Distressed farmers marching for 10 days ran into water cannons and teargas on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border on Tuesday as Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the birth anniversary celebrations of Mahatma Gandhi who taught the world the power of non-violence and Lal Bahadur Shastri who immortalised the “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan” slogan.

The Opposition alleged that the Modi government had managed to unleash the jawan on the kisan as an aged farmer holding off eight policemen with his stick in self-defence became the face of the Kisan Kranti Yatra on social media.

Several farmers were injured in the police action that took place ahead of key state polls and the general election. Seven policemen were hurt too. The Centre agreed to meet a delegation of the farmers and was engaged in talks with office-bearers of the Bharatiya Kisan Union till the evening.

BKU spokesperson Yudhvir Singh said the government had agreed to seven of their 11 demands, including moving court on the National Green Tribunal’s ban on 10-year-old tractors. There was no agreement on the key issue of the formula for calculating the minimum support price and loan waivers.

As night fell, the farmers were still staying put on the border. The Ghaziabad administration has asked schools not to open on Wednesday.

Given that there was no violence along the route the farmers took from Haridwar to the Delhi border on the BKU’s call, questions were asked why Delhi police — which report to the Centre — had been instructed not to allow them to enter the capital as planned.

More so because just last month, the capital had witnessed a violence-free mobilisation of farmers by the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS). The only difference between the two mobilisations was that in the case of the AIKS Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Rally, the majority came from far-off places and reached Delhi by train.

On Tuesday, the farmers were either marching down National Highway 24 from Haridwar or were on tractors. Delhi police cited a court ban on tractors on the capital’s roads to deny them entry.

As the BKU is involved, there is always the fear of a repeat of the Boat Club rally of 1988 when the late farmer leader Mahendra Singh Tikait picketed the India Gate lawns along with thousands of farmers for a week. The then Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, had to give in to their demands.

Delhi police said they had to fall back on water cannons and tear gas shells 'on a limited scale'' after a section of farmers turned restive and tried to break through the three layers of barricades with their tractor-trolleys.

'Some protesters also resorted to stone-pelting and wielded lathis, causing injuries to police personnel deployed on duty,' a statement issued by Delhi police said.

On why the rallying farmers were not allowed to enter the capital in the first place, Delhi police said many of the farmers had brought along their tractor-trollies which are banned by the Supreme Court in the national capital.

Schools have been asked to stay closed in Ghaziabad on Wednesday.

The police justification fell on deaf ears with political parties questioning the decision of the Centre to prevent the entry of India's 'annadaatas (food providers)' into the national capital.

'Farmers are not terrorists or Naxalites, they are coming with demands. Don't they have right to do that? The Shivraj Singh Chouhan government killed farmers in Mandsaur, today they are about to lose MP. Warning Modiji (that) if injustice with farmers continue, he will lose Delhi,'' Swabhimani Paksha leader Raju Shetti said. Shetti quit the NDA earlier this year in protest against the BJP's failure to keep promises made to farmers in its manifesto.

The Congress, which was holding its working committee in Wardha, adopted a resolution condemning the violence against farmers.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, too, tweeted as |the police barricaded not just the Delhi-Ghaziabad border but also various other points in the capital on fears that some farmers would try to enter through alternative routes.

'Delhi belongs to everyone. Farmers cannot be stopped from coming to Delhi. They have legitimate demands. They |should be met,' Kejriwal tweeted.

Taking a dig at the promise of 'achchhe din (good days)' slogan of the BJP in 2014, RJD chief Lalu Prasad said the Modi government had turned Shastri's famous 'Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan' slogan into 'Mar Jawan, Mar Kisan' on his birth anniversary.

Condemning the alleged police brutality on protesting farmers, the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) said in a statement that the true face of the 'most anti-farmer government in independent India' had been exposed. It added that this was common with the BJP governments in Madhya Pradesh, Assam and Jharkhand where protesting peasantry have been killed in police firing.

'On the one hand, the Narendra Modi-led BJP government tries to portray itself as pro-farmers by spending crores of rupees on propaganda. On the other hand, it has dealt with farmers' protests and genuine demands in the most insensitive manner.'