The Delhi Disaster Management Authority on Wednesday permitted farmers to stage protests at Jantar Mantar between 11 am and 5 pm from 22 July to 9 August, subject to participation of a maximum of 200 protesters per day and following Covid-19 protocols.
Speaking to the media, farmer leader Darshan Pal Singh said that a group of 200 farmers will go in four buses to hold “Kisan Sansad” at Parliament Street. “We will discuss the agrarian crisis, the three farm laws and MSP. We’ve constituted a six-member steering committee which will include three members from Punjab. The monsoon session of Parliament started on Monday and is scheduled to conclude on August 13.
Meanwhile, in view of this march, all intelligence agencies in Delhi are on alert. Sources told The Daily Guardian that in the first alert, it has been said that the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) may protest on a large scale near Parliament from July 22 in protest against the new agricultural laws, due to which the law and order can be disturbed, and the general public may face trouble. It has been said in the alert that a large number of supporters can reach Delhi by train. All agencies, including Delhi Police and GRP, should be on alert.
Harinder Singh Lakhowal, general secretary of Bhartiya Kisan Union (Lakhowal), said, “Our protests will begin from Thursday onwards for all days of the monsoon session. In our meeting with the police, they told us that we need to reduce the number of people and they won’t allow us near the Parliament. We have told them to give us a place outside the Parliament, whether it’s Jantar Mantar or another area.”
Meanwhile, Delhi Police also wrote to Delhi Metro to keep extra vigil at seven metro stations and close them, if needed, at short notice, in view of the farmers’ protest near Parliament. The police urged DMRC to close Janpath, Lok Kalyan Marg, Patel Chowk, Rajiv Chowk, Central Secretariat, Mandi House and Udyog Bhawan stations if required.
A tractor parade in Delhi on January 26, that was to highlight the demands of farmers’ unions to repeal three agriculture laws, had dissolved into anarchy on the streets of the national capital as thousands of protesters broke through barriers, fought with the police, overturned vehicles and hoisted a religious flag from the ramparts of the iconic Red Fort.