Tikri simmers after ‘locals’ demand farmers’ eviction

Police did not let the counter-protesters to move towards the site where farmers are sitting.

At least 100 people on Friday gathered near the Tikri border where farmers are protesting against the three contentious farm laws and demanded the removal of protesters from the main Rohtak Road, which has been blocked for the last two months.

The counter-protesters tried to cross the barricades and approach the farmers, but were pushed back by the police. (ANI Photo)

Tension prevailed when the counter-protesters tried to cross the barricades to go near the farmers but before the situation could escalate, the police managed to push them back. The farmers said it was a “conspiracy” to defame and undermine the movement.

On Friday, violence was reported during a similar counter-protest at Singhu border.

Pintu Kumar, a resident of the nearby Baba Haridas Nagar at Tikri Border, said that these protesters “broke our trust” and “insulted” the national flag on January 26, when the farmers took out a tractor rally.

“These people cannot be farmers, as a Kisan will never attack a Jawan. These are anti-social elements. We initially supported them and gave them food as well but they have broken our trust by resorting to violence on Republic Day,” Kumar said, who was leading the protest.

Another member of the group, Ravindra Kumar Chaudhary, said, “For the last two months, we have been tolerating whatever these protesters were doing on the pretext of agitation against farm laws. Whatever they did on January 26 is unacceptable. We will not tolerate the insult of our national flag.”

Police did not let the counter-protesters to move towards the site where farmers are sitting.

“After the violence during the Republic Day rally, we enhanced the deployment here. More police personnel along with teams of RAF (Rapid Action Force) were deployed at Tikri to handle any untoward incident,” a police official, deployed at the site said, requesting anonymity.

The police have placed barricades to stop locals as well as the farmers from clashing with each other. They also appealed to the people to maintain peace.

The number of farmer protesters at Tikri increased on Friday when groups of Haryana and Punjab joined them.

Maninder Pal Singh, a farmer from Muktsar in Punjab, said the protest will continue to gain strength and more people will join the protest in coming days. “We will not relent unless our demands are met... Today’s protests by so-called locals was a conspiracy by the central government to defame our movement,” Singh said.

Kushvinder Singh Mann, another farmer who has come from Bhatinda said locals have no problem with the agitation. “Those who protested against our movement today are connected to the ruling party at the centre. They want to disrupt our movement. We have never caused any inconvenience to any local resident here. We will ensure that no one faces a problem because of us,” Mann said.

Sudesh Goyat, a farmer and a member of the Kisan Morcha at Tikri Border, said, “Mahapanchayats (meetings) were organised on Thursday in many Haryana villages where it was decided to carry on the agitation. As a result, over 100 tractors reached here today to be the part of this historic movement.”