Thousands of farmers stay put at Delhi’s borders, traffic disrupted | Latest News Delhi - Hindustan Times
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Thousands of farmers stay put at Delhi’s borders, traffic disrupted

Hindustan Timess, New Delhi | ByShiv Sunny
Nov 28, 2020 10:44 AM IST

A large number of farmers continued to camp at that border point through the night as they rejected the protest site proposed by the Delhi Police . At the Singhu border, which opens into Sonepat, none of the farmers accepted the offer and the impasse continued.

The Delhi Police’s proposal to allot the Sant Nirankari Ground in Burari as a protest site for farmers demonstrating against three contentious central laws did little to ease the situation on Friday with only a few of them accepting the offer to march in but others deciding to stay put at the borders.

Farmers remove barricades as they head towards Delhi to protest against the farm laws, at Dabwali border on Friday.(ANI)
Farmers remove barricades as they head towards Delhi to protest against the farm laws, at Dabwali border on Friday.(ANI)

The few farmers who arrived at the Burari ground were those who had gathered at the Tikri Border. They cooked and camped at the huge ground along the Outer Ring Road even as the police kept watch.

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But a large number of protesters continued to camp at that border point through the night. At the Singhu border, which opens into Sonepat, none of the farmers accepted the offer and the impasse continued.

As a result, key arterial roads remained closed for traffic through the night, causing massive disruption for commuters, including those wanting to enter Haryana from the national capital or vice-versa.

“The farmers…are undecided about whether or not they should accept the Burari ground as the protest site. Since many of these groups look to be leaderless, it is difficult for us to have a conversation with them and arrive at a consensus,” said a senior police officer.

Thousands of farmers protesting the Union government’s new farm laws pushed their way into Delhi on Friday after skirmishes with the police, which fired tear gas and used water cannons to stop them but later agreed to a peaceful demonstration within the city.

The farmers who refused to accept the police’s offer on Friday said that they would settle for nothing less than the Rashtrapati Bhawan or a place close to the corridors of power.

The police offer was made after a series of clashes at the borders with officials using tear gas shells and water cannons to disperse the agitators and putting up barded wires and barricades to deter them.

On Friday, the police also closed two other border roads -- the Dhansa border and the Jharoda Kalan border -- for traffic as a precautionary measure, even through there were no protesters there.

Santosh Meena, deputy commissioner of police (Dwarka), said that while the Dhansa border (which sees little traffic anyway) was opened on Friday evening, the Jharoda Kalan border was opened only for traffic towards Haryana. “The incoming traffic at Jharoda Kalan is open only for emergency traffic,” Meena said.

“If someone is ending up at the Jharoda Kalan Border, we are asking them to enter through the Tikri Border,” said Meena on Saturday morning.

On Friday, when protesters at landed at the city’s gates, they insisted on being let in, and it resulted in multiple conflicts between them and the police at the Singhu and Tikri borders. “But now the farmers themselves don’t want to enter the city,” said another senior police officer.

Farmers have demanded a repeal of three laws enacted by Parliament in September which, together, allow agribusinesses to freely trade farm produce without restrictions, permit private traders to stockpile large quantities of essential commodities for future sales and lay down new rules for contract farming.

Farmers say the reforms would make them vulnerable to exploitation by big corporations, erode their bargaining power and weaken the government’s minimum support price (MSP) system, which offers cultivators assured prices from the government, largely for wheat and rice.

Agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar and railways, food and consumer affairs minister Piyush Goyal held day-long negotiations on November 13 with leaders of several farmers’ groups in an attempt to end over two months of a politically challenging agitation. The discussions were inconclusive, but both sides had agreed to continue negotiations in the future.

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