On Sunday Delhi Police while granting permission to the protesting farmers to go ahead with the proposed tractor rally, claimed to have identified over 300 Twitter handles that have been generated from Pakistan to disrupt the tractor rally proposed by protesting farmers on Republic Day.
Detailing the plan for the tractor parade, Deependra Pathak, Special Commissioner of Police (Intelligence) mentioned that the Tuesday rally will be conducted amid tight security after the Republic Day celebrations conclude.
While addressing a press conference, Pathak said, “Over 300 twitter handles have been generated from Pakistan during January 13 to 18 to disrupt the farmers’ tractor rally by misleading people. There are inputs about the same from different agencies too. It will be a challenging task for us but the rally will be conducted amid tight security after the Republic Day parade is over.”
Since November last year, farmers, mostly from Punjab and Haryana, have been protesting against the Centre’s three new agriculture laws at several Delhi border points, including Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur, demanding that the legislations be repealed.
While police tried to convince the farmer leaders to hold their tractor parade outside the national capital, they were adamant on holding it on Delhi’s busy Outer Ring Road.
It was during the fourth round of meeting which was held on Friday, between the farmer unions and police officers from Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, that both the sides reached an agreement.
More batches of farmers to reach Delhi
However, with the Delhi Police giving permission for the Kisan tractor rally despite underlining the possibility of Pakistan disrupting the proposed rally, more batches of farmers from Punjab on Sunday set out for Delhi to participate in the tractor parade on January 26.
A batch of 500 tractors-trolleys left Amritsar and several groups of growers from Phagwara, Hoshiarpur and other places of Punjab moved towards the national capital to take part in the tractor parade, farmer leaders claimed.
Kisan Sangharsh Union leader Baldev Singh Verka in Amritsar said, “Today as many as 500 more tractor trolleys left for Delhi to join the tractor parade. Each tractor-trolley will carry 20 persons along with bedding and eating arrangement for a fourteen hour-long journey to Delhi.”
According to Gurbachan Singh Chabba, spokesperson of the Kisan Sangarsh Committee around 12,000 tractors and trolleys had already left Amritsar and Tarn districts.
While most of the tractor convoys from Doaba region had left for Delhi on Friday and Saturday, many left on Sunday also to take part in the tractor parade, said Satnam Singh Sahni, General Secretary Bharti Kisan Union (Doaba).
Sahni, who returned here from Delhi's Singhu border on Saturday night to further mobilise farmers for the parade, maintained that a total of around 10,000 tractors from Doaba region will be joining the parade to highlight the agitating farmers’ demands and the "stubborn" attitude of the central government towards them.
“It will also be a show of strength by farmers and farm workers,” said Sahni.
Arrangements for ‘langar’ have been made at several places on the national highway for the farmers travelling to the national capital.
A sea of tractors could be seen on the highway as they carried the Tricolour and flag of farmers’ unions.
The protesting farmers claim that the new farm laws will weaken the MSP system. But the Centre has assured that the MSP system would remain while the new laws would only provide more options for farmers to sell their produce.
