New Delhi (TIP): As the Delhi Police started removing barricades near two farmer protest sites — Tikri and Ghazipur, farm union leaders Friday said the move vindicated their stand that they had never blocked roads at the city border points. The protesting unions, however, added a note of caution, saying that they were “watching BJP’s latest manoeuvres carefully”.
The SKM is likely to discuss the matter at its November 2 meeting. Farmer leaders said that any decision to entirely clear both the carriageways at the protest sites will be taken by the SKM.
The police move comes days after a Supreme Court hearing that saw farmer unions arguing that the police were responsible for the traffic blockade.
BKU president Gurnam Singh Charuni said, “Traffic movement was allowed by the protesters in the past too and will be done even now.”
Senior SKM member Dr Darshan Pal, who is also president of Krantikari Kisan Union, said, “Since Thursday, Delhi Police have been making special efforts to make a show of removal of barricades and various other obstacles that they had placed on the roads against protesting farmers. This is happening at Tikri border as well as Ghazipur border. It is well known that the police had behaved like protestors were enemies of India…They had fortified the morcha sites by placing huge cement boulders, multiple layers of metal barricades, placement of sand trucks across the roads and also fixing multiple layers of nails on the road.”
Sukhdarshan Natt, state executive committee member of the Punjab Kisan Union, who was near Tikri border on Friday, said, “They have removed the concrete blocks, heavy vehicles like tipper, cranes etc. The iron railings are still there, which they can be removed manually anytime. Their actions have proved that they had blocked traffic…Now we will decide what to do next. We had wanted to move towards Delhi, but were stopped by barricading the roads. As they are being removed, we will think whether to go towards Jantar Mantar or stay here.”
Farmer leader Rakesh Tikait said, “The future course of the ongoing farmers’ protest would be decided by the SKM, which is leading the movement against the three farm laws.”
Dr Darshan Pal added: “So far, there is no call to go to Delhi. Any future course of action will be decided in a meeting of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha.”
BKU spokesperson Saurabh Upadhyay too said farmers want to go to Delhi, but the SKM will take the final call.
Union leaders also hoped that the Centre would invite farmers for a dialogue to break the logjam over the farm laws.
“If the government wants the logjam to end, it should talk to the farmers now and we are ready for it. But if it wants the farmers’ movement to continue, we are determined to prolong it as it has already been 11 months since the protests began,” Upadhyay said.
SKM member Sudesh Goyat said: “We are happy that roadblocks are being removed and now traffic will be able to move. It will also help in reviving economy here as petrol pumps, shops which are shut for 11 months due to road closure will now start functioning again.” Joginder Singh Ugrahan, president of BKU (Ugrahan) said, “Delhi police had put up multi-layered barricades at Tikri, Singhu and Gazipur borders to stop us moving ahead towards Delhi. However, in the Supreme Court, they have been mentioning that farmers have blocked the highway….As they are removing barricades, it is clear now that the blockade was done from their side.”