Farmers, who were stopped on the UP Gate-Delhi border Tuesday, were allowed inside the national capital around midnight and march to the memorials of Chaudhary Charan Singh at Kisan Ghat and Mahatma Gandhi. The farmers ended their protest after reaching Kisan Ghat, concluding the ten-day long Kisan Kranti Yatra that had started from Haridwar on September 23.
On Tuesday, the farmers had planned to march to Delhi from the UP border to reach Kisan Ghat on Gandhi Jayanti. The border was, however, sealed and fortified by the Delhi Police along with RAF and RRF personnel.
As the farmers tried to break through the barricades, the police lobbed tear gas shells and used water cannons and baton charged them. The clashes left at least 14 injured, including policemen.
The march then turned into a sit-in under the Ghazipur flyover, waiting for news from a delegation that went to meet Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Union Minister of State for Agriculture Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.
“The aim of the yatra was to reach Kisan Ghat and we couldn’t leave without reaching it. At around 12:30, the police finally made way for us and we marched there. We reached around 1:30 and placed flowers at the memorials of Chaudhury Charan Singh and Mahatma Gandhi,” said Bhartiya Kisan Union national head Rakesh Tikait.
Delhi Police spokesperson Madhur Verma said, “After their assurance, we permitted them for a peace march from where they all dispersed.”
The farmers began dispersing and going back to their villages around 4 am while those whose tractors were damaged by police on Tuesday after the clashes waited at the Ghazipur flyover as Ghaziabad police overlooked their repair.
As for the farmers’ demands, after the meeting with the ministers, farmer leaders said that while some demands were given the nod, core demands were yet to be approved. “Of the 11 demands, seven were accepted but the two important demands of implementation of the Swaminathan Report and the loan waivers were not,” said Yudhvir Singh, general secretary, BKU. He said, “We were told by Singh that these are financial matters and will be deliberated upon later.”
There was dissatisfaction and disquiet among the farmers as they wound up their rally and left for their villages. “We are very upset about how we were treated by the government yesterday. The assault was uncalled for, and the mistrust that we had has only deepened. We can feel no satisfaction from the meetings that were held with the ministers and need to see the results on the field to feel any trust towards the government. In any case, our most important demands were not approved,” said Ravinder Sharma (60) from Bulandahahr district.
What is this? War on farmers on #GandhiJayanti?? #KisanKrantiYatra pic.twitter.com/7NwasHD7Lm
— Girish (@GirishNaught) October 2, 2018
On the eve of Gandhi Jayanti, our farmers are being treated like terrorists.
Government should come out and openly say if they consider these kisans as Urban Naxals or Anti-National?#JaiJawanJaiKisan #KisanKrantiYatrapic.twitter.com/cfsKNn1RQb
— Dhruv Rathee (@dhruv_rathee) October 2, 2018
Farmers, who marched to Delhi through Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh to protest against the Modi Government’s policies on #GandhiJayanti, gathered at the UP-Delhi border on October 2, after police prevented their entry into the capital city #KisanKrantiYatra pic.twitter.com/WrCZxp4e87
— National Herald (@NH_India) October 2, 2018
Ironically, today is the International Day of Non-Violence and Peace #KisanKrantiYatra pic.twitter.com/Nx6e6UgEIz
— Dhruv Rathee (@dhruv_rathee) October 2, 2018
What a brave man
this pic will haunt for BJP for decades. #KisanKrantiYatra pic.twitter.com/9gZ8XdQWPx— Satish Kumar (@satishkumar1012) October 2, 2018
What Irony! we were to celebrate Ahimsa, Jawan and Kishan. @narendramodi ji on this very day has destroyed the very purpose of all three. #ViolenceAgainstFarmers#KisanKrantiYatra pic.twitter.com/nkVD1hH4Fy
— Pankaj Gupta (@pankajgupta) October 2, 2018
