India police once more target protesting farmers with tear gas

The Indian police used tear gas again to stop farmers from marching to the capital Delhi. The farmers are asking for fair prices for their crops.

Most of the farmers are from Punjab state. They are currently 200km (125 miles) away from Delhi at the Shambhu border in Haryana state.

The city is surrounded by sharp wire, blocks of cement, and fences on three sides to stop people from getting in.

On Tuesday, the Haryana police used tear gas when farmers started moving barricades.

Later in the night, the leaders of the farm agreed to stop fighting for now and said they would continue their march in the morning.

On Wednesday morning, there were lots of police and soldiers near the Delhi borders to stop the protesters from getting through.

Farmers at the Shambhu border are giving out goggles to protesters because the police are using tear gas to stop their protest.

Farm leaders in the area had a meeting with reporters and said that they were shot with plastic and rubber bullets.

They also said the media is making it seem like the farmers are “terrorists” or working with other political parties during the protests.

“We don’t have any connection with anyone else,” said the farm leader Sarwan Singh Pandher to the reporters. “We have asked for the same things since the start. ”

Mr Pandher asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make a law for MSP.

Minimum support price (MSP) is the lowest price that government promises to pay to farmers for their crops at wholesale markets. The farmers want the government to keep its promise of increasing their income by two times.

Farmers leaders say that police have arrested at least twelve farmers since Tuesday, when the protest march started after two rounds of talks between farm unions and government ministers did not solve the problem.

Over 200 unions are joining the march, and the farmers want to get to the capital after going through Haryana.

On Tuesday, pictures from Ambala city, north of the capital, showed lots of tear gas in the air. At the Shambhu border, there was a fight between police and protesters as the protesters tried to break through the barricades. The police used drones to drop tear gas on the crowd.

Many people protesting got hurt when the police took action. The security officers got hurt from the stones thrown by the protesters.

Traffic was really bad in Delhi because the roads were closed and the usual routes were changed.

Before, Mr Pandher told the ANI news agency that about 10,000 people were at the Shambhu border. He called the attack on the farmers “shameful” and said that as farmers and laborers, they do not want any fights.

Farmers are a powerful group of voters in India, and experts believe that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government will try to keep them happy and not upset them.

“We want the government to hear what we want,” Mr. Pandher said before the march.

In 2020, farmers protested by sitting down for many months and blocking the highways that connect the capital to nearby states. Their protest lasted for a year and was a big problem for Mr Modi’s government. It made the authorities cancel the controversial agriculture reforms.

The court said the farmers have the right to move freely and supported the protesters.

India’s leaders from different political parties have shown their support for the farmers and criticized the government for trying to prevent them from going to Delhi.

Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge from the Congress party promised to make a law that ensures farmers get a fair price for their crops if their party wins the elections.