The Delhi government has rejected the Centre's proposal to convert Bawana stadium into a makeshift jail in view of the farmers' march to the national capital on Tuesday, saying that the demands of the protesting farmers, who are marching towards Delhi despite closed and heavily secured state borders, are genuine and it is a constitutional right of every citizen to peacefully protest. In an order to the chief secretary Naresh Kumar, the Delhi home minister Kailash Gahlot has stated: "The demands of the farmers are genuine. Secondly, it is the constitutional right of every citizen to make a peaceful protest. It is therefore incorrect to arrest the farmers. The central government should in fact invite them over for talks and try to find a solution of their genuine problems."
Gahlot has added that the farmers are "annadata" (cultivator) and treating them in this way by arresting them would be like rubbing salt into their wounds. "We cannot be party to this decision of the central government. Hence, approval cannot be given for converting a stadium into a jail," the order added.
In November 2020, during the previous version of 'Dilli Chalo' protest by farmers unions, AAP-ruled Delhi government had denied the permission to allow the Delhi Police to use nine stadiums as temporary jails and detention centres to detain farmers protesting against the three farm laws while arguing that the "Non-violent protest is every Indian's constitutional right." The farmers were later provided space at Burari open grounds to protest where only a small section of tractors had moved. The farmers remained camped at the Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri border points for more than a year until the farm laws were withdrawn by the Union government in November 2021.