Indian police dig up roads and block farmers’ path into Delhi for budget day security

NEW DELHI – Police and paramilitary forces have blocked main roads by putting up barricades, digging up ditches and putting up barbed wires to stop protesting farmers from entering the Indian capital as the finance minister presents the government’s annual budget in parliament.

Internet and messaging services were blocked in the areas of the farmers’ sit-in a day ago.

The Indian government said the steps were taken to prevent incidents like the riot that broke out on January 26 right after the government’s Republic Day celebrations ended in the city centre.

@UN ‌These nails that Modi Govt has dug in the roads at borders of Delhi to stop the farmers reminds me of Anil Sharma's 1991 film Farishtay in which the villian Raja Jaichand used similar nails to stop people from reaching his fortress.

Who knew it would become a reality in pic.twitter.com/3Rtfyu5ITg

— Parveen Thind (@parveen87582743) February 1, 2021

Security around the parliament and other government buildings was also stepped up in the central district.

https://twitter.com/scribe_prashant/status/1356159058785390594

On Friday, authorities used tear gas and batons to break up clashes at one of the protest sites near the city when some locals assaulted the farmers, taunting them and telling them to leave their area in peace. They also vandalised the farmers’ tents. In the previous few days, more farmers and their women folk have joined the protests at three major sites on the outskirts of the Indian capital.

The protesting farmers, who have been staging a sit in outside New Delhi for the past 67 days, are asking the government to repeal three new laws that were introduced in November and ends their protection from the open market and makes them vulnerable to exploitation.

Rounds of talks between the government and the farmer leaders have failed to break the deadlock.

Although Modi remains India’s most popular politician, his standing in the rural areas, where most Indians live, could be damaged by his handling of the farmers’ demands.