Delhi witnessed a huge traffic jam on Monday morning after the police put up barricades at various borders to stop the entry of members of Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) who were demanding the law on MSP and sacking of Union minister Ajay Mishra Teni in the killing of four farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri.
On Sunday, a section of Samyukta Kisan Morcha – BKU Sidhupur – had called for a protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on Monday to press their demands. It was a day-long agitation at Jantar Mantar.
However, the core committee of SKM, which is a union of all 40 farmer unions that held the Kissan Andolan 2020–21, sent a clarification stating that Monday’s protest was not their call.
“Today’s protest at Jantar Mantar isn’t a call of Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM). A few farm unions who were part of SKM during the farmers’ protest of 2020–21 are organising this. Jagjeet Singh Dallewal of BKU Ekta Sidhupur is leading the protest while the rest of the farm unions and leaders are not part of it,” the statement said.
Since morning, the state police of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, along with Delhi Police, were on alert. Delhi Police put up the checking points at Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur borders extensively.
Abhimanyu Kohad, a farmer leader from Haryana, told The New Indian that the present government is anti-farmer, anti-social and anti-brotherhood. “On the name of kisaan andolan today, they unnecessarily blocked the borders. It took five hours to get from KMP (Kundali-Manesar-Palwal) to Karnal Bypass today.It is usually a 25-minute drive. The Delhi Police and the central government are responsible for this traffic jam. People should support us,” said Kohad.
He said they have come to Delhi to press for their demands on MSP, disposal off the cases registered against farmers during the 2020-21 agitation and action against Ajay Mishra Teni. If required, they may continue their agitation in the coming days. The farmers also said that the government failed to fulfil its promise, which it made during the farmers’ agitation.
Office workers and commuters entering Delhi are trapped in traffic for hours.Thousands of farmers from UP, Punjab and Haryana, however, managed to reach the national capital. Some arrived on Sunday only by train, said a police source.
The borders of Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram and Faridabad witnessed huge traffic snarls and chaos till afternoon.
Over 50 protestors, who wanted to be at the Ghazipur border (UP-Delhi) were detained by the Delhi Police. The protestors wanted to block the traffic, police said.
The protesting farmers at Jantar Mantar also submitted a memorandum to the Delhi Police Officer for President Draupadi Murmu.