The protest is being spearheaded by two forums of the farmer bodies, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha. The protesting farmers are primarily seeking a legal guarantee to Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops.
Farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher on Friday announced the suspension of the 'Delhi Chalo' march for the day.The decision came as some farmers suffered injuries due to teargas shells lobbed by the Haryana police to disperse protesting farmers. The injured farmers were rushed to hospital.
“Both the forums have called back today’s ‘jatha’. Many have been injured. They have faced the (tear) gas. A lot of damage has been done,” said Sarwan Singh Pandher.
The two forums of the farmer bodies, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, will decide the next course of action after a meeting, he later added.
Multiple rounds of teargas shells were fired at the 'jatha' (group) of 101 farmers who began their foot march towards Delhi from their Shambhu protest site.
Multilayered barricades have been erected by Haryana security personnel. However, as a few farmers holding farmers' union flags pushed the iron mesh, authorities have urged the protesting farmers not to proceed further, citing prohibitory orders imposed under section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).
In view of the current scenario, the Haryana deputy commissioner has directed that no procession on foot, vehicles, or other modes will be allowed till further orders.
The Delhi Police has tightened the security at borders to prevent any untoward situation.
The protesting farmers are seeking a legal guarantee to Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops.
Besides the MSP, the farmers are demanding a debt waiver, pension for farmers and farm labourers, and no hike in electricity tariff.
They are also demanding "justice" for the victims of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence, reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, and compensation to the families of the farmers who died during a previous agitation in 2020-21.
The Ambala administration has imposed Section 163 of the BNSS restricting the assembly of five or more persons in the district and has issued notices at the protest site near the Shambhu border.
Meanwhile, Ambala authorities ordered the closure of all government and private schools in the district.
"The government and private schools will remain closed on Friday," District Education Officer Ambala Suresh Kumar said.
A multilayered barricading is already in place at the Shambhu border point — Rajpura (Punjab)-Ambala (Haryana) – on National Highway-44.
Water cannons have also been deployed at the Shambhu border.
The Haryana government on Friday suspended mobile internet and bulk SMS service in 11 villages of Ambala district till December 9. The suspension was made over apprehensions of "tension, annoyance, agitation and disturbance of public peace" as a group of farmers prepares to march to Delhi.
Farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher on Monday had said that a delegation of farmers met Ambala's superintendent of police and informed him about their foot march to Delhi on December 6.
Pandher said the delegation had assured the police that the march would be peaceful and traffic along the route would not be blocked.
A senior Delhi Police officer told PTI that "Delhi Police is on alert and security has been tightened at the border points of the city."
He added, " A skeletal deployment has been made at the Singhu Border but it may increase as per the situation at the Shambu border on the Punjab-Haryana border."
The national capital's traffic is likely to be hit due to the security arrangements at the border and the central part of Delhi.
The officer also mentioned that the police are also keeping an eye on developments on the Noida border, where another group of farmers from Uttar Pradesh observes a sit-in.