Farmers at Delhi border refuse to head to protest site

Thousands of farmers gathered at the Singhu border held a meeting on Saturday morning amid heavy security presence and decided to continue demonstrating there even after being offered a site in north Delhi to hold their protest.

Those gathered at the Tikri border continued to hold ground as well. A decision on whether they would head to the designated protest site is expected soon.

After the meeting at the Singhu border, one of the main routes used to access the city from Punjab, a farmer leader said they would not move and continue their protest there.

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"We will not move from here (Singhu Border) and continue our fight. We will not return home. Thousands of farmers have come from Punjab and Haryana to join the protest," he said.

On Friday, hundreds of farmers entered the national capital to hold a peaceful protest at the Sant Nirankari Ground after facing teargas and water cannons and clashing with security personnel while thousands remained at border points, undecided whether to go to the demonstration site identified by police.

The day witnessed police using teargas shells, water cannons and multi-layer barriers to block the protesters and the farmers pelting stones and breaking barricades in some places in their determination to push through as part of their 'Delhi Chalo' march against the Centre's new farm laws.

After a meeting between farmer leaders and senior police officers, the Delhi Police had allowed the protesters to hold demonstration peacefully at Nirankari Ground, but senior farmer leader Darshan Pal later said they would stay put at border points on Friday night and a decision on whether to go to the identified protest site or not will be taken on Saturday.