Months after barbed wires and layers of barricades were installed at Delhi’s borders, police have begun removing them at the Ghazipur and Tikri borders. Farmers protesting at the sites have said the move vindicated their stand in the Supreme Court and paved the way for their entry into the Capital.
Bharatiya Kisan Union general secretary Yudhvir Singh said the farmers never wanted to create problems for the general public and only wanted to enter Delhi to raise their voice against the three laws. “It was the Delhi Police that had put these barricades after the January 26 episode. It seems after the SKM’s affidavit in the Supreme Court, Delhi Police has corrected its mistake,” he said.
Mr. Singh said the move was not an indication of the government reaching out to farmers for the peaceful resolution of the protest against the contentious farm laws and that the protest would continue at the Ghazipur border with “even more vigour”.
“My 40 years of experience in holding protests for farmers’ cause tells me that the government wants to stretch it (the impasse) further rather than arriving at a decision,” he said.
Notably, at the Ghazipur border, the Delhi Police chose to remove the barricades from the lanes which lead to the main stage and langar of the protesting farmers. Sources say it has been done to put the onus of blockade on farmers who had removed only a tent from the service lane after the SC order.
Nirav Patel, ACP, Mayur Vihar, who supervised the removal of barricades said the idea was to clear the main lane meant from traffic. “As the service lane leads to farmers’ camps, we felt their safe stay is more important than the stage.” He said the Delhi Police had done its part and now it was upto the Uttar Pradesh Police to ensure the movement of traffic from U.P. to Delhi. Sources in U.P. Police said they were waiting for orders from higher authorities.
The process that started at 7 a.m. took almost the entire day for two cranes and two bulldozers to cut through the concrete slabs. Rashid, a worker, said as the barricades were welded, it consumed a lot of time to separate them.
Earlier, BKU national spokesperson Rakesh Tikait, who was not present at the border on Friday, told a news agency that after the removal of barricades, farmers would move to the Parliament where the contentious farm laws were passed.
His nephew Gaurav Tikait said farmers were ready for any eventuality. “Farmers from West U.P. have been told to be ready to reach Ghazipur border at a short notice,” he said, adding they were waiting for the SKM’s directive to move towards Delhi. “We have established our homes here and would need some time for packing our stuff.”
On farmers still holding up traffic on three lanes on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway, Rajveer Singh, State vice-president of the BKU said, “We are not looking for a confrontation. Dialogue is the only way out and I hope the government will reach out to us. There is still a month for the next date in the top court,” he said, stressing that the protesters had been allowing passage of emergency vehicles. “If we are forcibly removed, we could build small tents along the Delhi highway,” he added.
At the Tikri border, police had started removing the layers of barbed wire on Thursday and the process was still underway on Friday. A senior police officer saidthe barricades will be removed by Saturday and vehicular movement is likely to begin the same day.
No barricades have so far been removed from the Singhu border, police said.
