New Delhi: After drawing countrywide attention with their demonstration at Delhi-Ghaziabad border and completing their midnight march at Kisan Ghat, the memorial of Chaudhary Charan Singh in Delhi, farmers from Western Uttar Pradesh called off their protest on Wednesday morning. Delhi Police, which was on its toes throughout the agitation to stop "Kisan Kranti Yatra" finally allowed the agitators to enter the Capital around midnight after police unsealed the border.
"The farmers remained unfazed despite all the hardships. We have been marching for 12 days now, farmers are tired as well. We will continue to demand our rights to the government but for now we are ending the march," Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) chief Naresh Tikait said on Wednesday morning.
Within hours, thousands of farmers gathered at Kisan Ghat, the memorial of renowned farmer leader and former prime minister Chaudhary Charan Singh, which is located just adjacent to Raj Ghat between the banks of Yamuna river and Mahatma Gandhi Road, also known as main Ring road. They offered tributes at the memorial.
The farmers entered the national capital riding their tractors and trolleys and proceeded towards Kisan Ghat where heavy police deployment has been made, the official said. BKU leader Pawan Khatana said the police had opened the barricades around 12:30 am. "We reached the Kisan Ghat in the next couple of hours. By 5 am the farmers had started return journey to their homes in Rajasthan, Haryana, UP, Madhya Pradesh," the farmer leaders said.
No farmers participating in the agitation are now in Delhi, however, several of them, including BKU chief Naresh Sigh Tikait are staying put near the UP-Delhi border -- the spot for Tuesday's clash with security men. "Our yatra was supposed to start from Tikait Ghat in Haridwar and culminate at the Kisan Ghat in Delhi. The farmers reached there and after that, they left. Our main objective was to get our issues highlighted, which has happened. Now it is for the government to decide what it wants to do. The farmers have done their work. If they agree to our demands, well and good. Otherwise, during elections they (politicians) will only have to approach us (for votes) and not the other way round," they said.