Farmers have taken down their settlements and have vacated the borders around Delhi, which were their protesting sites for the last one year.
Farmers from Punjab clashed with Haryana police at two border points between the states on Tuesday, facing tear gas and water cannons as they tried to break past barricades blocking their protest march to the national capital. The police lobbed tear gas shells -- some of them dropped from a drone -- and tried to disperse groups of stone-pelting protesters in the face-off that last several hours at Shambhu border near Ambala in Haryana.
Emotions ran high as the farmers performed ardas (prayers) and havan to thank the almighty and started their 'victory march' from Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur protest sites to Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh in convoys of tractors, bedecked with colourful flowers and lights and blaring songs of jubilation.
Farmers said that they never blocked roads at the Delhi border points.
"Our call of tractor march to Parliament still stands. A final decision on the future course of the agitation and MSP issues will be taken in a meeting of the SKM at Singhu Border on Sunday," farmer leader and SKM core committee member Darshan Pal told PTI on Saturday.
Thousands of farmers camping at the Tikri borders are largely seen without the basic preventive measure against COVID-19 -- protective masks.
Hundreds of farmers, chiefly from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, continue to encamp Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur border points of Delhi despite "a few" of them being removed after testing positive for COVID-19 and some symptomatic protesters undergoing medication.
The deceased were identified as Shamsher Singh (around 45 years of age), a resident of Lidhra village in Punjab's Sangrur district, Jashandeep Singh (18), a resident of Chauke village in Punjab's Bathinda district, and Jagbir Singh (60), a resident of Jind in Haryana, the police said.
The decision has been taken to 'maintain public safety and averting public emergency' under Temporary Suspension of Telecom Services (Public Emergency or Public Safety) Rules 2017
The Delhi Police on Thursday detained 15 more people for their suspected involvement in the violence during the farmers' tractor parade in the national capital on January 26, officials said.
The deceased has been identified as Jai Bhagwan Rana (42), a resident of Pakasma village in Rohtak district of Haryana. He had consumed Sulphas tablets at the farmers' protest site at Tikri on Tuesday, they said.
Dominic Xavier asks when the Modi Sarkar will heed the plight of the protesting farmers who have been agitating for more than forty days in freezing temperatures.
Farmers started the tractor march around 11 am and moved towards Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Expressway amid heavy deployment of Delhi Police and Haryana Police personnel.
Security was stepped up after farmers threatened to block more highways connecting the national capital.
Delhi Police on Sunday claimed that over 300 Twitter handles have been generated from Pakistan to disrupt the tractor rally proposed by protesting farmers on Republic Day.
The eastern and northern parts of Delhi witnessed rain and hailstorm, IMD said.
In a series of tweets, the Delhi Traffic Police said Tikri and Dhansa borders are closed for traffic movement, while Jhatikara border is open only for two-wheelers and pedestrians.
Those gathered at the Tikri border continued to hold ground as wellA decision on whether they would head to the designated protest site is expected soon.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer North) Bijendra Kumar Yadav said farmers have formally declared that they will start returning home from Saturday onwards, but it is not a time bound exercise as their movement will keep progressing through the day.
The government and farm unions had reached some common ground on Wednesday to resolve protesting farmers' concerns over rise in power tariff and penalties for stubble burning.
Farmers have been protesting at various places in Delhi and Haryana and have rejected the central government's offer to hold talks on December 3 saying that imposing conditions for starting a dialogue is an insult to them.
Uttar Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party's working committee member Ram Iqbal Singh on Thursday said there would have been no agitation by farmers had the Centre consulted them before enacting the new agricultural laws.
Multiple layers of iron and cement barricades, and at least five layers of concertina wires were put up last year, and further strengthened after the January 26 violence this year during the farmers' protest against the three contentious farm laws.
After over a year, the Singhu border, which was the epicentre of the farmers' agitation, now bears a deserted look with the last batch of demonstrators leaving for their home states on Monday.
November 26 would mark one year of the ongoing farmers' protests at Delhi's border points of Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur.
The tractor parades will start from the Ghazipur, Singhu and Tikri border points of Delhi, but details will be finalised tonight, farmer leader Abhimanyu Kohar said after attending a meeting between the unions and the police.
'This is going to be our home in the near future as it is going to be a long fight'
While the police have kept the Haryana-Delhi border at Singhu and Tikri closed for traffic, the protest at Ghazipur, the city's border with Uttar Pradesh, has also intensified.
According to them, these marches were a "rehearsal" for their proposed January 26 "Kisan Parade" to the national capital from different parts of Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.
"It was a rehearsal for the proposed January 26 tractor parade," Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) leader Shingara Singh Mann told PTI over the phone.
"The Union cabinet is likely to take up on Wednesday, November 24 the withdrawal of the three farm laws for approval. The bills for withdrawal of the laws shall then be introduced in the forthcoming Parliament session," sources in the government told ANI.
Svaiman Singh, one of the doctors in the team, said they set up medical camps at Tikri nearly 20 days back and have been attending to the sick farmers since then.
EWS flats have been constructed by the New Delhi Municipal Council and are located in the Bakkarwala area near Tikri border.
The committee advising the wrestlers have set a deadline for the arrest of the WFI President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
An FSL team had visited the Red Fort on Saturday and Ghazipur protest site on Friday.
The decision has been taken to "maintain public safety and averting public emergency" under Temporary Suspension of Telecom Services (Public Emergency or Public Safety) Rules 2017, the official said.
Land plots filled with wild grasses near Ghazipur, Tikri and Singhu protest sites have been converted into well-curated nurseries with a variety of flowers like marigold and rose.
Farmer leader Balbir Singh Rajewal appealed to people to raise black flags at their houses, vehicles and shops on May 26 to protest against the contentious farm legislations.
The suspension of internet services at the three border points and their adjoining areas was imposed at 11 pm on January 29 and was initially effective till 11 pm on January 31.
Another round of discussions between the farmer unions and Centre is slated for Saturday.
