Indian police fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse farmers participating in a protest march towards New Delhi on Wednesday (Feb. 21) after they rejected a government offer on prices for their produce, prompting another offer of fresh talks.
According to Reuters, the farmers mostly came from the northern state of Punjab, and they have been demanding higher prices backed by law for their crops, forming an influential bloc of voters Prime Minister Narendra Modi could not afford to disenfranchise ahead of May's general elections.
All of the farmers have used multiple radial roads leading towards Delhi, some of them bringing tractors, cranes, and excavators. However, they were stopped by police stationed at barricades on the border of Punjab state with Haryana after they fired tear gas and used water cannons to disperse the farmers.
"It is not right that such massive barricades have been placed to stop us," Jagjit Singh Dallewal - one of the leaders of the farmers' protest - said. "We want to march to Delhi peacefully. If not, they should accede to our demands."
The chief of Haryana police ordered late Tuesday (Feb. 20) to immediately seize the farmers' heavy equipment to keep protesters from using it to destroy the barricades. Police estimated that the protesting farmers numbered about 10,000, bringing with them 1,200 tractors and wagons to the town of Shambhu on the state border.
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Modi's Government Urges Farmers to Negotiating Table
The police action came as Modi's government made a new offer to resume talks on farmers' demand for guaranteed crop prices.
"The government is ready to discuss all the issues," Indian Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. "I again invite the farmer leaders for discussion. It is important for us to maintain peace."
On the other hand, another farmers' leader, Sarwan Singh Pandher, told local media that they would discuss among themselves how to respond.
Earlier this week, the farmers rejected the government's previous proposal for five-year contracts and guaranteed support prices for produce like corn, cotton, and pulses.
An earlier government proposal of minimum support prices to farmers who diversify their crops to grow cotton, pigeon peas, black matpe, red lentils, and corn was rejected by the protesters, who wanted additional food grain covered.
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