How volunteers at Ghazipur misplaced the plot

With a big group breaking off early on to go in direction of central Delhi, and subsequent makes an attempt by protesters to interrupt from the route and head in direction of Delhi, the rally from Ghazipur was a splintered affair from begin to end.
Volunteers and coordinators have been stationed to the left of Ghazipur flyover, the designated level for the rally to start. As people and small teams of farmers tried to push by way of or slide previous barricades earlier than the official beginning time, these volunteers caught maintain of them and pulled them again. “I have been on duty at this point since 6 am and people have been trying to get through since then. If we become lax even for a bit, everyone will break through. We have been asked to keep them back till Rakesh Tikait ji tells us to open up,” stated Rajen Chaudhury, a 22-year-old farmer from Shamli district at 9.45 am.

What he and coordinators say they didn’t know at the moment was that a lot of tractors had already left the positioning by way of totally different openings — over the Ghazipur flyover and on the highway on the opposite facet.

According to the designated route, the rally was to maneuver to the correct in direction of Anand Vihar, to go onwards to Apsara Border. However, tractors which broke away and left early acquired on the flyover to go in direction of Akshardham, the place they have been met with teargas shells as police tried to cease them. Despite this, many moved ahead and went on to ITO and Red Fort.
Soon, volunteers arrived on the flyover to ask folks heading up the flyover to return and take a proper flip from Ghazipur in direction of Anand Vihar. Senior leaders together with BKU nationwide head Rakesh Tikait stood at Ghazipur Chowk, directing incoming tractors to take the correct flip.
The rally got here to a halt at Apsara Border for round two hours, leading to a a number of kilometres-long line of tractors. At the pinnacle of this logjam was a bunch of protesters attempting to persuade every incoming tractor to not head onwards with the designated route, and as a substitute transfer in direction of Kashmere Gate by deviating on to a flyover heading in direction of it.
“Hum kisaan hai aur kisaan sab sansad jaayenge aaj,” stated one among these protesters who didn’t share his title. As tractor after tractor stated they weren’t keen to take action and headed in direction of Sahibabad, a few of them have been met with taunts akin to ‘darpok’.
Some tractors did take the deviation and go on the flyover, on the finish of which they have been met with police pressure, together with lathi cost. Several autos have been broken on this confrontation, and that group of farmers was pressured to show again. Satender Singh from Bharoch was one among these farmers. “One of the tires of my tractor has been completely deflated,” he stated.
In the meantime, many farmers caught within the jam determined to go again in direction of Ghazipur. Here, the cut up all through the protest was mirrored inside one tractor.
Sandeep Kumar (45), who reached Ghazipur border the earlier evening, was bent on going in direction of Delhi whereas his companions stated they might return to Ghazipur. “We will either stay here or go towards Delhi. We will not go back to Ghazipur till we are heard,” he stated.
Harjinder Singh, who’s a part of the Ghazipur Kisan Andolan Committee, stated the probably causes for the breakaway teams was the dimensions of the protest surpassing expectations and a number of other farmers becoming a member of too late to be briefed on pointers for the rally.
“We had made announcements from the stage and spread the word through our volunteers. I am confident that we got through to all those who were present last night. However, many joined in even later. They might not have known what the route was. Everybody also wanted to be at the front of the rally. Wherever they found a way, they pushed forward. The numbers were so large that coordinators couldn’t keep track of who went where,” he stated.

However, in keeping with one other committee member, Guramneet Mangat, the breaking away needed to do with extra than simply logistical confusion.
“There are people who arrived from 400 km away just before this rally. They arrived despite being pressured not to by police back in their villages. They might have felt that circling back to Ghazipur after following a route decided by the police is not what they came for. It also needs to be understood that 70-80% of the farmers are not members of any farmers’ union and they might not have felt bound to directives issued,” he stated.
(Inputs from Ashna Butani)