<\/p>\n
Indian security forces fired tear gas on Tuesday to stop thousands of farmers demanding minimum crop prices from marching on the capital New Delhi after talks with the government failed.<\/p>\n
Local broadcasters showed thick clouds of tear gas fired to disperse protesters near Ambala, about 200 kilometres north of the capital, with police also dropping canisters from the air by drones.<\/p>\n
Police have set up a fearsome blockade of metal spikes, cement, and steel barricades on the highways from three surrounding states leading to New Delhi.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaximum numbers have been deployed,\u201d Ranjay Atrishya, assistant commissioner of Delhi Police, told AFP<\/em>.<\/p>\n Public gatherings of more than five people have been banned in the city.<\/p>\n Farmers in India have political heft due to their sheer numbers, and the threat of renewed protests comes ahead of national elections likely to begin in April.<\/p>\n Two-thirds of India\u2019s 1.4 billion people draw their livelihood from agriculture, accounting for nearly a fifth of the country\u2019s GDP, according to government figures.<\/p>\n Farmers have called for a \u201cDelhi Chalo<\/em>\u201d, or \u201cMarch to Delhi<\/em>\u201d, echoing January 2021 when farmers breached barricades and marched into the city on Republic Day during their then-year-long protest.<\/p>\n \u201cThe farmers are peaceful, but tear gas is being used against us through drones,\u201d Sarwan Singh Pandher, a top farmers\u2019 union official from Punjab, told reporters.<\/p>\n \u201cThe protest will continue till the government agrees to our demands.\u201d<\/p>\n Indian broadcasters showed columns of hundreds of tractors moving towards the capital from the surrounding states of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, with some using their machines to drag barricades off the roads.<\/p>\n Where roads could not be cleared, farmers in tractors have sought to head across the countryside.<\/p>\n An AFP<\/em> photographer saw police close roads at Ghazipur on the outskirts of Delhi, using multiple lines of blockades. A first line of defence using razor wire was set up, then metal barriers, concrete blocks and finally police buses.<\/p>\n Police in Haryana state, adjoining Delhi, said they had made \u201cstrong arrangements\u201d, adding in a statement that the situation is \u201cunder control\u201d.<\/p>\n The farmers are demanding a law to fix a minimum price for their crops, besides a clutch of other concessions including waiving off loans.<\/p>\n \u201cThe government should listen to the farmers instead of using tear gas shells and guns against them,\u201d said Randeep Surjewala, an opposition Congress MP from Haryana, where many of the protesting farmers come from.<\/p>\n Protests by farmers against agricultural reform bills in November 2020 lasted<\/a> for more than a year, forming the biggest challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s government since it came to power in 2014.<\/p>\n Tens of thousands of farmers then set up makeshift camps, with at least 700 people killed<\/a> during the protests.<\/p>\n\u2018Protest will continue\u2019<\/h2>\n
\u2018Listen to the farmers\u2019<\/h2>\n