JOIN USUP govt asks farmers to leave Ghazipur border; withdraws facilities
Adopting a tough posture following violence during the tractor rally in Delhi on Republic Day, the Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday withdrew all the facilities being provided to the farmers, who have been protesting against the contentious farm laws and asked them to leave the Ghazipur border in the state's Ghaziabad district.
According to sources, district officials have been directed to speak to the farmers to leave the border and use force if they do not abide by orders.
Security personnel in strength had been deployed at the border, sources said. They also conducted a flag march there, they added.
The Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation, which had been providing civic facilities to the agitating farmers, had cut off water supply and closed temporary toilets, according to sources.
''The farmers may leave the border by late in the night or early morning,'' said an official requesting anonymity. Those in the know said that a section of the agitating farmers were not ready to call off their dharna and leave the ground.
Farmers, who had been on dharna in Baghpat, Mathura and elsewhere in the state, have called off their protests. In Baghpat, the police forced the agitating farmers to leave the Delhi-Saharanpur highway at Baraut in the district on Thursday.
Sources said that the police had also sent a notice to Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait asking him to explain the alleged violation of the agreement reached between farmer leaders and Delhi police with regard to the tractor rally.
Tikait, however, rejected the charges and said that those involved in the violence were not farmers.
One farmer was killed when his tractor overturned, and several others, including police personnel were injured in the violence during the tractor rally on Tuesday.