Shahjahanpur farmers finish rally peacefully, stick to decided route
Gurugram/New Delhi/Noida: As both farmer leaders and the Delhi Police failed to control the protesters and guide the historic Republic Day tractor rally, far from the madding crowd in the Capital, farmers protesting against the Centre's three farm laws at the Shahjahanpur border took out their rally in an orderly and calm fashion — all the while sticking to the route decided upon between them and the Haryana Police.
While a large section of farmers from the Ghazipur, Singhu and Tikri borders quickly abandoned their prescribed rally routes after the police fired tear gas at them and lathicharged them incessantly, the farmers at the Shahjahanpur rally were time and again reigned in by the farmer leaders in front of the rally, directing them to stick to the route.
About 15,000 farmers with over 3,000 tractors, trolleys, cars and tableaux from different states (Rajasthan, Haryana, Maharashtra, Odisha, Kerala, etc.) left the Shahjahanpur border at 10:30 am and marched the agreed-upon 65-km stretch to Manesar. A special tableau of farmers who had lost their lives in the course of the months-long peaceful protests was also paraded at the rally to Manesar.
While both Delhi and Faridabad were reeling under the pressure of controlling a leaderless crowd of protesters running amok, fears of similar incidents happening at Shahjahanpur were averted after the peaceful rally was concluded.
Enthused in their march, there were chants hailing victory to the Indian Republic as well as for farmers' unity. Despite differences between the two, a large number of farmers and protestors approached police officials and greeted them on the occasion of the 72nd Republic Day.
"We have been protesting for one-and-a-half months peacefully and I do not expect the Central Government to paint us all under the same brush after an unfortunate incident at Red Fort. We live by the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi and today on this momentous day we have shown the significance of peaceful and disciplined protest in the Indian Republic," said Rampal Jat, one of the protesters at Shahjahanpur border.
And while the Outer Ring Road and Central Delhi were to remain out-of-bounds for the protesting farmers, a few unions from Singhu had decided to continue their march to the Outer Ring Road, which was joined by farmers from the Ghazipur and Tikri routes as well. And the leaderless crowd of protesters on Outer Ring Road eventually flowed into Central and Old Delhi.
However, most of the farmers protesting at the Capital's borders had managed to keep themselves on the prescribed route and marched peacefully as spectators gathered to shower flower petals on them. They continued on the route despite incessant police violence.
Meanwhile, the tractor rally of farmers protesting at the Chilla border also went smoothly with least to no clashes with police reported. On Tuesday evening, farmers were also seen sharing langar meals with senior police officials deployed there.
