The scenes of farmers and agriculture workers protesting at Delhi’s borders are a throwback to 2020-21: long lines of about 1,000 trolleys attached to brightly-coloured tractors, large dekchis of sweet chai boiling on wood-fuelled stoves to serve hundreds, voices of peacefully organised dissent. In this time’s Delhi Chalo call, though, police and paramilitary forces are ‘better prepared’: on Day 1 of the protest that began on February 13, concrete barricades, 10-12 layers deep, were in place; nearly 4,500 tear gas shells were fired to disperse gatherings on the Haryana-Punjab border, most using drones; the number of Delhi Police personnel swelled to 6,000.
On February 14, the day of Basant Panchami, farmers flew kites, traditional for the first day of spring, and called for a grameen (rural) and industrial strike on February 16. Rail tracks will be blocked; so will roads, with support from truckers and transporters. Movement into and out of Delhi will be halted, even as the city is turned into a fortress citing security.
Also read: The Hindu Explains | Who gains and who loses from the farm Bills?
