New Delhi, Jan. 26, (dpa/GNA) – Tens of thousands of farmers drove convoys of tractors into the Indian capital and clashed with police during a protest against agricultural laws, even as the country celebrated its Republic Day on Tuesday.
The city’s Republic Day parade, which showcases India’s military might and cultural heritage and is the main attraction of national celebrations to commemorate the country’s constitution, went ahead without disruption.
The farmers, who have been camped outside the city for months, had been given a set time to start and a route to follow for their protest. However groups of protesters knocked down police barricades hours before the noon (0630 GMT) start and entered the city on foot and on tractors, some deviating from the set routes.
Police resorted to baton-charging and firing tear gas shells to disperse angry crowds, which, in some locations, vandalized vehicles and pelted stones at the forces. Several police officers were injured in the violence, broadcaster NDTV reported.
By the afternoon, thousands were seen marching on roads with flags while scores of tractors that deviated some 20 kilometres from their designated routes reached landmarks and roads connecting to top government offices in the heart of the city.
Many reached the historic Red Fort, a Mughal-era monument from where the Prime Minister addresses the nation, where they waved flags and shouted slogans.
Farmers also clashed with police near the Delhi police headquarters, where police forces appeared to be outnumbered. Dramatic visuals showed groups trying to topple a public bus parked to block farmers from progressing further. Farmers on two tractors chased down police officers in the area.
Farm leaders admitted they had little control over the protest.
“There are some factions in the farmer coalition that did not stick to routes [for the tractor rally] decided with the Delhi Police. The farmer is angry. This anger is spilling out on Delhi’s roads,” farmers’ leader Kanwalpreet Singh Pannu said.
Delhi Police cleared three routes for the rally, all more than 60 kilometres long. Police had made elaborate security arrangements, claiming they suspected separatist activists of infiltrating the farmers’ ranks.
While some farmer leaders said the groups would move to their protest sites on Delhi’s borders, some protesters said they will not leave Delhi now.
Tens of thousands of farmers have been camping at Delhi’s border points since late November, demanding the repeal of three farm laws that they say will impact their income, benefit big corporations and leave them at the mercy of the free market.
“Our voice was not being heard. When force is used to stop our protests, there will be some violence and damage. We will fight for our rights and will continue our protests here. The laws have to be taken back,” Angrez Singh, a protester, told reporters.
Farmer groups and the government have so far conducted 11 rounds of talks, but have had no breakthrough. The farmers have turned down the government’s offer to put the laws on hold for 18 months while a special panel conducts negotiations.
Earlier on Tuesday, India staged a curtailed Republic Day parade owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, with a shorter route, smaller marching contingents, fewer guests and tableaux.
It was the first Republic Day parade in India without a chief guest in more than five decades. British Premier Boris Johnson cancelled his visit due to the rapid rise of Covid-19 cases in his country.
Newly inducted French Rafale fighter jets were among the highlights of the show, as was a Bangladeshi tri-services contingent that led the parade on the 50th anniversary of the 1971 war with Pakistan, also known as the Bangladesh Liberation War.
GNA