Tear gas and instantaneous embankments could be seen in direct streams from the city’s streets, while police contained large crowds of protesters in tractors and broke through barricades on foot. Both police and protesters were spotted in the streets with large sticks.
Many of the farmers, who decorated their tractors with colorful flags, including the flag of India and various farmers’ unions, had been camping for more than two months in protest on the outskirts of the capital. Others, including young farmers from the northern states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan, have gathered at the border in time over the past few days for the planned march on India’s Republic Day.
Police fired tear gas and batons against protesters outside the headquarters of Delhi and in two adjacent areas of the city use, while some farmers broke through barricades, the protesters said Tuesday.
“Outside the Delhi police headquarters, tear gas and batons were used, and protesters also attacked the police buses stationed there,” said Paramjeet Singh Katyal, a spokeswoman for Samyukt Kisan Morcha, the umbrella group representing farmers’ unions.
“We have broken the barriers, our tractors, people are marching, some leaders are also on horseback … thousands of farmers have already reached the capital,” Katyal said.
According to Ashutosh Mishra, a spokesperson for the All India Sangharsh Coordinating Committee, one of the unions leading the protests.
Although police have given permission for farmers to hold a tractor march in Delhi, they have, according to Mishra, placed a cap of 5,000 tractors. However, more than 200,000 tractors have been mobilized, with many young people coming from neighboring states, said Darshan Pal, president of the Krantikari Kisan Union.
A Delhi police spokesman Anil Mittal said they did not have a statement on the clashes, saying only ‘we have just asked protesters to maintain peace. ‘
The Indian government has been offering guaranteed prices for certain crops to farmers for decades, providing long-term certainty that has in theory enabled them to make investments for the next crop cycle. The new agricultural laws, first passed by Modi’s government in September, allow farmers to sell their goods at any price to anyone, giving them more freedom to do things like sell directly to buyers and to others. states for sale.
But farmers argued that the new rules would be worse off by making it easier for businesses to exploit agricultural workers and help large businesses lower prices. While farmers can sell crops at increased prices if demand is there, they may conversely struggle to meet the minimum price in years when there is too much supply in the market.
The laws were so controversial because agriculture is the primary source of livelihood for about 58% of India’s 1.3 billion people, and farmers have been arguing for years to raise the minimum guaranteed prices. They are the largest constituency in the country – making farming a central political issue.
There were seats for days along each of the three borders of New Delhi. Farmers blocked roads and set up temporary camps, some of which slept on the road or in their tractors. They arrived from different states to take part in the mass protests and sometimes clashed with the police.
The government held 11 rounds of talks with leaders of more than 30 unions opposed to the laws – but the talks went nowhere.
Protesters said on Tuesday that they were increasing the pressure, as well as the three routes to the city designated by Delhi police, that they planned to march at six points on the city’s borders, as well as in the northern states of Haryana , Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, according to Yogendra Yadav, a leader of the farmers’ protests.
Farmers’ unions also plan to march to parliament on February 1, the day parliament holds its budget session, Yadav said.
To control the crowd, the traffic police in Delhi created diversions along several highways and highways in the city, and the metro closed exits at least 15 stations near protest areas.