Punjab farmers back on road to Delhi, face teargas drones and barricades

While the protesters sustained injuries from teargas shells and rubber bullets, security personnel suffered stone-pelting injuries.

Police use tear gas shells to disperse farmers during their ‘Delhi Chalo’ march at Punjab-Haryana Shambhu border, near Patiala, Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2024. (PTI Photo)

Asked about the use of “drone tear smoke launchers” at Shambhu, Showkat Ahmed Parray, Deputy Commissioner, Patiala (Punjab), told The Indian Express, “I had told Deputy Commissioner, Ambala (Haryana), not to use drones to drop teargas shells inside Punjab’s territory. He assured me that it would be stopped.”

However, sources said the drones conducted multiple sorties till late evening, dropping teargas shells to keep the protesters away from the barricades. Haryana Police sources said the drones were operated by the paramilitary forces, who formed the first line of defence.

The decision to march to Delhi — ‘Dilli Chalo’ — was taken after marathon talks in Chandigarh remained inconclusive on Monday. The march, on tractor-trolleys, began at 10 am from Fatehgarh Sahib district towards Shambhu, and from Sangrur towards Khanauri.

Police use tear gas shells to disperse farmers gathered at the Punjab-Haryana Shambhu border during their ‘Delhi Chalo’ march. (Express Photo by Gurmeet Singh)

At Shambhu, the first round of teargas shells was fired at about 11.30 am when a group of farmers tried to remove the first barricade on the bridge over the Ghaggar river. Water cannons and rubber bullets were also deployed to disperse the protesters.

Protesters tied ropes around concrete barriers, and then pulled these away with the help of tractors. They also removed other barricades, including barbed-wire coils and spike strips. By evening, they had managed to break past three layers of barricades, before settling in for a night at the border.

Similarly, Khanauri too turned into a battleground for a couple of hours on Tuesday. The farmers started gathering at about 12:30 pm, and numbered about 4,000 by 3:30 pm. Nearly 500 farmers from Haryana also gathered in the area to extend support. With the farmers insisting on moving towards Delhi despite heavy barricading, the Haryana Police personnel used lathicharge and teargas to disperse them. As night fell, the farmers camped at the border.

“We never wanted a confrontation with the government, they have hurt us with these teargas shells, we are not going to relent,” Sarwan Singh Pandher, general secretary of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, told The Indian Express.

Farmers try to remove a barricade installed near Punjab-Haryana Shambhu border during their ‘Dilli Chalo’ march. (Express Photo by Gurmeet Singh)

“This is the face of democracy… what the government is doing to us… we are being attacked, we only wanted our democratic rights… we are appealing to people to reach here in huge numbers,” said Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political) convenor Jagjit Singh Dallewal.

The two organisations are spearheading the latest farmers’ protest for a legal guarantee on minimum support price (MSP) and loan waivers among other demands. Moving in convoys of tractor-trolleys, they said they were carrying enough supplies for five months, including LPG cylinders, stoves and tents.

“We are not going to allow farmers to enter Haryana’s territory with their tractor-trolleys. If they want to cross over on foot, they are welcome to do so. In case they want to go to Delhi, they can do so in buses or trains. But we are not going to allow them to take their tractor-trolleys. We had received representations from several people that it creates law and order issue and blockades on highways. That was the reason that Section 144 of CrPC was initially imposed in several areas of Haryana. We cannot allow them to hold the state to ransom. They can walk, if they want,” said Inspector General of Police (Ambala range) Sibash Kabiraj.

Security personnel use teargas to disperse farmers.

But Amandeep Singh, a farmer from Kasuana village of Patiala, said: “They are not even allowing us to walk. When we tried crossing through the fields, they started firing teargas shells in the fields too.”

“It is not only a call given by unions. Farmers from all over are coming on their own to support our cause and take part in this protest. We shall remove the barricades,” said Sukhmander Singh, a farmer from Jangupura, Mohali

“If not today, maybe in a day or so, but we shall definitely remove all these barricades and make our way to our destination,” said Rajdeep Singh, another farmer.

While there was limited participation from Haryana farmers on the first day of the march, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) condemned the government for “excessive use of state power and unleashing lathicharge, rubber bullets, teargas shelling and mass arrests to prevent the Dilli Chalo march of farmers”.

Security at Singhu. Amit Mehra

The BKU (Chaduni), which said the protesting groups should have strategised with other farmer bodies, also asked the government not to use force against the farmers.

Meanwhile, Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij said: “Talks are going on. The government is ready to hold talks with the farmers. I learnt that an agreement was also reached on a few points at yesterday’s meeting, but more details can only be shared by those who attended the meeting”.

In a related development, the Punjab and Haryana High Court issued notices to the two states of Punjab and Haryana on separate petitions on the farmers’ protest. It also issued directions to implead the Centre as a party to the case. The case will come up for hearing on February 15.