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New Delhi: The Delhi Police has tightened the security at Jantar Mantar and at borders after it was announced that thousands of farmers will visit the protesting wrestlers in a show of solidarity on Sunday and Monday to the site where some wrestlers are protesting, police said..
Additional deployments will be made and areas near Jantar Mantar will be barricaded, officials said. Security checks and patrolling will also be enhanced, especially in the bordering areas. The Delhi Police have planned elaborate security arrangements near Jantar Mantar and the city’s bordering areas ahead of the visit, the officials said.
Orders have been given to detain those who violate the law, officials told India Today. If any tent or other such items are found in any vehicle during a border check, it will be seized, and the vehicle will not be allowed to enter Delhi. A large number of female police officers will also be deployed.
On Sunday, several senior Samyukta Kisan Morcha leaders from Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and western Uttar Pradesh, with hundreds of farmers, will visit the protest site at Jantar Mantar and extend their fullest support to the wrestlers. The outfit has demanded the immediate arrest of Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Singh, accused of sexual harassment by female wrestlers.
The announcement regarding Sunday’s visit comes a day after the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political), a breakaway group of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha that spearheaded the year-long agitation against the now-repealed farm laws, said a large number of farmers would gather at Jantar Mantar on Monday (May 8) in support of the wrestlers.
The farmers union has also planned nationwide protests in support of wrestlers.From May 11-18, the farmers union will organise a pan-India agitation in all state capitals and district headquarters.The SKM also accused the Delhi Police of not acting with due sensitivity and condemned the denial of basic civil rights to protesting wrestlers.
Several wrestlers have been protesting at the Jantar Mantar since April 23, demanding that the government make public the findings of an oversight panel that investigated the sexual harassment charges against Singh. On April 28, the Delhi Police registered two FIRs in connection with the allegations.
India’s top wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and other prominent grapplers have been staging a sit-in protest. The wrestlers have been eating and sleeping at the protest site and have also started their training sessions there. Several wrestlers have been protesting at the Jantar Mantar since 23 April, demanding that the government make public the findings of an oversight panel that investigated the sexual harassment charges against Singh. On 28 April, the Delhi Police registered two FIRs in connection with the allegations.
