Farmers’ protest: Shocked to see treatment meted out to farmers, say Opposition MPs visiting protest site
According to Shiromani Akali Dal MP Harsimrat Badal, the Opposition leaders were not allowed to cross the barricades and reach the protest site.
FollowA delegation of 15 MPs from 10 Opposition parties, led by Shiromani Akali Dal MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal, was on Thursday stopped by the police from reaching the Ghazipur border to meet the farmers protesting against the Centre’s three new farm laws.
The MPs, who went to the Delhi border in a bus included Supriya Sule of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Kanimozhi of the DMK and Saugata Roy of the Trinamool Congress.
According to Badal, the Opposition leaders were not allowed to cross the barricades and reach the protest site. "Saw first hand the conditions created at Ghazipur border. Shocked to see the treatment being meted out to the annadaata. Farmers are barricaded behind fortress like concrete barriers and barbed wire fencing. Even ambulances and fire brigades cannot enter the protest site," Badal tweeted.
Security has been tightened at the Ghazipur, Singhu, and Tikri borders, where thousands of farmers have been camping since December, after the violence and vandalism on January 26 during a farmers’ tractor rally.
"We are here so that we can discuss this issue (farmers' protest) in parliament. The Speaker is not letting us raise the issue. Now, all the parties will give details of what is happening here," Badal told news agency ANI.
Meanwhile, nails that were fixed near barricades at the Ghazipur border are being removed.
The Delhi Police recently cemented nails near barricades at Ghazipur (Delhi-Uttar Pradesh) and Tikri (Delhi-Haryana) borders.
Thousands of farmers have been camping at different borders of Delhi demanding a complete repeal of the three laws, stating that these laws would pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support price (MSP) system, leaving them at the mercy of big corporations.
