Protest against farm laws: Farmers continue march to Delhi defying barricades, tear gas
New Delhi/IBNS: Thousands of farmers on Friday morning defied barricades and tear gas to enter into the national capital as they continued with their protest march to Delhi against the new contentious farm laws enacted by the Narendra Modi government at the Centre.
The protesting farmers were lathicharged and tear-gassed at the Haryana-Delhi border in the early morning.
Haryana Police cited Covid-19 as the reason behind stopping the farmers from marching towards Delhi.
Countering police, the farmers said, "We don't want to create ruckus. We just want to go to Delhi and protest at Jantar Mantar."
"You are talking about Covid-19 while the government has led us to death," said a farmer.
Strongly reacting to the construction of temporary jails for the farmers in the national capital, the law and order of which is controlled by the Centre, Delhi MLA Raghav Chaddha tweeted, "I urge the Delhi Govt to deny permission for setting up temporary prisons. The farmer of our country is neither a criminal nor a terrorist.
"Right to protest peacefully is enshrined in Indian Constitution - Article 19(1) and protests are the hallmark of a free, democratic society."
I urge the Delhi Govt to deny permission for setting up temporary prisons. The farmer of our country is neither a criminal nor a terrorist.
— Raghav Chadha (@raghav_chadha) November 27, 2020
Right to protest peacefully is enshrined in Indian Constitution - Article 19(1) and protests are the hallmark of a free, democratic society. https://t.co/cqMvEb181r
The Centre's new farm laws will now allow farmers to sell their produce to institutional buyers beyond the regulated wholesale market.
However, farmers and opposition leaders criticised the Centre's move stating small peasants will have little bargaining power while selling their produce to institutional buyers, running the risk of getting exploited.
The laws (then bills) had also left the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) red-faced as its ally Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) had left the ruling national coalition on the issue.
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