Farmers are set to resume their ‘Delhi Chalo’ foot march on Saturday, 12pm.
Chandigarh:
A ‘jatha’ of 101 farmers will resume their foot march to Delhi at 12 noon on Saturday from the Shambhu border point to press the Centre for various demands including a legal guarantee for minimum support price.
The Haryana government suspended mobile internet and bulk SMS services in 12 villages in Ambala till December 17.
Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) leader Sarwan Singh Pandher on Saturday said the group of farmers will proceed towards Delhi.
It will be the third attempt by the protesting farmers to march towards the national capital since December 6. They had earlier made two attempts — December 6 and December 8 — but were not allowed to proceed by security personnel in Haryana.
A multi-layered barricading has already been done by the Haryana security personnel to prevent farmers from marching towards Delhi.
Meanwhile, mobile internet and bulk SMS services were suspended early Saturday to maintain public peace, according to an order issued by Additional Chief Secretary (Home), Sumita Misra.
The order to suspend mobile internet in Dangdehri, Lehgarh, Manakpur, Dadiyana, Bari Ghel, Choti Ghel, Lharsa, Kalu Majra, Devi Nagar (Hira Nagar, Naresh Vihar), Saddopur, Sultanpur and Kakru villages in Ambala was issued to prevent any disturbance of peace and public order, Misra said.
The Ambala district administration has already clamped a prohibitory order under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) that bans the unlawful assembly of five or more people in the district.
The Ambala police had earlier said the farmer outfits, which are agitating for a legal guarantee for Minimum Support Price and other demands, can march to Delhi only after getting permission from the national capital administration.
The farmers under the banner of Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and KMM have been pressing for various demands, including a legal guarantee for Minimum Support Price (MSP). They have also been pressing the Centre to initiate talks with them to address their issues.
Meanwhile, farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal’s fast unto death at the Khanauri border point entered the 19th day on Saturday. Doctors have already recommended his hospitalisation, saying because of the prolonged fast, he has turned weak.
However, the protesting farmers have formed a security ring around Dallewal so that the state authorities could not remove him from the protest site.
The Punjab Police had forcibly removed Dallewal from the Khanauri border point on November 26, just hours before he was going to start his fast unto death.
On Friday, SKM leader Rakesh Tikait met Dallewal and also called for unity of farmers’ groups for a “joint fight”.
Dallewal has been on a fast-unto-death at the Khanauri border between Punjab and Haryana since November 26 to press the Centre to accept the agitating farmers’ demands, including a legal guarantee of MSP on crops.
Farmers under the banner of SKM (Non-Political) and KMM have been camping at Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since February 13 after their march to Delhi was stopped by security forces.
Besides a legal guarantee on the minimum support price (MSP) for crops, the farmers are demanding a debt waiver, pension for farmers and farm labourers, no hike in the electricity tariff, withdrawal of police cases and “justice” for the victims of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence.
Reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013 and compensation to the families of the farmers who died during a previous agitation in 2020-21 are also part of their demands.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
