New Delhi: The Haryana Police on Sunday evening fired teargas canisters to thwart the march of a group of agitating farmers towards Delhi at Masani barrage in Rewari district.
Farmers first broke police barricades put up near Bhudla Sangwari village and then started moving towards Delhi in the evening.
They have been camping in the service lane of the Delhi-Jaipur highway for the past few days, police said.
When the farmers’ group reached the Masani barrage, where the barricades were put up, police used teargas to disperse them. “We have stopped them (the farmers) at Masani,” Rewari superintendent of police Abhishek Jorwal told PTI over the phone.
Most of the protesters remain at the border. “About 15-20 tractors entered Rewari today [Sunday]…they had a clash with police. However, those of us following the directions of the Samyukt Kisan Union are still at the border and will continue to remain there. The next course of action will be decided depending on the outcome of tomorrow’s meeting with the government. If they don’t fulfill our demands, we will look at moving towards Delhi after January 6,” Ramzan Chaudhary, head of the Nuh unit of Jai Kisan Andolan, told the Indian Express.
On December 31, a group of farmers had broken police barricades at the Shahjahanpur border with Rajasthan, trying to move towards the national capital.
Police had then too resorted to teargas shelling as well as using water cannons to stop them.
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A large number of farmers from Rajasthan, Haryana and some other places have been protesting on the Jaipur-Delhi highway for the past several days, demanding the repeal of new farm laws. They have been camping at the Rajasthan-Haryana border point after police had earlier stopped them from proceeding towards Delhi as part of their Delhi Chalo march against the new farm laws.
Thousands of farmers are now camped at various borders of Delhi, saying they will not retreat until the Centre repeals the new laws.
The tear-gassing occurred on the eve of the latest round of talks between farmers’ representatives and the Centre. “Our demands remain the same. The farm laws must be repealed. The two amendments need to be rolled back and the government must listen. Our agitation will continue,” Jageer Singh Dalewal of the Bharatiya Kisan Union told the Indian Express.
(With PTI inputs)