Those from MP denied entry to Delhi

Bijendra Ahlawat

Tribune News Service

Faridabad, February 23

A ‘stand-off’ situation has developed between the local administration and hundreds of farmers from Madhya Pradesh. The farmers have been stopped by the police from entering New Delhi. They have been stationed at the Sector 16 grain market here.

As many as five members of the Rashtriya Kisan Mahasangh (RKM), under whose banner the agitation has been launched, got tonsured in the protest today. Baba Ram Kewal, a local social activist, is among the five persons who also got tonsured.

“We were moving towards our destination peacefully. The local police approached us on Thursday and asked us to stop at Sector 16 for a dialogue. Since then, over 2,500 farmers have been kept stationed at one place and over hundreds of cops have been deployed,” said Shiv Kumar Kakka, president of the RKM, who is also leading the protest march.

Hailing from Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, Kakka said majority of farmers had come from MP and hundreds of other farmers from Karnataka and Kerala too joined them.

Describing the administration’s action as violation of the basic and democratic rights of farmers, he said the government wanted to crush their voices for justice.

A spokesperson of the Police Department said their entry in New Delhi had been banned and they had been asked to return.