NEW DELHI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th January, 2021) The Indian police have fired tear gas at Sikh farmers protesting in New Delhi against new agricultural laws as the country celebrates the 72nd Republic Day, a Sputnik correspondent reported on Monday.
Earlier in the day, the police barricaded the city against the protesters, who went on to knock them down at the Singhu border that divides New Delhi and the surrounding state of Haryana.
According to the correspondent, the protesters are brandishing their bladed weapons, which they carry on their persons as mandated by Sikhism, knocking down security barricades, and, at one point, tried to push over a Delhi Transport Corporation bus with their tractors. In response, the police fired tear gas to quell the disorder.
The correspondent says that there are over 5,000 protesters who are adamant about marching to the capital.
As the protests are escalating, the Delhi Metro mass rapid transit system has shut down all stations on its green line.
New Delhi has been the epicenter of protests since the government passed last September the controversial legislation allowing farmers to set prices for their produce and trade directly with private businesses without the government's middleman, the Agricultural Produce Market Committee.
While shorter supply chains are generally considered a positive thing, the Indian regulator also used to supervise the supply-demand balance. Farmers now fear that corporate buyers will take advantage of the free-fall supply and the annulment of government-guaranteed minimum prices to keep the prices as low as possible.
