CHANDIGARH: Farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal on Wednesday said protesting farmers, who have been camping at two border points between Punjab and Haryana after they were stopped by security personnel, will march towards Delhi in a peaceful manner.
"Our intention is not to disturb peace," Dallewal said ahead of the farmers' plan to march towards the national capital.
Accusing the BJP-led Centre of indulging in "delaying tactics" over the farmers' demands, Dallewal asked the government to take a decision in their favour.
He also condemned the Centre for setting up multi-layered barricades at the border points between Punjab and Haryana to prevent them from heading towards Delhi.
"It is our request that we want to go to Delhi in a peaceful manner. The government should itself remove the barricades and give us the permission to march towards Delhi and make arrangements for our sitting in Delhi," Dallewal told reporters at the Shambhu border point.
He criticised the government for not making a statement on enacting a law on the minimum support price (MSP) for crops.
Dallewal said they will start the march towards Delhi at 11 am.
Meanwhile, on the eve of resumption of the 'Delhi Chalo' march, Kisan Mazdoor Morcha leader Sarwan Singh Pandher said the Centre should convene a day-long Parliament session to bring a legislation on the MSP for crops.
Besides a legal guarantee of MSP, the farmers are demanding the implementation of the Swaminathan Commission's recommendations, pension for farmers and farm labourers, farm debt waiver, no hike in electricity tariff, withdrawal of police cases and "justice" for the victims of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence, reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, and compensation to the families of the farmers who died during a previous agitation in 2020-21.
The farmers protesting at two border points between Punjab and Haryana will resume their "Delhi Chalo" march on Wednesday after they rejected the Centre's proposal for procuring pulses, maize and cotton at the MSP by government agencies for five years.
Thousands of farmers, who began their march to Delhi on February 13, were stopped at the Haryana border itself, where they had several stand-offs with security personnel. Tear gas shells were pelted using drones and several farmers suffered injuries. Rubber shells and water cannons too were used against some of the agitating protestors. Security personnel too sustained injuries.
The farmers have been camping at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since then.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha are spearheading the "Delhi Chalo" march to press the Centre to accept their demands, including a legal guarantee on the MSP for crops and farm loan waiver.
14,000 people, 1,200 tractors at Shambhu border, MHA tells Punjab govt; asks it to take action
The Centre has estimated that nearly 14,000 people have gathered along the Punjab-Haryana border with 1,200 tractor-trolleys, 300 cars, 10 mini-buses as well as small vehicles and conveyed its strong objections to the Punjab government for it, sources said on Tuesday.
Similarly, Punjab has allowed a gathering of around 4,500 people with close to 500 tractor-trolleys at the Dhabi-Gujran barrier, it claimed.
The Union Home Ministry said many miscreants in the guise of farmers were indulging in stone-pelting, mobilising heavy machinery along the Shambhu on Punjab's border with Haryana.
In a communication to the Punjab government, the ministry said that the deteriorating law-and-order situation in the state has been a matter of concern, asking it to take stringent action.
Meanwhile, Tikri and Singhu -- two points on the Delhi-Haryana border -- are sealed with heavy deployment of police personnel and multiple layers of concrete barricades and iron nails. If required, the Ghazipur border might also be shut on Wednesday, an official said.
Delhi Police has already stocked up 30,000 tear gas shells.
The Haryana government on Tuesday extended the ban on mobile internet and bulk SMS services in seven districts - Ambala, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Jind, Hisar, Fatehabad and Sirsa - till Wednesday.
