anti-riot gear started spreading out at the site, the protesters camped there and their leaders, including BKU’s Rakesh Tikait, said they would not leave. Tikait also issued an emotional appeal on stage at the site where he said that the agitation would continue. As videos of the farm leader breaking down started doing the rounds, farmers in Haryana blocked the Chandigarh national highway near Kandela village of Jind district.
Several security personnel earlier deployed at the border leaving. Depleted number of policemen. Protests to continue for the night.
The families of those who died during the ongoing farmers’ protest at the Delhi borders on Thursday said that the protest should not end without getting the laws repealed. They added that leaving the protest midway would be a double loss for them.
“There is no point of leaving the protest midway due to the wrong acts of a handful of the people. It will be double loss for my family as first we lost my father to this struggle and now we cannot afford to lose this protest,” said Gurdeep Singh, son of Sukhdev Singh (64), who died on December 14t while coming back from Singhu border after participating in the ongoing protest. Read more
At midnight at the Ghazipur protest site, Rakesh Tikait addressed the farmers again, and said many were coming there from other states. "We appeal for a peaceful protest. People have started to come from different places. We are making arrangements for water and other things. We will sit peacefully and continue," Tikait said.
Commenting on the farmers' protest, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted that the time has come to choose a side, and he is with farmers and democracy.
https://twitter.com/RahulGandhi/status/1354824569673007106
While condemning the Red Fort violence, Haryana’s Leader of Opposition and former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Thursday said that he continues to support farmers’ demands and government should accept them without delay.
“Farmers are continuing their agitation in extremely harsh conditions and the government should adopt sensitive attitude and accept their demands soon so that the farmers can return to their homes. I have been supporting farmers’ demands since day one and will continue to do so. At the same time, the violence that took place at Red Fort on January 26 needs to be condemned. Such an incident clearly aims at disrupting the peaceful movement of farmers,” Hooda said while addressing media persons in Rohtak.
He added that “a fair and impartial investigation is needed to find out people were who came to the Red Fort with the intention of disrupting and derailing the disciplined and peaceful farmer’s movement”.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha on Thursday said it will not be intimidated by the notices sent to its leaders by Delhi Police and alleged that the government is trying to put an end to the farmers' movement against agri laws by blaming it for the violence during the January 26 tractor rally. The Samyukta Kisan Morcha is an umbrella body of farmer unions protesting against the Centre's three farm laws at various border points of Delhi. In a statement, the morcha said, "We will not be intimidated by the notices being sent by the Delhi Police and will respond to the same. The BJP government (at the Centre), along with its state governments, is trying its best to put an end to this movement by blaming SKM for the events of 26th January and this is not acceptable. The police are doing their best to evacuate several dharnas." --PTI
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday said the Delhi Police issuing lookout notices against farmer leaders over the tractor rally violence is "absolutely wrong". He also said treating the farmers as "flight risk" was not only "illogical but condemnable". "Where will they flee?" asked the chief minister, adding that most of them are small farmers with small land holdings and not some "big corporate raiders" who had fled over the past few years after "looting" the country of billions of rupees. "You failed to stop these bigwigs but are now targeting these small farmers fighting for their survival," he said and appealed to the Centre to immediately direct the Delhi Police to withdraw the lookout notices. --PTI
Noida Police has registered an FIR against eight people including Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, journalists Rajdeep Sardesai, Mrinal Pandey and Zafar Agha for spreading violence on Republic Day through social media posts on farmers’ protests.
UP AICC in-charge Priyanka Gandhi Thursday said the attempt to break or end farmers' movement is contrary to every rule of democracy. She sought strict action against violent elements but at the same time said that the whole country stands with the protesting farmers.
Bhim Army Chief Chandrashekhar Azad on Thursday extended support to farmers' protest and said because of this government, the Dalits and the farmers have formed a relationship of pain. "The government has crossed all limits of atrocities on the farmers. Dalits have also faced this government repeatedly. We can understand the pain of farmers. We have formed a relationship of pain. We will fight together against this persecution. My party and I are with the farmers in this struggle," he said.
A section of farmers at Ghazipur packing up to leave the protest site on Thursday.
Ghazipur border closed. Traffic diverted from NH-24, NH-9, Road no 56, 57A, Kondli, Paper market, Telco T point, EDM Mall, Akshardham & Nizammudin Khatta. Traffic is very heavy in the area and Vikas marg, alerted Delhi Traffic Police, advising all to take alternate routes.