by Peerzada Arshad Hamid
NEW DELHI, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) -- Police Tuesday fired dozens of tear smoke shells and used drones to drop smoke bombs on thousands of farmers marching toward the Indian capital to stage a demonstration to get their demands met.
Thousands of farmers began their protest from Punjab's Fatehgarh Sahib. Young men, women and the elderly were seen sitting in the tractor-trolleys heading to Delhi. The march was stopped by police at a meeting point where farmers from the state of Haryana were supposed to join the march to the Indian capital.
Many farmers were detained as they tried to remove cement barriers obstructing their progress.
According to farmers, the march began after meetings between federal ministers and farmer union leaders remained inconclusive.
TV footage showed columns of smoke rising following the bursting of tear shells as farmers were running away.
The call for a march was given by farmer unions to increase pressure on the federal government to fulfil their demands including the enactment of a law guaranteeing a minimum support price (MSP) for crops.
The farmers are also demanding pensions for farmers and farm laborers, farm debt waiver, withdrawal of police cases, compensation for families of farmers who died during the previous agitation, among others.
Approximately 200 farmer organizations took part in the protest.
Police contingents in Haryana have fortified the state's borders with Punjab at many places using concrete blocks, iron nails and barbed wire to scuttle the marching farmers.
Police personnel also used drones and have deployed riot control vehicles, including water cannons, at many places to keep a close eye on the protesters.
In Delhi, government forces have put multi-layer barricades, concrete blocks, iron nails and walls of containers at border points to disallow the protesting farmers.
Authorities in Delhi have sounded an alert and imposed orders banning large gatherings until March 12.
Meanwhile, farmer leaders have denounced the government for blocking and fortifying roads.
"We were promised our demands will be met, but the government didn't keep its promise. This time, we will leave only after all our demands are met," Harbhajan Singh, a farmer told a television news channel.
In September 2020, the Indian government passed three contentious laws aimed at "modernizing" the country's agricultural sector. However, farmers feared the new laws would weaken their position and make them dependent on corporates. In seeking revocation of the laws, thousands of farmers sat on strike on the borders of the national capital then.
The strike went on for over a year after which Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced in a surprise address to the nation that his government was repealing the laws. ■
