Iron nails, sticks, barbed wire, stones and makeshift walls are being used to barricade Delhi’s borders against thousands of protesting farmers.
Enhanced security – called “warlike” by some farmers – comes amid a tense standoff with the government over new agricultural laws.
The protest, now in its third month, presents the biggest challenge that Prime Minister Narendra Modi faced.
His government has offered to suspend the laws, but farmers want them to be repealed.
Things turned violent last week, when protesters and police clashed after thousands of farmers entered Delhi as part of a large tractor rally. Dozens of police were injured and a protester died. Groups of farmers and union leaders condemned the violence, but said they would not cancel the protest.
Instead, they plan to block roads leading to the national capital on Saturday. Meanwhile, the situation at the protest sites – Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri – has steadily worsened.
Delhi and the neighboring state of Uttar Pradesh placed officers and drones at the sites and began blocking the area around the protests, preventing farmers from entering the city roads.
Delhi Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava defended the barricades. “I am surprised that when tractors were used, police were attacked, barricades were breached on January 26, no issues were raised,” he told the ANI news agency.
“What have we done now? We have just strengthened the barricades so that it does not break again ”.
At the Delhi-Haryana border, police blocked the roads with large concrete slabs and placed huge iron nails across the length of the road leading to the Tikri protest site.
Anoop Chanaut, a member of the Kisan Social Army (Farmer), told BBC Hindi that the government says we are just a phone call away. “But then they place barricades as if it were an international border.
“We are sitting peacefully in front of us and will remain seated. But if we want to move forward to surround parliament, these barricades will not stop us,” the farmers told BBC Hindi.
Many on social media have compared war fortification at protest sites to fences at international borders. #FencinglikeChinaPak has risen to the top of twitter trends in India, as many have commented on the excessive use of security paraphernalia by police.
The fortified camps being set up by the police and paramilitaries on the outskirts of Singhu, Tikri, Ghazipur, remind me of the Roman camps outside the village of Asterix. We all knew who won every confrontation between the indomitable Gauls and the Roman army 😄 #FarmersProtest #Asterix pic.twitter.com/jMzcRcTAzO
– Kavita Krishnan (@kavita_krishnan) February 2, 2021
The protest site on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh (UP) border has been heavily fortified since Sunday night. All roads from UP to Delhi have been closed. Even the passages and paths were blocked.
Barbed wire spools, heavy metal barricades, layers of boulders and rows of concrete barricades line the main roads of Ghazipur and Singhu.
Coils of barbed wire and concrete slabs block the roads here. Like Tikri, nails were installed on the Ghazipur border as well.
Nail strips would be suitable and easier to remove. Doesn’t the police seem to expect the road to be opened anytime soon, or is it just a psychological war? https://t.co/2EtJyixTCP
– KC Singh (@ambkcsingh) February 2, 2021
Police at the protest site told the BBC they were ordered to increase security there. Farmers say the police have taken these steps to keep the number of tents at the site from increasing.
BBC Hindi Samiratmaj Mishra reported that an ambulance had to return due to the heavy barbed wire barricade and concrete blocks.
On Monday night, concrete was poured between the stone barriers to keep them in place. Alternating rows of metal and stone barriers cross the main highway.
Videos and photos from the protest sites were shared by many on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram amid outrage against what many consider to be heavy security.
Barricades on the Singhu border stretch for 2 km on the Delhi side. The road has been dug. Selected vehicles are being allowed to go beyond the barricade, but media vehicles are not allowed. All routes have been blocked.
A farmer leader present at the Singhu site told BBC Hindi that “the Modi government is building a wall on the border of Delhi and Haryana, as announced by Trump on the border of the United States and Mexico”.
Farmers’ leaders here told BBC Hindi that if the government wants to negotiate, it must first create an atmosphere of dialogue.
“The government is taking all inhumane measures. This includes cutting electricity, turning off water and shutting down the internet. Now the government is barricading. This should stop immediately.”