PROTESTING INDIAN FARMER LEADERS CONDEMN VIOLENCE BUT WILL CONTINUE PROTESTS

Wed 27 January 2021:

Leaders of the protesting Indian farmers’ unions in India have condemned the violence during a “tractor rally” held by farmers in the Indian capital to demand repeal of new agricultural laws.

But hundreds of protesters – some on horseback – broke away from approved routes, heading for government buildings in the city centre where the annual Republic Day parade of troops and military hardware was taking place.

Some of the protesters reached the Mughal-era Red Fort complex in the older part of the capital, carrying ceremonial swords and scattering police who tried to prevent them from entering.

Once inside, they put up their own emblem on the flagpole where the prime minister normally gives an independence day speech in August.

Protest organiser Samyukt Kisan Morcha later on Tuesday said the groups deviating from set routes did not represent the majority of farmers.

WATCH | #Delhi is in total chaos as protesting #FarmersProtest break police barricades to enter capital #indiarepublicday #Indianfarmers #KisanTractorRally #KisanRepublicDay2021 #KisanGantantraParade pic.twitter.com/Bu3xLNyVTB

— INDEPENDENT PRESS (@IpIndependent) January 26, 2021

“We also condemn and regret the undesirable and unacceptable events that have taken place today and dissociate ourselves from those indulging in such acts,” the group of farm unions said in a statement.

The farmers’ leaders said the police had provoked them into violence.

“When you attack a peaceful protest, then difficulties for the government will surely increase,” union leader Kawalpreet Singh Pannu told AFP news agency.

“This won’t stop here. Our movement and message have only become stronger.”

On Twitter, the hashtag #PeacefulProtestsContinue was trending in India on Wednesday.

Important To Respect Peaceful Protests: UN Chief On Tractor Rally Violence

In the wake of violence and clashes between farmers and police in India, a spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said it is important to respect peaceful protests, freedom of assembly and non-violence.

Tuesday’s tractor parade in New Delhi, which was to highlight the demands of the farmer unions to repeal three new agri laws, dissolved into anarchy on the streets of the city as tens of thousands of protesters broke through barriers, fought with police, overturned vehicles and hoisted a religious flag from the ramparts of the iconic Red Fort.

The Delhi Police has registered 22 FIRs so far in connection with the violence that broke out during the farmers” tractor parade, leaving over 300 policemen injured. One person died in the incident.

Secretary-General Guterres’ spokesman Stephane Dujarric, in his response to a question on the violence in New Delhi during his daily press briefing on Tuesday, said: “As we say in many of these cases, I think it”s important to respect peaceful protests, freedom of assembly and non-violence”.

One farmer was killed in what police said was an accident after his tractor overturned after hitting a barricade.

At least 86 police officers were injured, an official statement said.

Police said they had started nearly two dozen cases for “rioting” and “assault with deadly weapons” in connection with the violence and accused those who diverged from the agreed routes of “violence and destruction”.