The Delhi Police has stepped up with the additional deployment of forces and enhanced barricades at the Singhu, Tikri, and Ghazipur border, where thousands of farmers are protesting against the three farm laws for the past two months. Other than the increase of security forces the police have erected iron nails and spikes, barbed wires, heavy metal and concrete barriers at the protest sites. The measures are in place after the violent clashes between the police during the Republic Day tractor rally on January 26.
At Tikri, iron spikes have been placed on the road leading to the main protest site along with heavy metal and concrete barriers. In Singhu and Ghazipur, the police police have joined rows of cement barricades by filling the space between them with concrete. The police have also deployed drones to monitor the protesters.
Many on social media and media reports have stated that these heavy measures look like a war-like fortification. The Indian newspaper Hindustan Times reported that farmer leader Buta Singh said: “We are peacefully protesting here, so where is the need for such security measures? The police are installing iron spikes, creating concrete barricades, and deploying more police and paramilitary forces. All these are efforts to instill fear among us but we are not going to let our movement die. About 1,000 more tractors are coming from Haryana and Punjab to give us strength.”
While speaking to the news agency ANI, Delhi Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava said: “I am surprised that when tractors were used, police were attacked, barricades were broken on January 26, no questions were raised. What did we do now? We have just strengthened barricading so that it’s not broken again.”
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