In anticipation of the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march organised by several farmers’ unions, the BJP-JJP led Haryana government is on toes to stop the farmers of Pujnab entering in Haryana. An intelligence report states that around 20 thousands may reach Delhi on 2,000 to 2,500 tractors to participate in the march. In wake of farmers’ call to their supporters to gather and agitate in National capital Delhi for the fulfillment of their demands of the law on MSP, the Haryana government has tightened the security on borders adjoining Punjab and Delhi. The internal information revealed that the farmers from Haryana are likely to sit at the border of Delhi till their demands are met. In order to avoid any untoward incident and to maintain Law & Order, a section 144 Criminal Procedure Code by Haryana government has been implemented in several districts of Haryana citing that in view of the gravity of the issue, it is required to be issued to save the lives and property in the
state which has annoyed the farmers. It is worth mentioning that a significant number of farmers from Punjab and nearby areas, notably Ambala, congregated at the Shambhu border, breaching police barricades in an attempt to march towards Delhi in 2020.
In view of this, the farmers unions in Haryana are eyeball to eyeball with the state government raising questions on the Haryana government’s barricading on the border and shutting down the internet. In a reaction to the issue, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar said that if farmers carry weapons on tractors, then why should we not stop them. All the borders have been sealed to prevent farmers from Punjab from entering Haryana. Notably, the internet has been closed in 7 districts of Haryana till 13 February.
It is learnt that Farmers from several districts of Haryana are expected to participate in this agitation as a couple of rounds of meetings have been organised by the farmer organisations in connection with the agitation. in view of the seriousness of the situation, the Haryana Police issued a traffic advisory and urged commuters to limit travel on the main roads of the state to urgent situations on February 13, anticipating potential traffic disruptions on major routes from Haryana to Punjab.
In the traffic advisory, police asked commuters going from Chandigarh to Delhi to take alternative routes via Derabassi, Barwala/Ramgarh, Saha, Shahbad, Kurukshetra, or through Panchkula, NH-344 Yamunanagar Indri/Pipli, Karnal. Similarly, passengers travelling from Delhi to Chandigarh have been asked to reach their destination via Karnal, Indri/Pipli, Yamunanagar, Panchkula, or Kurukshetra Shahabad, Saha, Barwala, Ramgarh, According to the intelligence report anti-social elements may participate in this agitation and disrupt law and order and in a bid prevent rumours from spreading, social media monitoring is necessary at all Delhi borders and districts of Haryana adjoining to Punjab.
It is pertinent to mention that ahead of of parliamentary polls, multiple farmer unions have announced a ‘Delhi Chalo to put pressure on the government to meet their demands including the enactment of legislation ensuring a minimum support price (MSP) for crops, forgiveness of farm debts, withdrawal of police charges, implementation of the Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations, provision of pensions for farmers and farm laborers,and seeking justice for victims of the Lakhimpur Kheri violence. It is worth mentioning that the farmers primarily hailing from Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh staged a year-long protest at Delhi’s border points-Singhu, Tikri, and Ghazipur-against the now-repealed farm laws in 2020 which forced the union government to withdraw three contentious agriculture laws.
In anticipation of the farmers’ planned ‘Delhi Chalo’ march on February 13, the Haryana government issued a directive to halt mobile internet services and bulk SMS in seven districts. mobile internet services will be inaccessible in Ambala, Kaithal, Jind, Hisar, Fatehabad, Kurukshetra, and Sirsa districts from 6 am on February 11 until 23:59 pm on February 13. The centre has now invited farmer leaders for a meeting on their demands on February 12. Three Union ministers – Piyush Goyal, Arjun Munda and Nityanand Rai – will hold talks in Chandigarh with a delegation of Samyukta Kisan Morcha and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha. The meeting will be held at the Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration in Sector 26 here, a day before the farmers’ proposed ‘Delhi Chalo’ march. The farmer bodies held the first round of meeting with the three Union ministers on February 8.