Four tiers of metal barricades, concrete slabs, barbed wire, sharp metal spikes fixed into ground and hundreds of cops on alert. No this is not a border between two sparring nations, these are the arrangements made on Tuesday to prevent agitating farmers from entering the national Capital.
The farmers have been protesting, for the past more than two months, against new farm laws that they say are anti-farmer and will lead to corporatisation of agriculture. The agitation hotspots being Ghazipur along Uttar Pradesh-Delhi border and Singhu and Tikri along Haryana border.
Photos tweeted by news agency ANI and also doing the rounds on social media show the Ghazipur border sealed with a line of concrete slabs, then come the metal spikes, followed by 3/4 tiers of metal barricades and then more slabs and barbed wires.
Behind these fortifications, stands an army of security personnel. Tweeting a collage of these photos, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi wrote, “GOI, Build bridges, not walls!”
Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav also commented on the security scale-up along the border. Tweeting in Hindi, he wrote, “Politics is amazing, it erects walls, lays out barbed wires and then says let’s talk.”
Similar arrangements were seen at Singhu and Tikri border. Workers under the watch of police personnel were seen hooking iron rods between two rows of cement barriers on a flank of the main highway at the Singhu border to restrict the movement of protesters.
The photos and videos were widely shared and soon became viral with #FencingLikeChinaPak trending on Twitter. A user asked, “Is the government at war with farmers?” Another advised, “Do this on China or Pak Border.”
Also read: Iron bars hooked between barriers, cement poured in to create makeshift wall at Singhu border
The farmers’ agitation, that had been conducted peacefully, turned violent during a tractor rally on January 26 when a section of farmers deviated from the pre-decided path and clashed with police at central Delhi’s ITO and Red Fort. Religious flags were also hoisted at Red Fort. The police responded by filing scores of cases against farmer leaders, activists, politicians, journalists etc
