‘Largely under Haryana’: Farmers’ leader on routes given for R-Day tractor rally

Sukhwinder Singh Sabhra of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee said on Monday a final call on the time and route for the rally would be taken after a meeting with the police.

A leader of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC) on Monday expressed dissatisfaction over the routes approved by the Delhi Police for Tuesday’s proposed tractor rally by the farmers protesting against the three contentious farm laws. KMSC’s Sukhwinder Singh Sabhra told news agency ANI that the routes approved by the police come largely under Haryana, as against farmers’ leaders' demand for Delhi’s Outer Ring Road. Sabhra said a final call on the route would be taken after a meeting with the police at 10am.

“We feel that the kind of permission granted to us for tractor rally is not right. We wanted to go to the Old Ring Road but we were given conditional permission and assigned the portion that comes largely under Haryana,” ANI quoted Sabhra as saying. “All we’re saying is that we don’t want to go there, we just want to go to the Ring Road. We’ll have a meeting with the police at 10am over this. It will then be decided where we will finally go. After the meeting, we’ll decide the time and route of the rally,” he said.

After multiple rounds of talks last week, the Delhi Police on Sunday finally gave “conditional” approval for the rally. However, addressing a press conference, special commissioner of police (intelligence) Dependra Pathak said more than 300 Twitter handles had been set up in Pakistan to create “disturbance” at the rally.

According to the police, the tractor parade would begin only after the conclusion of the official Republic Day celebrations. Barricades placed at Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur borders would be removed, allowing the protesters to enter the national capital. The rally would cover a distance of 170km, of this, 100km would be covered inside the city. The Delhi Police has asked all its personnel, including those on Republic Day duty, to be on alert for any potential law and order situation.

The farmers’ leaders, though, have repeatedly assured that the march would be “peaceful.” The agitation against the three farm laws entered day 61 on Monday.