How tens of thousands of farmers marched towards the Indian capital on foot, tractors, cars and horses.
Tractors streamed out of Singhu on the northern outskirts of New Delhi, where thousands of farmers have been protesting for the last two months. Devjyot Ghoshal / Reuters
Thousands of farmers overwhelmed police in central Delhi on January 26, India’s Republic Day, eventually storming the city’s historic Red Fort.
Angry with agricultural reforms which they see as benefitting large private buyers at the expense of smaller growers, tens of thousands of farmers have been camped peacefully at sites on the outskirts of Delhi for more than two months.
What began as a parade of tractors and farmers protesting around the city’s fringes on Republic Day turned into chaos when some farmers diverted from the agreed routes, breaking through barricades and clashing with police, who responded with tear gas and batons. The violence left one dead and hundreds injured.
A tableau from Uttar Pradesh state is displayed during the Republic Day parade in New Delhi, India, January 26, 2021. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
Farmers take part in a tractor rally to protest against farm laws on the occasion of India's Republic Day in Delhi, India, January 26, 2021. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui
The morning
Starting points
Sites of clashes with police
Planned routes
Singhu Border
Near
Mukarba Chowk
Tikri Border
Nangloi
Red Fort
Ghazipur
ITO
Republic Day
parade
Delhi
Akshardham
10 km
Starting points
Sites of clashes with police
Planned routes
Singhu Border
Near
Mukarba Chowk
Tikri Border
Nangloi
Red Fort
Ghazipur
ITO
Republic Day
parade
Delhi
Akshardham
10 km
Starting points
Sites of clashes with police
Planned routes
Singhu Border
Near
Mukarba Chowk
Tikri Border
Nangloi
Red Fort
Ghazipur
ITO
Republic Day
parade
Delhi
Akshardham
10 km
Starting points
Sites of clashes with police
Planned routes
Singhu Border
Near
Mukarba
Chowk
Tikri Border
Nangloi
Red Fort
ITO
Republic Day
parade
Ghazipur
Delhi
Akshardham
10 km
City police had given farmers unions permission to pass along three routes on the outskirts of Delhi, but barred them from entering the central part of the city where the Republic Day parade is held. The agreement with the police was to let protesters pass through after the parade had ended. However, the agreement unravelled as protesters broke away from the planned rally.
The clashes
Farmers try to move barricades during a tractor rally to protest against farm laws on the occasion of India's Republic Day at Tikri border near New Delhi, India, January 26, 2021. REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis
A man throws a tear gas canister back at police during a tractor rally held by farmers to protest farm laws on the occasion of India's Republic Day at Ghazipur border near Delhi, India, January 26, 2021. REUTERS
Protesters moved through Delhi on tractors before eventually congregating outside the Red Fort, a historic Mughal palace where Indian prime ministers deliver the annual Independence Day speech.
At the fort the protesters scaled the walls and ramparts. Once inside, they hoisted flags of the farmers’ unions and those of religious significance to the Sikh community.
Singhu
Kashmere Gate
Red Fort
Connaught
place
ITO
Ghazipur
India
Gate
Akshardham
Republic Day parade
1 km
Shahdara
Singhu
Kashmere Gate
Red Fort
Connaught
place
ITO
Ghazipur
India
Gate
Akshardham
Republic Day parade
1 km
Shahdara
Singhu
Kashmere Gate
Red Fort
Connaught
place
ITO
Ghazipur
India
Gate
Akshardham
Republic Day parade
1 km
Kashmere Gate
Singhu
Red Fort
Connaught
place
ITO
Ghazipur
India
Gate
Akshardham
Republic Day parade
1 km
The flags
The protesters mostly carried three types of flags - religious, those representing farmers unions, and the Indian national flag.
Flags placed by the protestors
Indian National flag permanently hoisted on the Red Fort
Farmers’ Union flag
Indian National flag
Nishan Sahib - a religious flag of the Sikh community
Flags placed by the protestors
Indian National flag permanently hoisted on the Red Fort
Farmers’ Union flag
Farmers’ Union
flag
Indian National flag
Nishan Sahib - a religious flag of the Sikh community
Flags placed by the protestors
Indian National flag permanently hoisted on the Red Fort
Farmers’ Union flag
Indian National flag
Farmers’ Union
flag
Nishan Sahib - a religious flag of the Sikh community
Indian National flag permanently hoisted on the Red Fort
Flags placed by the protestors
Farmers’ Union flag
Indian National flag
Nishan Sahib - a religious flag of the Sikh community
Indian Flag
The tricolor was used extensively by the farmers to portray the movement as one of nationalism.
Nishan Sahib
Often seen at Sikh temples, the triangular saffron flag with a symbol called khanda has religious significance to the community.
Farmer Unions
About 40 farmers unions have been protesting collectively in Delhi. Some flags seen at the protest represented the Bharatiya Kisan Union and the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, prominent farmers’ representative organisations.
How big were these protests
People and tractors had been arriving at Delhi’s borders from several parts of the country for the past several days. At Singhu, one of the three entry points, the police estimated that 6,000-7,000 tractors had gathered, the largest of the three contingents. However, farmers unions said as many as 200,000 tractors had gathered for the rally across the outskirts of the city.
Agriculture employs about half of the workforce in India’s population of 1.3 billion and unrest among an estimated 150 million landowning farmers is one of the biggest challenges to the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi since he came to power in 2014.
Scroll down to see the scale of lining up 7,000 tractors which the police stated were present at one of the entry points.
4 meters
Farmers stated that there were as many as 200,000 tractors gathered for the rally. That is 28 times the line of tractors above. End to end that would be 800 kilometres.
The aftermath
Samyukt Kisan Morcha, the group of farm unions organising the protests, condemned the violence.
Protesters damaged the scanning machines, metal detectors, a police vehicle and the washroom at the Red Fort complex. Police said they had detained 200 protesters on charges of assault and vandalism during the violence on Tuesday.
Roads across New Delhi remained closed while extra police, including paramilitary units, were positioned at protest sites on the outskirts.
A man sits outside a damaged washroom after Tuesday's clashes between police and farmers, in the old quarters of Delhi, India, January 27, 2021. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
Policemen walk past a damaged police vehicle outside the historic Red Fort after Tuesday's clashes between police and farmers, in the old quarters of Delhi, India, January 27, 2021. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
Sources
OpenStreetMap; Local media; Reuters reporting
Additional inputs
Additional reporting by Devjyot Ghoshal, Alasdair Pal, Anushree Fadnavis, Danish Siddiqui and Adnan Abidi. Tractor illustration by Wen Foo.