The farmers’ protest is showing all signs of escalating further.
The series of reprehensible events that happened on Republic Day in New Delhi have added fuel to the fire of the long-drawn-out farmer protests along the borders of the national capital.
Not long after the social media turned into a stormy battleground with the whole world divided on the issue and accusations flying thick and fast between the detractors and supporters of the three new controversial farm laws of the Centre, more major protests are brewing.
News arrived late last evening that the farmers’ unions protesting at the Singhu border have planned a meeting tomorrow to decide the next course of action for the ongoing agitation.
Kisan Majdoor Sangharsh Committee President (Punjab) declared that the meeting will be held under the banner of Sanyukt Kisan Morcha. “Leaders of all farmers’ unions (around 40-45) will take part in the meeting and discuss on various issues,” Pannu stated.
The meeting will be held a day before a nationwide ‘Chakka Jam’ for three hours on February 6.
“The meeting on February 5 has been scheduled to discuss how to streanthen this protest. We will discuss some new strategies aiming to show our strength. The government is trying a lot to send us back, but we are not going back until the farm laws are repealed,” said Pannu.
He also confirmed that the proposed meeting has nothing to do with the February 6 protest across the country. “The February 6 protest is fixed and we will not cancel it. We are getting support from all the states,” he added.
Farm leaders at the protest site in Singhu said that the incidents of Janurary 26 have angered the people of Haryana and Punjab. “People who were earlier hesitating to join the protest are now full of anger,” said a farm leader.
SWELLING NUMBERS
The protest site at Singhu border is seeing more protesters arriving from Haryana and Punjab, while the number of langars distributing food has also increased in comparison to the past few days.
Around a 15 km-long stretch on the Delhi-Haryana highway was packed with tractors on both sides of the road, with people walking and standing in different groups.
They were of the view that the viral video of a weeping Rakesh Tikait, news of barricading by the police, and the attack on the protesting farmers have touched a chord with the agricultural community.
“Our own government tried to punish us by using its police force in an attempt to derail the peaceful protest. We had high hopes from the government, but at present we have only anger,” Rana Randeep Singh, a protester at one of the langar sites at Singhu border.
What has changed at the Singhu border is that young brigades of farmers have joined the protest in large numbers. And every young farmer has to say one thing: “The January 26 incident has changed the mindset of the people. No one will go back now until the anti-farm laws are taken back.”
Hamir Singh, a college student who joined the protest on January 29 and has given the responsibility of monitoring the security system at the protest site, said that people in the villages of Punjab are extremely agitated.
“I had come here on January 25 to join the tractor rally and had gone back with my group after the event. After hearing the news of attack on our elders, I came back with 100 more protesters from my village,” he said.
Hamir Singh also said that the gram panchayats in both Punjab and Haryana have made it mandatory that one person from each home will join the protest for one week. “After the news of attack on farmers broke, the gram panchayats decided that more people will join the protest.”
Another young farmer said, “It has been made mandatory for each family to send one person for a period of one week to the protest site. Those who do not comply with the panchayat’s order will have to pay Rs 2,100 as compensation.”
The suspension of internet services at the Singhu border is another reason why the protesters are angry, especially the youth.
TACKLING MALICE
Meanwhile, the Delhi Police registered four cases against different social media accounts and sent requests for the removal of offensive and unlawful posts regarding the farmers’ protest.
The police said they observed several social media accounts being used to push certain false narratives without any account bio-data, a behaviour generally observed in Bot accounts.
“In many of the posts, the attached media reports also seem to be edited and manipulated and the same is being pushed in the guise of news reports along with inciteful and alarming hashtags,” said Chinmoy Biswal, PRO, Delhi Police.
The police said that the malicious social media propaganda undertaken by the vested interest groups is primarily aimed at regaining support after the public backlash caused due to the unprovoked violence perpetrated by the tractor rally protesters at ITO, Red Fort and other places in the national capital on January 26, in which more than 500 police personnel were injured.
After arresting one person from Rajasthan on charges of posting fake news of Delhi police personnel’s mass resignation, another one has been arrested from Bharatpur for posting similar fake news.
“Delhi Police have identified several accused persons indulging in harmful activities and efforts are under way to arrest them. Notices to join the investigations have been issued to four persons. Further action against them will be taken on the basis of their deposition,” the officer added.
As part of the investigations into these cases, the Delhi Police said that the accounts and handles which posted fake, offensive and provocative content have been flagged to the concerned OTT platforms for getting their Basic Subscriber Information.
Considering the multi-pronged nature of the farmer protests, the government will also need a multi-pronged approach to resolve the issue.
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