farmers-gathering-at-ramlila-maidan-kisan-mazdoor-mahapanchayat-to-be-convened-on-thursday

Kisan Mazdoor Mahapanchayat convened by farmers will be held at the Ramlila Maidan on Thursday, the Delhi Police has beefed up security and deployed heavy force for checking vehicles, which might lead to traffic snarls in the central parts of the city, officials said.

Police have also issued a traffic advisory for commuters to avoid the roads leading to central Delhi. The number of paramilitary personnel deployed at Delhi’s borders has also been increased as the farmers have been asked not to come to the capital with their tractor-trolleys, the officials said.

The Delhi Police has given permission to the farmers to hold the event on the conditions that there would not be a gathering of more than 5,000 people, no tractor-trolleys and no march to the Ramlila Maidan.

The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of farmer organisations that had spearheaded a protest at Delhi’s borders in 2020-21 against three agriculture laws that have since been repealed, has said it will hold a Kisan Mazdoor Mahapanchayat at the Ramlila Maidan on Thursday where a resolution will be passed to intensify the fight against the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre’s policies related to the farming sector.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the SKM said the Delhi Police has given it a no-objection certificate (NOC) for conducting the mahapanchayat at the Ramlila Maidan on March 14 and arranging space for parking vehicles and other basic amenities like water, toilets and ambulances with the support of the municipal administration.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) M Harsha Vardhan told PTI that the farmers have been allowed to organise the mahapanchayat with the gathering not significantly exceeding 5,000.

Another police officer said the farmers have been asked to vacate the ground soon after the conclusion of their programme at 2:30 pm.

He said strict action would be taken if they do not adhere to the conditions and indulge in disrupting law and order.

“We hope that the SKM leadership will abide by the undertaking they have given to us,” the DCP said.