Is the Centre ramping up layers of security at Delhi's borders to choke off the ongoing farmers’ protest?
We here exactly is the face-off between the Union Government and the farmers’ unions — who have an agitation going on for nearly 70 days now against the three central farm laws at Delhi’s borders — headed? Even though the leaders have tamed their aggression since the unfortunate and shameful incidents their peers indulged in on Republic Day and are now going out of their way to try and keep the dialogue on course, the Government has apparently started rolling up its sleeves and tightening the screws on the stir. No sooner had the protesters announced a three-hour nationwide ‘chakka jam’ between 12 noon and 3 pm on February 6 than the Government unleashed a multi-pronged offensive that’s seemingly meant to throttlehold the agitationists. The farmers’ unions have announced that they would create blockades at the highways on Saturday to protest against the ban on internet services which has been imposed near their agitation sites, terming it “harassment”. Though some farmer leaders have proclaimed that the protesters will “honour the dignity of Prime Minister” Narendra Modi, they said they are also committed to protecting their “self-respect”. The Government has responded with the Information Technology (IT) Ministry directing Twitter to temporarily freeze around 100 accounts and remove 150 tweets related to the farmers’ protests under Section 69A of the IT Act. The slew of latest measures undertaken by the Centre also includes multi-layered security at the Capital’s borders — complete with two heavy layers of metal barricading, a layer of stone boulders and a layer of concrete barricades, followed by rows of more than 2,000 iron spikes planted across Rohtak Road at the Tikri protest site.
But if the two sides are not going to war, what is the need for all this paraphernalia on Delhi’s door? The right answer, probably, would be posturing. The growers can’t risk another round of negative public opinion about their intentions which ostensibly are to make the Government see reason without indulging in any form of anarchy or violence. For its part, the Centre wants to be seen as open to any meaningful dialogue with the farmers’ representatives without giving away too much in the bargain. With the Budget Session of Parliament already underway and Assembly elections in a few agrarian States not too far away, the Opposition is sharpening its claws and intending to put the Government on the mat over the issue. As it is, a number of adjournment motion notices in the Lok Sabha and the suspension of business notices in the Rajya Sabha have started pouring in. In an expected development, Shiv Sena leaders Sanjay Raut and Arvind Sawant visited Ghazipur to show solidarity with the protesters and advised the Union Government to speak to the farmers “in a proper way”. Though no sane voice would support the arson and violence by the farmers on January 26, the Centre should heed caution and not try to choke the stir. After all, it is their land and their country, too.