Sun Dec 08 07:44:13 UTC 2024: **Farmers Resume March to Delhi, Met with Tear Gas and Barricades**

**Patiala, Punjab, December 8, 2024** – A renewed wave of farmer protests reached the borders of Delhi today as a group of 101 farmers began a foot march from the Shambhu border, demanding a legal guarantee for Minimum Support Price (MSP) and other key agricultural reforms. Their advance was met with immediate resistance, however.

Haryana police deployed tear gas to disperse the farmers as they approached multi-layered barricades at the Shambhu border. While some protesters took cover with wet jute bags, the police successfully halted the march. Authorities demanded the farmers show permission for their demonstration.

The protest comes after a renewed push for demands including MSP guarantees, farm debt waivers, pensions for farmers and farm laborers, electricity tariff freezes, withdrawal of police cases against farmers, and justice for victims of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence. Additional demands include reinstating the Land Acquisition Act, 2013 and compensation for farmers who died during the 2020-21 protests.

Security has been significantly heightened at Delhi’s Singhu border, with Delhi police maintaining a heightened alert. Another group of farmers from Uttar Pradesh are also protesting at the Noida border. A senior police officer stated that while current deployment at Singhu is skeletal, it will be increased based on developments at Shambhu. Despite the setbacks, the farmers intend to continue their pressure on the central government.

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