New Delhi:
Delhi Police has sought the state government’s permission to use the city’s nine stadiums as temporary jails to house protesting farmers’ from Punjab and Haryana who enter the city as part of their ongoing “Delhi Chalo” march, reports said on Friday. However, leaders of the Aam Admi Party (AAP), which rules Delhi, have objected to any such move.
“In view of the farmers’ march, Delhi Police has asked the Delhi government for permission to use nine stadiums as temporary jails to keep the detained or arrested farmers,” a source told PTI.
Thousands of farmers, protesting the Central government’s new farm laws, have been moving closer to Delhi over the past two days, undeterred by police barricades, tear gas, and water cannons deployed to stop them.
AAP MLA Raghav Chadha, who is also the party’s national spokesperson, on Friday defended their right to protest and opposed any move to set up temporary prisons for them.
I urge the Delhi Govt to deny permission for setting up temporary prisons. The farmer of our country is neither a criminal nor a terrorist.
Right to protest peacefully is enshrined in Indian Constitution – Article 19(1) and protests are the hallmark of a free, democratic society. https://t.co/cqMvEb181r— Raghav Chadha (@raghav_chadha) November 27, 2020
Saurabh Bharadwaj, another AAP spokesperson, referred to the Delhi police’s request saying “it is the most inhuman thing we can do”.
I think it’s a most inhuman thing we can do to our farmers. Delhi Police should stop calling themselves- दिल वाली पुलिस https://t.co/bqBH3MDcWB
— Saurabh Bharadwaj (@Saurabh_MLAgk) November 27, 2020
On Friday, the police used tear gas to disperse the protesters at the Delhi-Haryana border in Singhu. The farmers were headed towards the national capital as part of the march. There is a heavy deployment of security personnel, sand-laden trucks, water cannons, and barbed-wire fencing at spot to prevent them from entering the city, PTI reported.