Farmers' protest: Samkyukta Kisan Morcha calls meeting to discuss violence during tractor rally in Delhi

New Delhi: Samkyukta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of protesting unions, has called a meeting later on Wednesday to discuss the violence that broke out during the farmers’ tractor march in the National Capital. Before the Morcha meeting, representatives of 32 Punjab unions will also meet at the Singhu border, a major site for protests against the three new farm laws. A senior farmer leader said, “The Samkyukta Kisan Morcha will meet around 3 pm on Wednesday and discuss all aspects pertaining to violence that happened during the tractor parade in Delhi”. The Samkyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of 41 farmer unions, is leading the protest against the three central farm laws at several border points of Delhi. After violence broke out during the demonstration on Tuesday, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha had called off the rally and appealed to participants to immediately return to their respective protest sites. The tractor parade on Tuesday that was to highlight the demands of the farmer unions to repeal three new agri laws dissolved into anarchy on the streets of the city as tens of thousands of protesters broke through barriers, fought with police, overturned vehicles and hoisted a religious flag from the ramparts of the iconic Red Fort. The Delhi Police has registered 22 FIRs so far in connection with the violence in several area that has left over 300 policemen injured. The Kisan Morcha had disassociated itself from those who indulged in violence during the tractor parade, and alleged that some “antisocial elements” infiltrated their otherwise peaceful movement. Farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at several Delhi border points, including Tikri, Singhu and Ghazipur, since 28 November, demanding a complete repeal of three farm laws and a legal guarantee on minimum support price for their crops.