Tribune News Service

Sangrur/Chandigarh/Ambala, November 26 

Tension spiralled at the Shambhu interstate border on Thursday as police used water cannons and teargas to disperse hundreds of farmers from Punjab who broke barricades, throwing some into the river, determined to enter the state as part of their ‘Delhi Chalo’ march against the Centre’s farm laws.

किसानों से समर्थन मूल्य छीनने वाले कानून के विरोध में किसान की आवाज सुनने की बजाय भाजपा सरकार उन पर भारी ठंड में पानी की बौछार मारती है।

किसानों से सबकुछ छीना जा रहा है और पूंजीपतियों को थाल में सजा कर बैंक, कर्जमाफी, एयरपोर्ट रेलवे स्टेशन बांटे जा रहे हैं। #FarmersProtest pic.twitter.com/al8dG8ZZhi

— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) November 26, 2020

A few protesters and cops were injured in the scuffle as thousands of peasants removed police barricades and heavy concrete boulders blocking their way to Delhi.

The injured were being shifted to hospital in an ambulance. The police have parked trucks in the middle of the highway in another bid to stop farmers’ ‘Delhi Chalo’ march.

As farmers and police faced off at a bridge with the Ghaggar river flowing below, tractors and trucks were lined up and people could be seen waving black flags and shouting slogans.

Police made announcements on loudspeakers to ask the farmers assembled on the Punjab side of the border to disperse. As smoke from the teargas clouded the air and uniformed security personnel milled around, people could be seen standing on top of trucks. Television visuals also showed some bricks lying on the road.

Some farmers tried to cross the barricades and remove them and some chucked them into the Ghaggar river. The Shambhu border point is about 200 km from Delhi.

Leaders of All India Kisan Sabha, who have been entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring a smooth movement of farmers from the border, say that there are almost 50,000 farmers at the spot.

Bracing overnight rains and chilly winds, thousands of protesting farmers on Thursday assembled at various places along the Haryana borders in Punjab amid mounting tension.

Haryana had completely sealed its borders with Punjab. There was heavy deployment of Haryana police on the borders with Punjab, officials said.

हुकूमत से जीतने की जद्दोजहद तभी करता है कोई किसान,
जब उसने अपनी जिंदगी दांव पर लगा रखी हो|

— Navjot Singh Sidhu (@sherryontopp) November 26, 2020

केंद्र सरकार के तीनों खेती बिल किसान विरोधी हैं। ये बिल वापिस लेने की बजाय किसानों को शांतिपूर्ण प्रदर्शन करने से रोका जा रहा है, उन पर वॉटर कैनन चलाई जा रही हैं। किसानों पर ये जुर्म बिलकुल ग़लत है। शांतिपूर्ण प्रदर्शन उनका संवैधानिक अधिकार है।

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) November 26, 2020

The Haryana Police in adequate strength has also been deployed along the state’s borders with Delhi, they said.

Farmer bodies said they will hold a dharna wherever stopped from moving towards the national capital.

The BKU (Ekta-Ugrahan) has claimed that over two lakh farmers associated with it will enter Haryana through Khanauri and Dabwali.

Farmers have brought ration, vegetables, wood and other essentials for their march. In view of cold weather conditions, they have stocked quilts, blankets and covered their trolleys with tarpaulin. Haryana Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) chief Gurnam Singh Charuni had said on Wednesday that “even if police use lathis and force, nothing can stop farmers”.

Videography, including using drone cameras, is being done at the state borders with Punjab and other sensitive points.