Police Use Water Cannons On Farmers Marching Towards Delhi In Harsh Temperatures

Haryana police has set up barricades and deployed water cannons across the state to stop farmers protesting and marching towards Delhi. Farmers across several states have been protesting against the Centre's new farm laws. After moving ahead of barricades in Ambala, hundreds of farmers faced water cannons at Kurukshetra.

Several visuals from the spot show jets of water being fired at farmers on the highway barricaded by the police and they were seen drenched in the cold winter evening. However, the farmers managed to break the barricade and started marching towards Karnal.

Elaborate security arrangements are in place at the Delhi-Haryana border at Gurugram as the Delhi police remains determined on not letting protesters in.

Earlier, the Delhi Police had denied all requests from farmers' organisations from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarkhand, Rajasthan, Kerala & Punjab, to organise a protest in the national capital against the farm laws, citing COVID outbreak and said they would take legal action against those who demonstrate.

However, the farmers have been marching to reach Delhi on November 26 through five highways as part of their "Delhi Chalo" march call.

Haryana had also refused to permit protesting farmers to pass. Over the last two days, the state police have been issuing traffic advisories, warning commuters about blockades at Ambala, Bhiwani, Karnal, Bahadurgarh, Jhajjar and Sonipat.

The Centre has summoned farmers, who want a withdrawal of the farm law, for a second round of negotiations on December 3.

In a series of tweets today, Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal wrote: "By stopping Punjabi farmers from peacefully exercising democratic rights, Center is repeating 1980 when the Akalis were stopped from entering Delhi to protest. Painful history must not be forced to repeat itself."

In another tweet, he condemned the actions of Haryana government in "cutting Punjab off from the rest of the country".

"PMO must intervene to ensure that this is stopped immediately and the Annadatas are not harassed and humiliated or stopped from reaching Delhi. Nation owes eternal debt to Kisans and Jawans," his tweet read.

For nearly three months, farmers have been agitating against laws which the government has referred to as "historic reforms" in the farm sector. The laws, the Centre said, would help farmers boost their income and free them from the interference of middlemen. Under the new laws, the farmers can sell produce anywhere in the country and deal directly with big corporations, a situation the farmers feel will increase corporate domination.

Most of the farmers feel they would be left at the mercy of the big corporates and will not even get the minimum support price for their produce.

Also Read: Scholarship Scam: Centre Sends List Of Preventive Measures To States