The Shiromani Akali Dal leader, Sukhbir Singh Badal and Lok Sabha MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal along with a dozen other leaders were detained by Delhi Police this afternoon during demonstrations
against three farm laws in the national capital.
The party leaders claim authorities used "force" to prevent them from holding a "black Friday march" to mark one year of protests against the centre's controversial
farm laws.
“Leaders of the Shiromani Akali Dal have been detained and are being taken to Sansad Marg Police Station,” a police official was quoted saying by a renowned news agency.
Mr Badal and the others were arrested and taken to the Parliament Street Police Station for violating Section 144, which prohibits large gatherings. Sukhbir Badal urged Akali Dal members
and other protesters to disperse calmly while they were being held.
"We were here to protest. Delhi Police used force to stop us. Police sealed the borders and our workers were lathi charged. Kejriwal government gave orders that we cannot gather at
a gurudwara, while the central government also stopped us. This is undemocratic," Harsimrat Kaur Badal was quoted by a reputed media organisation.
“Several farmers have died and many are still sitting at the state borders but this government is indifferent. We will continue our fight until the three farm laws are repealed,”
she added.
Also Read: ‘Scrap farm laws’, Punjab CM tells centre as black farm laws complete a year
Earlier, enraged farmers and Akali Dal workers gathered outside Delhi's borders, where police raised barricades, closed major roads and shut down two metro stations to keep protesters
out.
Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who resigned from PM Modi's cabinet over the farm rules, posted a video on Twitter showing chaotic scenes from the Gurdwara Rakabganj Sahib in central Delhi as
party workers sought to get past police barricades to start their protest march.
"Strongly condemn Delhi Police for sealing entry points to the national capital and detaining Akali Dal workers reaching Gurdwara Rakabganj Sahib. Receiving phone calls and videos (showing
how) police (are) trying to foil protest march... It is an undeclared emergency," said Ms Badal in her tweet.
Road closures in the Dhaula Kuan area also impacted traffic coming from Gurgaon.
Since November of last year, farmers and opposition parties have been protesting against the center's farm laws. The centre has undertaken multiple rounds of meetings, but the dispute
continues.
Farmers claim that the three "black" laws will deprive them of fixed prices, disrupt the existing mandi system and leave small and marginal farmers vulnerable to corporate interests.
However, the administration insists that the laws would benefit farmers in the long run and that while it is open to amendments, it will not repeal them, as the farmers are demanding.
Today, the protests took place as the government launches a 20-day extravaganza to celebrate Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 71st birthday, which includes an attempt to set a single-day
Covid vaccination record.