As blamegame continues over who was responsible for the chaos and violence during farmers’ tractor rally, media reports suggest the call to break away from the designated routes was given by some fringe elements, who took over the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) stage at the Singhu border the night before the protest rally.
“For about six hours, from 6 pm to midnight, a group of youths hijacked the stage to oppose the route agreed upon between SKM leaders and Delhi Police. Their protest was webcast live on some Punjabi web channels as well as some individual social media accounts,” reports the indianexpress.com.
The farmers’ protest that had been going on peacefully for the past two months, turned violent on Republic Day as tractors, cranes and trucks rolled into the national capital, knocking down barricades at Ghazipur, Tikri and Singhu borders.
The action soon shifted to ITO as a group of farmers, deviating from a pre-decided route, clashed with police leaving many of them injured. A farmer died after his tractor overturned at ITO. Chaotic scenes were witnessed in Red Fort, where the protesters climbed up the ramparts and hoisted religious flags.
“Initially, it was some unknown faces, demanding that SKM leaders come on the stage and answer their questions regarding the route decided for the tractor parade. But later, some known faces, like Lakhbir Singh Sidhana alias Lakha Sidhana (40), gangster-turned-politician and president of the Malwa Youth Federation, and Punjabi film actor Deep Sidhu, who campaigned for the BJP’s Sunny Deol in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, addressed the crowd,” the indianexpress.com, reported.
“Thousand of youths want to take the Ring Road. The Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee has already decided to take the Ring Road. They are protesting ahead of us, so our tractors will be behind them. So if anyone wants to go on Ring Road, they can follow the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee… What is the issue then? You should cool down,” Sidhana told the gathering, according to the website.
