This violence threatens to tarnish the image of the peaceful farmer protest
New Delhi. Siyasat.net
The ‘Tractor March’, represented by about half a million Indian farmers was supposed to be a true representation and celebration of the, “Jai Jawaan, Jai Kisaan” (Hail to the Soldier, Hail to the Farmer,” national sentiment at the 71st Republic Day celebrations in Delhi on Tuesday. However, it ended on a very disappointing note when the march unexpectedly turned violent. The march which started on an enthusiastic note with citizens welcoming the farmers enroute with a shower of flowers and which had the attention of 1000’s of media outlets in India and around the world, took a tragic turn within a couple of hours of starting when violence broke out. Some of the ‘farmers’ broke the barricades to reach the Red Fort, where only a couple of hours earlier, the official Republic Day celebrations had concluded.
With video evidence emerging within minutes from the venue, it became clear that a few rogue elements infiltrated the peaceful march, leading one group of the farmers to break the barricades down, as the police tried unsuccessfully to stop them from reaching the Red Fort. This violence threatens to tarnish the image of the peaceful farmer protest which has lasted successfully for almost 60 days at the Delhi borders. Millions of farmers around the country who joined the protesting farmers from Punjab and Haryana, in the extremely harsh cold weather conditions at the Delhi borders, and the ones protesting in their own states like in Maharashtra and Karnataka, are winning hearts and admiration around the country and the world.
The peaceful Tractor March by farmers was a first, in more ways than one. For the very first time in the history of Independent India, the farmers of the country decided to join their soldier sons, in the Republic Day celebrations, in defiance of the government’s unbending stance, towards withdrawing the three contentious agricultural farm laws. These laws, hurriedly passed in parliament threaten to corporatize the agricultural sector. These laws designed to benefit the private corporations and not the farmers would eventually lead them to lose their farms, say the farmers and agricultural experts. So far, the government after 11 rounds of talks has failed to convince them otherwise.
The protest was declared more than a month ago, with the farmer leaders showing their willingness to the central government and the Delhi police, to follow a designated route, to ensure a peaceful protest. The government’s reluctance to first give a sanction to the march and then constant delays in clarifying the route, after giving in to their demand for the march seems to have led to a chaotic situation leading to the violence. According to Rakesh Tikait, national spokesperson of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU), the police did not confirm the route till the midnight of January 25. He stated in several interviews after the incident that, even after “confirming” it, the farmers were greeted with barricades on the designated route, forcing them to take detours. In the process, some of the farmers, mostly from the villages of Punjab and Haryana, unaware of the Delhi roads, were led by the disruptive elements to the Red Fort.
Within minutes, actor Deep Sandhu, an aide to actor and now MP Sunny Deol, emerged as the main culprit, first seen breaking the barricades and then proceeding towards Red Fort, which was not part of the original plan according to the march leaders.
After reaching the Red Fort, he and his supporters hoisted the Sikh religious flag, the Nishan Sahib, giving impetus to the national media to spread the news that the Indian flag hoisted there was replaced by a “Khalistani” flag. The fact checks teams of some of the media, soon revealed the identity of Sandhu as a BJP supporter himself, with pictures of him with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah. It was also clarified that the flag hoisted was not the “Khalistani” flag, as portrayed by the media and posted pictures of an unarmed national flag, still flying high on Red Fort.
Despite his identity being revealed and Tikait stating that they had warned the Delhi police that he was a rogue element and not welcome in their protests, accusing him of even instigating the farmers to march to Red Fort with him, the police did not make any preventive arrests. The police did not make any arrests after the incident despite video evidence of the source of the violence.
A young farmer Navneet Singh, newly married and a resident of Australia was shot dead by the police, after which some of them ran away from the spot, fearing a backlash according to bystanders. Several other farmers and cops too have been injured in the mayhem that followed. Several videos of Delhi police not only beating up the farmers but also of them damaging the vehicles of farmers, not involved in the violence too, have surfaced.
Dr. Shaik Ubaid, the National Co-chair of ASPAIRE stated, “We unequivocally condemn the violence and hoisting of a religious flag on the historic Red Fort as well as denounce the Indian government’s complete failure to anticipate the possibility of violence and prepare accordingly to ensure a peaceful march. We also condemn the inefficiency of the Delhi police to control the volatile situation which was caught on camera and now being relayed around the world.”
Masood Rab, the other National Co-chair of ASPAIRE said “we condemn the silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the unfortunate incident. He was so quick to tweet over the violence at Capitol Hill in Washington DC just a few days ago but has not said a word to condemn the agent provocateurs and the failure of the Delhi police.”
Both the Co-chairs demanded a thorough, prompt and impartial investigation under an impartial High Court judge and the real culprits be identified and brought to justice rather than attempting to accuse the entire protest, as is being done by several leaders of the ruling party and the right-wing media.
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