Rajat Sharma, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of India TV.
The farmers’ movement took a violent turn on the Haryana-Punjab border on Wednesday. Till now there was tension on the Shambhu border of Punjab-Haryana, but on Wednesday the protesters opened a front against the police at the Data Singh Khanauri border. Stones were pelted at the police, chilli powder was added to the stubble, it was set on fire and it was thrown towards the police, there was attack with guns. 12 policemen were badly injured in this. Farmers claim that the police entered their camps and opened fire, killing a young man, Shubhakaran Singh of Bathinda, and injuring several people. The police have denied the allegation of firing. Farmer leaders are demanding that the postmortem of Shubhakaran’s body be conducted by a medical board and his family should be given immediate compensation. After the violence, farmer leaders have suspended the movement for two days. Farmer leaders have asked the protesters not to create conflict situations, to remain where they are. Now after two days the leaders of farmer organizations will tell their new strategy. Due to the stubbornness of farmer organizations, there is tension on the Punjab Haryana border and all four borders of Delhi. Farmer leaders are adamant on moving towards Delhi. Haryana police is stopping them and Punjab police is silently watching the show. There is a war like situation on the Punjab-Haryana border. Preparations are complete from both sides. Heavy Poclain and JCB machines are parked on both sides of the border.
On one side of the border there are thousands of police personnel, on the other side there are thousands of protesters from farmer organizations. On one side, the police have guns releasing tear gas shells and on the other side, farmers are armed with gas masks, swimming glasses and sticks to protect themselves from tear gas. The government is saying that it is ready to talk to the farmers on every issue but the farmer leaders are not giving any answer. Punjab and Haryana Police are also face to face regarding the farmers’ movement. Haryana Police has asked Punjab Police to stop Poklane, JCB machines and modified tractors from reaching the border. Punjab Police issued orders but did not stop anyone. Due to the farmers’ movement, the governments of two states are troubled, common people are facing tremendous problems. Board examinations are going on, roads are closed, internet is down, parents of children are in tension but farmer leaders are not ready to listen to anything. The question is, what do the farmer organizations want? Why are you not ready to talk to the government? What do the farmers want to achieve by coming to Delhi?
On Wednesday night, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi posted a video on Twitter, it is being claimed that this video is of the violence at Khanauri border. It has been claimed that the video contains pictures of the clash between farmers and police at Khanauri border. During this time a young man died. The kind of situation seen in this video is cause for concern. There is sound of firing, bursting of tear gas shells, people are running here and there, smoke is visible all around. It has not been confirmed whether this video is correct or not. By watching the video, it cannot be ascertained who is firing because the police has claimed that no bullets were fired from their side. But farmer leaders said what the police said was wrong. Sarwan Singh Pandher alleged that the police opened fire, the bullet hit Shubhakaran Singh’s head and he died. Pandher alleged that some miscreants were included among the farmers at Shambhu border and this is an attempt by the government to defame the movement. Leader of the farmers, Jagjit Singh Dallewal, said that today the government has again proposed to them for talks but the intentions of the government are flawed and it wants to postpone the matter by engaging the farmers in talks.
In fact, looking at the pictures that came from Shambhu border, it seems that the farmers’ organizations had come not with the intention of talks but with the intention of fighting with the police and preparations were also made accordingly. Farmer leaders had announced ceasefire three days ago and on Wednesday it was understood that during these three days, talks were held with the government but at the same time the protesters also made preparations to clash with the police. Big Poklane machines reached the border, these machines were brought from hundreds of kilometers away. About 14 thousand protesters have reached Shambhu border. They have more than 1200 tractors, Poklane machines, which have been modified, armored plates were installed in the machine, plating has been done on all sides to keep its driver safe. The driver’s cabin of the Poklane machine has been made bulletproof. Arrangements have also been made to protect the tires of the machine from shelling. JCB machines were also called to break the police barricades. These machines have been made stronger by installing thick iron plates so that when the time comes to break the barricading, there is no damage to the machines. Thick metal plates have been installed around the driver’s seat of JCB machines. Plates have also been installed to make the wheels of the machine safe.
The situation of the farmers’ movement of Punjab is very clear – the government wants to find a way out through talks, the farmer leaders are no longer ready to talk. The police do not want to use force in any way, but the protesters are forcing the police to use force again and again. The police was attacked, the way they have brought Poklan and JCB, it shows their preparation not to protest but to defeat the police. These people want the police to be agitated, forced to take action and make matters worse, so that they can garner sympathy. The protesters have decided that they will not allow the situation on the border of Haryana to become normal and have put forward a stand before the government that the situation is not normal for talks. The protesting farmers know that the government is helpless, it can neither use force nor openly criticize the farmers. Elections are ahead, people sitting in the government do not want to take any kind of risk. Among those who are guiding the farmer leaders, there are leaders of anti-Modi front, left leaning people and also YouTubers who are taking advantage of this whole situation. Everyone has got a good opportunity to trouble the Modi government, they do not want to give it away.
Whenever the government builds a bridge with the farmers, these people sitting behind the scenes break that bridge. On Wednesday, when the government asked to talk, the same people started shouting that the government got scared, bowed down, now create more pressure. When the government does not offer talks, these same people say that this government is not even ready to talk, go to Delhi and create pressure to talk. For this reason, there are less chances that this issue will be resolved soon. One thing is certain that the way the farmers’ movement got the sympathy of the public last time, there is no such sympathy this time. Common people support the fact that farmers have the right to express their views and protest, but no one supports running Poklanes, demolishing barricades with JCBs, or blocking roads with tractors. Where children have exams, they are worried. The business of the shopkeepers in these areas is at a standstill. People working in the offices of Delhi NCR have to get stuck in traffic for many hours. All these things also affect the minds of people. But whatever may be the case, farmers have problems and the solution will emerge only through dialogue and sitting at the table. Both sides should work in this direction. Till date no problem has been solved through confrontation. (Rajat Sharma)
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