NAILS ON ROAD, BARRICADES, CEMENT WALLS: INDIAN FARMERS’ PROTEST SITES TURN INTO WAR ZONE

Wed 03 February 2021:

Roads cemented with a bed of nails, concrete walls erected between barriers, multi-layer barricading and lines upon lines of police personnel — these are scenes reported from conflict zones, not the outskirts of the national capital of India.

The protest, now in its third month, presents the biggest challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi has faced.

Delhi and the neighbouring state of Uttar Pradesh have deployed officers and drones at the sites, and have begun blocking the area around the protests, effectively cutting the farmers off from roads into the city.

The Delhi Police on Monday turned the three major farmers’ protest sites — Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur into fortresses with multi-layer barricades and heavy security deployment.

Video and pictures from the protest sites were shared by many on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram amid outrage against what many see as heavy-handed security.

नेशनल हाईवे 9 पर सुरक्षा से जुड़े इंतज़ामों की तस्वीरें #ReporterDiary #FarmersProtest #Delhi | @TanseemHaider pic.twitter.com/I0v6XLC8rd

— AajTak (@aajtak) February 1, 2021

At Singhu today. Multiple barricades, more concrete. pic.twitter.com/HFqH5HzFVA

— Kainat Sarfaraz. (@kainisms) February 1, 2021

Farmer leaders said that if the government wants to negotiate, it must first create an atmosphere of dialogue.

“The government is taking all inhuman steps. This includes cutting electricity, shutting off water and shutting down the internet. Now the government is barricading. This should stop immediately.”

At Tikri, multiple layers of barricades have been put up and nails cemented on the road to in a bid to prevent movement of vehicles.

Workers at the Tikri border said that they used iron rebars to act as nails so that if a vehicle tries to enter Delhi without proper permission, its tyres will be punctured.

Apart from this, huge blocks of cement had been placed near the Tikri protest site over the weekend which have now been filled with sand and cement to stop them from being dug up and removed.

The move comes days after the violent clashes between some protesters and police on January 26 during the tractor parade by the agitating farmers.

A section of the highway at the Singhu border, which has been the epicentre of the farmers’ protests for over 60 days, had also seen a clash recently between farmers and a group of people who claimed to be local residents.

The visuals of the extreme security measures went viral on social media, with many questioning if these were from the international borders of India.