The Delhi March is an annual protest march against the lack of progress in the Delhi government. Since Delhi was divided into various districts and cities for its administrative needs, it is not easy to get work done in all the districts or to enjoy all the developments that have taken place in all the major cities of the national capital Delhi. Farmers in the state of Punjab are largely affected by the shortage of jobs. The main reason for this is that the whole agricultural production in the state is dependent on irrigation and pesticides which are not possible without pesticides and irrigation.
The Delhi March is mostly organized by the Left and is called as a solidarity march with farmers. It is estimated that thousands of people are present at the Delhi March venue. The central demand of the Delhi March is for the resignation of the national assembly speaker, Pratibha Sonowal. Farmers have been demanding for the arrest of the politician from the national capital for the last three months now.
The Delhi March participants mainly travel from other parts of the country like Rajasthan and Punjab. There are also border points from Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand where the protesters have also entered the national capital. The banners carried by the Delhi March participants mostly carry a picture of the statue of late President Muhammad XI Pakistan. The banners also carry slogans like “Till death do us part,” “Till death do us part with dignity” and “Till death do us part with justice.”
The Delhi March has different themes like that of anti-farming bill or the syllabus for nursery and children’s education. However, all the slogans are aimed at highlighting for the residents of the capital the worsening conditions of the farmers in the state of Punjab. The ongoing struggles by the farmers in the state of Punjab have been an object lesson for the residents of the national capital. Even the prime minister of India has lent his voice to the agitating farmers of Punjab. Recently, the premier spoke out against the exploitation of the farmers by the un-ethical and unethical pharmaceutical manufacturing companies.
The main slogan of the Delhi March is “Rural Development without Apologies”. The government has not offered any real solutions to the agitations that have been happening for several weeks now. The chief minister of the state of Delhi has met the prime minister of India to discuss the agitations. There have been reports of police using tear gas shells to disperse the crowd of the farmers in the middle of the street. Many people have lost their lives since the farmers took to the streets demanding for better living standards.
The police has also resorted to extreme violence in suppressing the Delhi March. Earlier in the day, the main agitating group of the farmers of Punjab had gathered at Rajender Nagar where they were stopped by the police. The main reason cited by the police for stopping the agitating farmer was that the crowd did not cooperate with them. The police used tear gas shells to disperse the crowd and many have lost their lives in the process. The incident has once again underlined the brutality with which the Delhi authorities has treated its own citizens, especially the farmer’s community.
