Concrete barricades, 2 stadiums become temporary jails; Administration alert before farmers' 'Delhi Chalo' march

Extensive preparations have been made by the administration before the proposed 'Delhi Chalo' march of farmers unions on Tuesday. At many places in Haryana and Delhi, the borders with neighbouring states have been transformed into fortresses by installing concrete barriers, sharp road barriers and barbed wire. Apart from this, prohibittory orders have been imposed and thousands of policemen have been deployed.

Chaudhary Dalbir Singh Indoor Stadium Sirsa and Guru Gobind Singh Stadium Dabwali have been made temporary jails by the Haryana Government. In case of any untoward situation, farmers who are detained or arrested in large numbers will be kept in temporary jail.

Section 144 was clamped in the north-eastern district of the national capital, with the police directed to make all efforts to prevent protesters from entering Delhi. Barricades have also been put up at Ghazipur border, one of the sites of the farmers' protest of 2020-21, and police investigation has been intensified. In view of the protests, Delhi Police has deployed more than 5,000 personnel along the border with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

According to the advisory issued by Delhi Police, those entering Delhi on Monday and Tuesday may have to face heavy traffic jams. Due to checking at the border, there may be long queues of vehicles. An appeal has been made by Delhi Police that people should use public vehicles as much as possible. According to the police, Ghazipur, Tikri and Singhu borders will be closed due to security reasons. People have been asked to avoid visiting these places.

The move to block the borders to prevent protesters from entering the national capital was criticized by opposition parties and farmer groups on Sunday. However, officials defended the restrictions citing the 2020 agitation against the three repealed agricultural laws. Punjab Chief Minister and AAP leader Bhagwant Mann has compared the roads entering Delhi and Haryana to the India-Pakistan border.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi shared a video of spikes being placed on the road on the state borders and said, 'Is laying spikes in the path of farmers 'Amrit Kaal' or 'Anayakaal'?'

Samyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal also condemned the imposition of barricades on the roads. He said, “We are ready for talks and will never run away from talks.” "If the situation worsens, the responsibility will be on the Khattar (Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar) government," he said in a video message. ,

The central government has invited farmer unions for another meeting on 12 February to discuss their demands. Farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher had said on Saturday that the Center has invited him for a meeting on February 12 to discuss his demands. He said three Union ministers – Piyush Goyal, Arjun Munda and Nityanand Rai – will reach Chandigarh on February 12 to hold talks with the delegation of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha.