Authorities should facilitate tractor rally, not stop it, says union leader as farmers gear up for R Day

Even as uncertainty looms over tractor rally in Delhi on Republic Day, protesting farmers said their preparations for the “peaceful march” are in full gear and there is no question of going back

Representative Image (Photo Courtesy: PTI)
Representative Image (Photo Courtesy: PTI)
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PTI

Even as uncertainty looms over their planned tractor rally in Delhi on Republic Day, farmers protesting on Delhi's borders against the new agri laws on Tuesday said their preparations for the "peaceful march" are in full gear and there is no question of going back.

After the Delhi Police sought an injunction on the tractor rally, the Supreme Court on Monday said the decision on it has to be taken by the Centre and the police, and the official permission is yet to be worked out.

Protesting unions, which have announced that thousands of farmers will take out the tractor rally on the Outer Ring Road in the national capital on January 26, claimed more farmers are likely to flock to the protest sites after Guru Gobind Singh Jayanti on Wednesday.

We want the government to give us permission for our rally. This is our country and it is our constitutional right to voice our needs and demands," said Amarjeet Singh Rarra, general secretary, Deaba Kisan Committee.

We will march with our farmer unions' flags and the national flag. So if they fight us, they will be fighting the tiranga', he said.

He added that instead of preventing the farmers from taking out the march, the Centre and the police should provide a safe corridor for the rally .

While the final plan for the rally is yet to be formulated, volunteers from among the protestors have been roped in to ensure discipline during the march.

Rehearsals for the rally are going on back home in our villages. The volunteers here are being told how to maintain decorum during the march.

Lakhs of people will turn up here from Thursday, after gurupurab (Guru Gobind Singh's birth anniversary) tomorrow, said Sukhjit Singh Sidhu, a protesting farmer from Patiala.


Sidhu, who has been camping at the Delhi-Haryana border since November 26, said the final plan for the rally would be ready by January 23-24.

The tractor rally, protestors said, was happening because the government had failed to meet their demands in the last two months, and would be a way to display the farmers' unity.

Our farmer union leaders have provided the government the road map of the parade in advance, so there shouldn't be any reason to not allow us.

We have been protesting peacefully till now, and our rally will also be non-violent. It is our constitutional right to be able to enter Delhi, said Kurlal Singh from Punjab's Tarn Taran district.

Meanwhile, the next round of talks with the government is scheduled for Wednesday. The talks have failed to yield any concrete results as the agitating unions have stuck to their main demand for repealing the agri laws and the government has ruled out any such step.

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Monday hoped that protesting farmer unions will discuss alternatives other than the repeal of the new farm laws in the tenth round of talks and appealed to them not to go ahead with their tractor rally.

"I want to appeal to farmers that January 26 is our Republic Day and the country has got independence after much sacrifice

"Ensuring that the dignity of the Republic day is not affected is the responsibility of farmers also. I hope they will reconsider their decision," he had said.

For nearly two months now, thousands of farmers from Punjab, Haryana and other states have been protesting against the new farm laws, which they are afraid, will do away with the Minimum Support Price system and leave them at the mercy of big corporations.

The government, however, has been projecting the three laws as major agricultural reforms.

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