Farmers belonging to different parts of the country have gathered at Jantar Mantar in Delhi for a day-long event to reiterate their demand for minimum support price and also raise the issue of unemployment in the country. Security arrangements were beefed up in the Capital ahead of the agitation
Farmers from different parts of the country such as Punjab, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, have travelled over the past few days to attend the mahapanchayat at Jantar Mantar in the capital. PTI
It’s been a miserable Monday morning for Delhites as they had to encounter a massive traffic jam at the Ghazipur border while vehicular movement also remained slow at the Singhu border owing to traffic restrictions the Delhi Police has imposed ahead of the ‘mahapanchayat’ called by farmers’ body at Jantar Mantar today.
Commuters complained of long queues at the Ghazipur border as each car was being checked by the authorities as part of their security arrangements for the ‘mahapanchayat’.
The cops have also asked motorists to avoid Tolstoy Marg, Sansad Marg, Janpath Road, Ashoka Road, Outer Circle Connaught Place, Baba Kharak Singh Marg and Pandit Pant Marg due to farmers” mahapanchayat at Jantar Mantar.
But what is this mahapanchayat all about? As Delhi remains on edge, we examine why farmers have called for this meeting and will the country see another farmers protest like the one they witnessed in 2020-2021?
Why the mahapanchayat?
Monday’s mahapanchayat, which has been called by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) and other farmer groups, is expected to see participation from hundreds of farmers from different states, who have been arriving in Delhi over the past two days.
Abhimanyu Singh Kohar, member of the SKM and organiser of the mahapanchayat said that Monday’s meet was a day-long event to reiterate the farmers’ demands of minimum support price (MSP) and the cancellation of the Electricity Amendment Bill 2022.
He added that the protests come after the Centre has done “nothing” regarding their promises made to the farmers. “So, here we are again to discuss and raise our demands and chalk out a future strategy of the movement,” Kohar was quoted as saying to The Outlook.
Another reason for the mahapanchayat is also to discuss the rising unemployment in the country.
Last week, the SKM also organised a demonstration in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri, “seeking justice” in the 2021 violence case. Eight people, including four farmers, were allegedly run over by Union Minister Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish in Lakhimpur Kheri in October last year.
Security tightened
Fearing violence, authorities have been put on high alert and elaborate security arrangements have been put in place.
A large number of police personnel have been deployed in and around Jantar Mantar to ensure that no untoward incident takes place. Moreover, several barricades have been set up around the border areas by the authorities.
Special Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Dependra Pathak was quoted as telling news agency PTI, “We have made adequate arrangements to ensure that the law and order is maintained and there is no loss of life and property.”
The Metro has also been put on high alert and police have been deployed there too.
Earlier on Sunday, farmer leader Rakesh Tikait was detained by the Delhi Police at the Ghazipur border while he was trying to enter the capital.
He alleged that the Delhi Police was working at the behest of the Centre and did not allow him to meet the unemployed youth.
A Delhi Police official said Tikait, the national spokesperson for the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) and a prominent face of the SKM, was stopped at the border around afternoon.
“Thereafter, he was detained and taken to Madhu Vihar police station where police requested him to return,” Special Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Dependra Pathak had said.
The fiery farmer leader tweeted after he was detained that the “struggle will continue till the last breath.”
Other SKM leaders alleged that they were stopped at different locations and weren’t allowed to reach Jantar Mantar, a claim that the Delhi Police has rejected.
A throwback to 2020?
SKM leader Baldev Singh Sirsa stated that farmers from Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana and Tamil Nadu have gathered at Jantar Mantar and that if their demands are not met, they will only intensify their stir — as they did back in 2020.
“Our demands are met only through agitation, why is that? If the government does not meet the demands, the protests will be intensified,” he was quoted as telling the Indian Express.
He added that after the farm laws were repealed in November 2021, they were told that a committee would be put in place to implement MSP and also that the cases registered against farmers during the stir would be withdrawn. “None of this has been done yet,” he said.
For those who have forgotten, thousands of farmers from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh had camped out the borders around Delhi beginning in November 2020 to protest against the Centre’s three farm laws.
They only suspended their movement in December 2021 when the Centre finally acceded to their demands and repealed the three farm laws.
With inputs from agencies
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