DM Monitoring
NEW DELHI: Police in India’s capital New Delhi will allow thousands of protesting farmers to drive through the city after this week’s Republic Day military parade, despite security concerns, a senior official said on Sunday.
The police statement comes after India’s Supreme Court on Wednesday declined a government petition to ban the rally.
Farmers have been camping on the outskirts of national capital for around two months in protest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s controversial farm laws which they say will hurt their livelihoods and help big companies.
To up the ante, farmers wanted to drive tractors to the centre of New Delhi on Jan. 26, the Republic Day national holiday when Modi will join a parade of military forces in the capital. Senior police officer Dependra Pathak said the city police would allow at least 12,000 tractors on Delhi’s roads to move over a 100 km (62.14 mile) stretch away from the centre on Jan. 26 after the parade.
“This will be a very challenging task but we decided upon it so that there is a peaceful and disciplined solution,” he told a news conference.
Security arrangements were being made to allow tractors through certain designated entry and exit points on the day, Pathak said, adding that intelligence inputs indicate some people may try to disrupt a peaceful rally by the farmers.
The government which says the agriculture reforms will boost farmer incomes has agreed to suspend the laws, but the farmers have said New Delhi must repeal them.
Talks between farmers and Modi’s government have so far failed to break the deadlock – landing Modi with one of his most significant challenges since he was re-elected in 2019.
Biden Urged to Support Farmers: Sikh-American human rights advocacy group Sikh Coalition has written a letter to the US President Joe Biden urging the new administration “to support India’s farmers and take a stand for human rights”. The organisation has asked President Biden to release a statement “reminding” Prime Minister Narendra Modi government that peaceful protest — without the fear of violence and intimidation — is a fundamental right in a democracy. Sikh Coalition claimed thousands of Sikh Americans have already called on their elected representatives to speak out in support of the farmers’ protest.
In addition, community members have held solidarity marches in 16 states over the last two months, with more scheduled for this weekend.
The letter signed by Sikh Coalition’s senior policy and advocacy manager Sim J Singh claimed the new laws drastically deregulate the agriculture sector “without any significant protections for farmers, giving corporate entrants unprecedented control over India’s food supply and further devastating the majority of India’s small farmers”.
As they continue to engage in good faith, the farmers’ resolve to repeal the laws was an effort towards critical agricultural reform that serves the interests of farmers and laborers and not just corporate entities, it read.
“They know that these laws will prevent their ability to protect their rights as judicial jurisdiction has been removed through these new bills.
Their thinking is simple: I might die protesting for my family’s rights today, but I will be disenfranchised and bonded to labour under large monopolies that benefit only corporations if these new laws apply to my livelihood tomorrow,” the letter by the US group claims.
“While the protests remain peaceful, the response from the Indian government and security forces has not,” the group has alleged, adding that the government’s response escalated whenever additional citizens showed support in their home states and attempted to join the protesters on the outskirts of Delhi.
“We urge the White House to issue a statement in advance of the January 26 protest that reminds the Indian government that the world is watching,” the letter added.
