The national capital is all set to witness the foot march by farmers under the banner of Samyukta Kisan Morcha and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha from the Shambhu border, despite prohibitory orders in Ambala.
The farmers had announced a foot march to Delhi this afternoon, seeking legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) of crops, among other demands. Police have barricaded the Ambala-Delhi border, as the farmers are expected to start the march from the protest site near Shambhu border at 1pm. Central paramilitary forces have also been deployed on the Haryana side of the border.
VIDEO | "It has been 20-25 days since 'Delhi Chalo' was announced... We have not made any arrangement. We are unarmed. Today is martyrdom day of Guru Tegh Bahadur," says farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher on farmers' 'Delhi Chalo' march.
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 6, 2024
(Full video available on PTI Videos -… pic.twitter.com/o96kXj937F
Ambala district administration has issued an order under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), which restricts any unlawful assembly of five or more persons in the district. As per the order, taking out any procession on foot, vehicles, or other modes has been prohibited. Ambala police have sent senior officers to the border to assess the security situation.
ALSO READ: SC asks protesting farmer leaders not to cause inconvenience to people
The farmers have been camping at Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since February 13 after their march to Delhi was stopped.
Farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher asserted that the march will start as per plan. "What the government will do is for them to decide. We will begin our march towards Delhi at 1 pm from the Shambhu border,” he said at the press conference. “The leaders at the Centre and in states have been regularly saying that if the farmers do not bring tractor-trolleys, there should be no objection. So if we go to Delhi on foot, there should be no reason to stop the farmers," Pandher said.
#WATCH | At the Shambhu border, Farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher says, "... The march has entered its 297th day and the indefinite hunger strike at the Khanauri border has entered its 11th day. At 1 pm, a 'jatha' of 101 farmers will move towards Delhi from the Shambhu… pic.twitter.com/GX8LEzsNaj
— ANI (@ANI) December 6, 2024
He also accused the police and administration of treating the farmers like “enemies from some other country”, and added that the farmers were “citizens of this land who want to peacefully march to the national capital” to present their demands.
What are the farmers' demands?
Besides MSP, the farmers want farm debt waiver, pension for farmers and farm labourers, withdrawal of police cases against farmers, no hike in electricity tariff, reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, compensation to the families of farmers who died during the protests in 2020-21, and "justice" for the victims of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence.
ALSO READ: PM Modi is yet to walk the talk on farmers' issues
According to ANI, 34 farmers were detained yesterday on their way to Rashtriya Dalit Prerna Sthal in Noida, to hold a protest without taking permission.
