Internet Disabled in Singhu, Ghazipur, Tikri Borders; Support Swells for Protesting Farmers

New Delhi: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has temporarily suspended internet services at the Singhu, Ghazipur, and Tikri borders, where farmers have been protesting against the new agri laws, an official said on Saturday.

Apart from the three borders of Delhi, internet services will remain suspended in their adjoining areas too effective from 11 p.m of January 29 to 11 p.m of January 31, the official said.

Meanwhile in Ghaziabad, support for the farmers' protest swelled on Saturday, as more villagers poured in at a key protest site on the Delhi-Meerut highway in Ghazipur on the border with Uttar Pradesh.

The Bharatiya Kisan Union-led protest against the Centre's new farm laws here looked like it was going slim on Thursday but more protestors have joined the stir, following a mahapanchayat of farmers on Saturday in Muzaffarnagar, while supporters also joined in from Haryana and Rajasthan districts.

"The movement was and is strong," BKU's Meerut Zone president Pawan Khatana told PTI.

Khatana, who is at the demonstration site with BKU leader Rakesh Tikait, said there has been continuous support for the "peaceful protest" against the farmers' demand for removal of the new agri laws.

Asked about estimated crowd size at the site, the farmer leader from Western Uttar Pradesh said: "Farmers are coming in to show solidarity and leaving. It is not a stagnant crowd."

On Saturday night, the BKU office-bearers had estimated a crowd of around 10,000 people at Ghazipur while the Ghaziabad police officials pegged it around 5,000 to 6,000.

Heavy security deployment, including personnel of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC), Rapid Action Force (RAF) in anti-riot gears and civil police, was made at the protest site.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Traffic Police said to and fro movement on the National Highway 24 (Delhi-Meerut Expressway) has been closed.

Thousands of farmers have been protesting at Delhi's borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, demanding a rollback of the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

The protesting farmers have expressed apprehension 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.

However, the government has maintained that the new laws will bring better opportunities to farmers and introduce new technologies in agriculture. PTI KIS  KJ

Expect Record Gathering at Protest Sites by Feb 2: Rajewal

In Chandigarh, farmer leader Balbir Singh Rajewal on Saturday said he expected a record gathering by February 2 at the border points of Delhi, where farmers are protesting against three agriculture laws of the Centre, with a large number of people from various states turning up.

"We have been holding a peaceful agitation at Delhi's borders since January 26. Today also the agitation is peaceful," Rajewal, the president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Rajewal), told reporters here.

He also condemned the violence in Delhi on Republic Day and said it was unfortunate.

"People in large numbers from Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand are reaching the protest sites," Rajewal said.

"Possibly by February 2, there will again be a record gathering of people at the protest sites," he said, adding that the agitation would remain peaceful.

Rajewal also condemned the Haryana government for suspending internet services.

Rajewal accused the Centre of instilling a sense of fear among people by showing pictures of the "unfortunate incidents", apparently referring to the January 26 violence in the national capital during a tractor parade by farmers.

"The government is trying to mislead people through false propaganda in order to defame the ongoing agitation," he alleged.

Rajewal appealed to those joining the agitation at Delhi's borders to keep the protest peaceful.

He asked them not to get provoked, which could affect the peaceful agitation.

"It is our responsibility to keep the agitation peaceful," he stressed.

Rajewal accused the government of trying to trigger violence by provoking the farmers at the protest sites. "But we are alert. We will not indulge in any kind of violence," he said.

The farmer leader appealed to the Centre to shun its "stubborn attitude" and withdraw the three farm laws.

On the next meeting between the protesting farmers and representatives of the government, he said "when they call us, we will certainly go".

To a question on joining the investigation following notices issued by the Delhi Police to farmer leaders in connection with the Republic Day violence, Rajewal said, "They issued the notices to us on January 27 but an FIR in connection with the matter was lodged on January 26. Since they have already taken action, what reply are they seeking?"

Asked again, he said, "We will send them a reply."

The Delhi Police has issued the notices to around 20 farmer leaders, including Rajewal, over the violence during the farmers' tractor parade, asking why legal action should not be taken against them.