The protesting farmers on Sunday night got down to the task of winning “not Delhi but the hearts of the people of the country” with a Republic Day tractor rally that seeks to nail every lie propagated against them by the ruling ecosystem.
The preparations gathered steam after Delhi police on Sunday formally gave the protesting farmers permission to hold a tractor rally inside Delhi on Republic Day but said the event must be held within “a few kilometres” of the capital’s borders, keeping it close to the city’s periphery.
The number of tractors that can participate is yet to be decided. A police source said: “The farmers can enter Delhi for a few kilometres (from each of the three protest points on the capital’s borders) but cannot disturb the Republic Day parade. The tractor rally will begin only after the big parade on Rajpath ends.”
The police have chalked out three routes for three tractor rallies — one each from the Tikri, Singhu and Ghazipur border points — all of them within 3-4km of the border.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of farm unions leading the protests at Delhi border points, on Sunday night issued instructions for the tractor rally on Republic Day.
“Friends, we are going to create history. Through this parade, we have to show our pain and miseries to the country and world, tell the truth about these three anti-farm laws.... Do remember, we are not going to win Delhi but to win the hearts of the people of this country,” the SKM said in a statement.
The following are the guidelines issued by the SKM:
⚫ Take ration/food along for 24 hours and make enough arrangements to protect yourself from the cold.
⚫ We appeal that every tractor/vehicle should have a flag of the farmers’ union as well as the Indian national flag. Do not put flag/symbol of any political party.
⚫ Don’t carry any kind of weapons, not even a lathi. Do not put any provocative banner on the vehicle.
⚫The tractor rally will start first with the vehicle of farmer leaders and will be followed by the rest. Adhere to the instructions of our traffic volunteers clad in green jackets.
⚫ The route of the parade has been decided and the police and the traffic volunteers will guide you. Action will be taken against vehicles caught violating the route.
⚫ All vehicles will return to the place of its origin after the parade.
⚫ Not more than five persons, including the driver, will be allowed in one tractor.
⚫ Inform the traffic volunteers if you find anyone driving under the influence of alcohol.
⚫ Don’t quarrel with the police as they are also farmers in uniform, and treat women with respect. Don’t misbehave with mediapersons, irrespective of the TV channels they belong to.
⚫ Don’t pay attention to any rumour. If you want to check any facts, visit the Morcha’s Facebook page.
⚫ Ambulances will be there during the rally. In case of any emergency, call on the helpline number (7428384230) or inform the volunteers.
⚫ Call the Morcha’s helpline in case you want to ask/inform anything and it will remain open for 24 hours for this rally. You can alert the police control room in case of any incident.
The guidelines guard against familiar attempts to malign the farmers and provoke them.
Together the three rallies, expected to begin in the early afternoon, will cover about 100km before winding up by 6pm. The rallies will be escorted by the police.
“We have finally agreed that we will also have a tractor rally on that day (Republic Day) maintaining the sanctity and security arrangements of the Republic Day celebrations,” said Dependra Pathak, Delhi police special commissioner.
“The tractor rallies will enter Delhi from the Tikri, Singhu and Ghazipur borders and return to their originating points.”
Police sources said the farmers had been instructed not to venture towards central Delhi. They said the farmer leaders had been told they would be “responsible for peaceful movement” and must ensure that “no anti-national slogans or posters are allowed”.
Ever since announcing the tractor rally on January 2, the farmer leaders have maintained they would hold the event only after the official Republic Day parade was over and that the programme would be peaceful.
Pathak said there would be heavy police deployment to prevent any possible disturbance.
“Through intelligence and various other agencies we have continuously been receiving inputs about threats to create disturbances during the tractor rally,” he said.
“Around 308 Twitter handles have been generated from Pakistan to create confusion.”
Police sources said all officers and men, as well as the central paramilitary forces on security duty for the Republic Day parade, would remain on stand-by to move at short notice to handle any law-and-order issues during the tractor rally.
Sunday’s clearance for the programme comes after a series of talks, during which the farmers had rejected a suggestion to hold the rally on the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Expressway, which would have taken the event outside Delhi.
Last week, the Supreme Court had got the Centre to withdraw an application seeking a stay on the tractor rally, saying: “Who will come to the city and who will be allowed is not something for us to see.”