AMN / WEB DESK
A LARGE number of farmers from Punjab today clashed with Haryana Police at two border points between the states, facing teargas and water cannons from the police as they tried to break past barricades blocking their protest march to the national capital Delhi.
Twenty-four police personnel, including a deputy superintendent of police, were injured as protesters hurled stones at them, officials said. Farmer leaders said police also fired rubber bullets, and claimed over 60 protesters were hurt in the “attack” on them at Shambhu border, close to Haryana’s Ambala city.
According to reports, a large number of farmers have gathered at the Punjab-Haryana Shambhu border. The police have blocked all roads entering Delhi with barricades and nails to stop the farmers coming to protest denial of MSP.
News agency ANI reported that the protesting farmers forcibly removed cement barricades with their tractors as they tried to cross over the Haryana-Punjab Shambhu border.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha are spearheading the ‘Delhi Chalo’ agitation to put pressure on the Centre for their demands, including a law on minimum support price for crops and loan waivers.
In an interview with PTI, Union Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda, however, said a law guaranteeing MSP cannot be brought in a hurry without consulting all stakeholders. He urged farmer groups to have a structured discussion with the government on the issue.
Munda and Union Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal had held last-ditch talks with farmer bodies in Chandigarh on Monday night. But the five-hour meeting remained inconclusive.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday issued notices to the Centre and the states of Haryana and Punjab, on two petitions.
One of them sought directions from the court to stay all “obstructive” actions by the two state governments and the Centre. The other pleaded for directions to ensure no highway is blocked by the protesters.