Thousands of protesting farmers clashed with police and paramilitary forces Tuesday after they were stopped from entering Delhi to press for their demands including remunerative crop prices and loan waivers. Farmers’ leaders who met Union home minister Rajnath Singh for discussions said the government’s assurances were not satisfactory and they will continue their agitation.
Farmers are “not satisfied” with the government’s assurance to look into their demands, said Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) president Naresh Tikait, who is spearheading the protests.
“We will discuss this and then decide on future course of action. I can’t decide anything alone, our committee will take the decision,” he added, reported PTI.
Union home minister Rajnath Singh held discussions with Union agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh and some farmers’ leaders and Union minister of state for agriculture Gajendra Singh Shekhawat then met the protesters at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border.
Shekhawat told the farmers that the government will move court over the National Green Tribunal’s order to ban tractor and vehicles which are more than 10 years old, as had been sought by the protestors. On the problem of farm labour, he said the government would look at bringing changes to the minimum wage rules for rural areas to solve this problem, and has formed a committee of six chief ministers for this purpose, reported PTI.
Speaking to ANI, BKU spokesman Yudhvir Singh said: “We had a discussion on 11 points. Government agreed on seven points but didn’t agree on four points yet. They said they will have to think about those meetings in a further meeting after which they will tell us, as it is a financial matter:”
{{/usCountry}}Speaking to ANI, BKU spokesman Yudhvir Singh said: “We had a discussion on 11 points. Government agreed on seven points but didn’t agree on four points yet. They said they will have to think about those meetings in a further meeting after which they will tell us, as it is a financial matter:”
{{/usCountry}}“Government didn’t clear its stand on the main issue of the farmers - C2+50 (a minimum support price of cost, calculated on C2 basis which included cost of capital and rent of cultivated land as recommended by the MS Swaminathan Commission). That is why the farmers are unsatisfied. It didn’t clear its stand even on the other main issue of loan waiver. They said they will discuss it in detail,” he added.
The farmers, who planned to march to Kisan Ghat in Delhi to press for their 15-point charter of demands, broke through barricades when police stopped them by using water cannons and tear gas and deflating the tyres of tractors.
According to a Delhi police statement, “a section of the crowd suddenly turned violent and tried to break the barricades forcefully through tractor-trolleys” while “some protestors also resorted to stone pelting and wielded lathis causing injuries to police personnel deployed on duty”. It said “only the minimum required force was used to contain these aggressive and violent protestestors”.
Seven policemen, including an assistant commissioner of police, were injured, it said.
The police crackdown was denounced by opposition parties.
“On International Day of Non-Violence, the BJP’s two-year Gandhi Jayanti celebrations began with the brutal beating of farmers peacefully coming to Delhi. Now, the farmers cannot even air the grievances coming to the capital!” said Congress president Rahul Gandhi in a tweet in Hindi.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, in a tweet, asked why the farmers were not being allowed to enter the city.
Samajwadi Party chief and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav accused the Narendra Modi government for not fulfilling the promises made to farmers.