Police in northern India fired tear gas on protesting farmers to prevent them from marching on Delhi. The capital is ringed by cement blocks, razor wire, and fencing on three sides to keep the farmers who are demanding minimum crop prices at bay. The government fears a repeat of a 2020 protest that lasted a year and caused dozens of deaths. The protest in 2020 only ended after ministers agreed to repeal controversial agriculture laws.
Clouds of tear gas were used to disperse protesters near the city of Ambala and at the Shambhu border between Haryana and Punjab states. Drones flew continuously over the crowd and dropped tear gas on people below. The farmers say they want to peacefully cross Haryana to reach Delhi, but they have not been allowed to do so. In 2020, the protesting farmers blocked national highways that connected the capital to neighboring states for months. The movement in 2020 was seen as one of the biggest challenges to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.
Read More: Tear gas fired as thousands of farmers march on fortress Delhi
