Many farmers desert Singhu as remaining ones stand divided

New Delhi: An uncomfortable silence had taken over the Singhu border protest site on Wednesday, after a chaotic and violent Republic Day as protesters contemplated the future of one of the biggest protests this government has faced.

As farmer leaders blamed Deep Sidhu, the government and the police for conspiring to derail their movement, at the protest site, farmers were divided between disapproving the violence and the flag hoisting at Red Fort and subtly supporting these actions and appreciating them.

But almost everyone said it was time to focus on the main issue at hand — the farm laws, the harm they will cause, and their demands to have it repealed.

The farmers, meanwhile, have also blamed the government and the police for executing the plan to instigate the farmers. Pradeep Singh, who hails from Punjab is sitting with five other farmers said that they had taken the path which was approved by the Delhi Police.

"We reached from Singhu at 10 am which was also the time given to us. But we followed the path by the Delhi Police and not the other way. We also don't approve of the whole incident. This protest is about farmers and should have stayed that itself. The flag incident should not have happened and we condemn it," he said. The other five, who belonged to a farmer union, approved.

Two protesters from Patiala said that although they were not able to reach Red Fort, they supported the whole thing. "This was God's will honestly. It was supposed to happen and we support it. The violence not so much but the Sikh flag at the pole was a proud moment," they said.

As the crowd seemed to thin down from the Singhu, many farmers were seen relaxing at the border. Sudhir Jhakkad, who is a member of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) Yuva from Haryana said that it was time to move past the incident and focus on the farmers' issue and repeal of the law. "I feel the issue is being taken out of proportion and we should focus on the major issue. This is what the government also wanted, to make people divert from the main issue but we are determined," he said.

Speaking to Millennium Post earlier in the day, BKU leader Gurnam Singh Chaduni said that they do not approve of what happened at the Red Fort. "It is unfortunate whatever happened and we condemn those who did it. What happened yesterday was wrong. But it was the police who instigated all this. I had told them that not approving the route will pave the way for violence. Whatever happened at Red Fort was also wrong. We do not support it but it was the police that had not given permission to farmers which is why the people got angry and the rest took place in the way the police wanted. We are going to have a meeting with Samyukt Kisan Morcha where the decision for the next course of action will be taken," he said.

Meanwhile, the police deployment at Singhu Border has increased with limited entries to vehicles around the border. There was a tense environment at the protest site, with very few protesters saying back. At night time, the protest site had almost cleared.

As for the elaborate protest arrangements made by the Delhi government for these farmers at the GTB Memorial near the Singhu site, the tents, langar services and all other services for protesters were removed by Wednesday evening. The entire space had been cleared out with just remnants of bigger tents lying on the ground.