Farmers stay firm on march to capital on Republic Day
The rally is scheduled to start at noon on Tuesday covering 130km around Delhi
Deepak Chaudhary stood out from a distance at the Delhi-Gazipur border where thousands of farmers readied their tractors for the Republic Day march. The 25-year-old from Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh was already donning a tricolour headgear and garland on Monday noon, though the parade was to begin a good 24 hours later.
“Hope I will get to show some tricks tomorrow," Chaudhary said, brimming with excitement while explaining how he can balance and rotate a tractor on one side. As India celebrates its 72nd Republic Day on Tuesday, tens of thousands of farmers will march with their tractors in the national capital as a show of strength and a mark of protest against the three farm laws passed by Parliament in September. “The government will have to take back these laws. Only then will we go home," Chaudhary said.
For about two months now, farmers from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have been protesting at the various entry points to the national capital at the Ghazipur, Singhu and Tikri borders. Farmers have been resolute in their demand that the laws have to be repealed and turned down the government’s offer of amendments or suspending the laws temporarily. The protestors have only swelled since 27 November when they reached Delhi’s doorstep, crossing an estimated 200,000.
The Republic Day march is scheduled to start at noon on Tuesday covering more than 130km around Delhi and its fringes. The Samyukt Kisan Morcha, the coalition of farm unions leading the agitation, has assured the march will be peaceful and issued detailed instructions for farmers. These include every trolley carrying the national flag and packing sufficient water and food for 24 hours and a bar on anyone even carry a stick or banners with provocative slogans.
However, a confrontation cannot be ruled out. The Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, a popular union from Punjab, has said its members will march on Outer Ring Road in Delhi according to an earlier plan that was not approved by the police. “We will do our tractor parade peacefully on the route decided earlier and not one enforced by the government," Sarwan Singh Pandher, general secretary of the union said on Monday.
At the Ghazipur border, some had a different problem at hand. Mohammed Shahid and about 10 of his fellow farmers had come to the protest site from Bijnore in Uttar Pradesh in the hope of joining the march. However, they have been told that not more than four or five can ride on a tractor and trolleys which can seat more people will not be allowed. “Some of us will have to stay back it seems but this is not the end of our struggle," Shahid said.
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