Farmers' 'Dilli Chalo' march from Shambhu border to Parliament today; prohibitory orders issued
Over 100 farmers will march to Delhi from the Shambhu border on Friday, demanding MSP guarantee and other key issues. Despite restrictions, the march will proceed, with farmers promising a peaceful protest.
FollowMore than a hundred farmers are set to embark on a foot march to Delhi on Friday from the Shambhu border protest site. Despite prohibitive orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) in Ambala, which limit any unlawful gathering of five or more people in the district, the "Dilli Chalo" march is scheduled to start at around 1 pm. Until additional directives are given, the deputy commissioner has also prohibited any procession using cars, foot traffic, or other means.
Earlier on Thursday, Punjab DIG (Patiala Range) Mandeep Singh Sidhu and SSP (Patiala) Nanak Singh met Pandher and Surjit Singh Phul at the Shambhu border. According to Sidhu, the farmers promised the police that they would keep the peace and refrain from using tractor-trolleys throughout the march. The farmer leaders had already declared that Baljinder Singh, Surinder Singh Chautala, Surjit Singh Phul, and Satnam Singh Pannu would head the first "jatha" of farmers.
At the Khanauri border crossing on Thursday, Jagjit Singh Dallewal, the head of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), continued his fast till death. The police raised an alarm and dispatched top officials to the border to evaluate the security situation there, despite the Ambala district administration's Wednesday request that the farmers rethink their march and consider taking any action only after getting approval from Delhi Police.
Along with multi-layer barricading, central paramilitary soldiers have also been stationed on the Haryana side of the boundary.
What are their demands?
Farmers have previously tried to march towards Delhi on February 13 and February 21 in an attempt to obtain a formal guarantee for MSP for crops. But security officers in Shambhu and Khanauri, on the Punjab-Haryana borders, halted them. Since then, farmers have been setting up camp at the Shambhu and Khanauri border posts under the auspices of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha.
In addition to a legal guarantee for MSP, the farmers are calling for no increases in power rates, a debt forgiveness, and pensions for farmers and agricultural laborers. In addition, they are calling for the restoration of the Land Acquisition Act of 2013, "justice" for the victims of the Lakhimpur Kheri violence in 2021, and restitution for the families of the farmers who lost their lives in an earlier agitation in 2020–21.
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