Thousands of farmers began a ‘Delhi Chalo’ (Let’s go to Delhi) march last week but were stopped by security forces about 200 km (125 miles) north of the capital, with water cannons and teargas being used to push them back.

Farmer leaders on Thursday announced a series of “mega programmes” across India to press their demands. The “Black Day” on Friday will be followed by a tractor rally on highways on Feb. 26, and a farm workers’ public meeting in Delhi on March 14.

Black flags were hoisted on tractors and trolleys lined up at the protest site on Friday. Several protesters, most of whom are Sikhs from the northern state of Punjab, also tied black cloth over their turbans in solidarity.

Farmers also burnt effigies also of Home (interior) Minister Amit Shah and the chief minister of Haryana state, whose police force they accuse of using force against them, and chanted slogans demanding minimum prices for their crops.

A general election is due by May.

Protestor’s death

The farmers paused their march for two days on Wednesday after the death of a protester, which they blamed on police aggression.

Sartaj Singh, a senior police officer in Punjab’s Sangrur district, where the incident took place, said the man died at a protest site but that the cause of his death would be known only after the autopsy.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday announced compensation of 10 million rupees (C$162,800) for the dead man’s family.

Farmer leaders rejected the compensation and said they would not allow the autopsy to be conducted until a murder case is registered.

“We will have a meeting in the evening to decide next steps (regarding the march),” farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher told reporters.

Amnesty International condemned the protester’s death and urged the government to “respect, protect and facilitate the right to freedom of peaceful assembly”.

“The price of protest must not be death,” said Aakar Patel, chair of board at Amnesty International India.

Nihang Sikh warriors join protest

Protesting farmers have come under the protection of the Nihang Sikhs, a warrior sect dating back to the 1600s distinguished by their ink-blue robes and ancient weapons such as swords and spears.

The farmers are also mainly Sikhs and who hail from the northern state of Punjab.

After the farmers paused protests, Wednesday, following a demonstrator’s death, Nihang warriors honed their skills by practicing fencing, horseback riding and meditating while they waited for the march to resume.

Easily distinguishable by their flowing robes and matching turbans, several Nihangs say they joined the march to “protect” the farmers.

“Guru Gobind Singh has preached that Sikhs must always be ready to fight injustice and oppression,” said Sher Singh, one of the Nihangs referring to the spiritual leader of the Sikhs.

“We have to be prepared if these protesters face any trouble even in the middle of the night.”

India’s minority Sikh community makes for more than half of Punjab’s 30 million population, and the Nihangs took part in a similar, year-long farmers’ protest in 2021.

–Additional reporting for Reuters by Rupam Jain.

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The farmers, mostly from the northern state of Punjab, have been demanding higher prices backed by law for their crops. They form an influential bloc of voters Prime Minister Narendra Modi cannot afford to anger ahead of general elections due by May.

Farmers’ leader Sarwan Singh Pandher told reporters they would pause their protest for two days and deliberate their next course of action until Friday after the government offered anew to resume talks on farmers’ demand for guaranteed crop prices.

“The government is ready to discuss all the issues,” Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda posted on social network X.

“I again invite the farmer leaders for discussion. It is important for us to maintain peace.”

Earlier on Wednesday, protesters – some wearing medical masks- ran into fields near their gathering-point on a highway about 200 km (125 miles) north of New Delhi after police fired tear gas.

Pandher claimed that one protester was killed and three injured at another protest site 100 km away, but police in Haryana state denied it.

Video clips on local media showed police using water cannons and farmers aiming a hose pipe of water at the site.

On Monday, the farmers’ groups rejected the government’s previous proposal for five-year contracts and guaranteed support prices for produce such as corn, cotton and pulses.

Highways blocked

The farmers, accompanied by cranes and excavators, began marching at 0530 GMT from a spot on a key highway where authorities had erected barricades on the border of Punjab state with Haryana.

“It is not right that such massive barricades have been placed to stop us,” said one of the farmers’ leaders, Jagjit Singh Dallewal. “We want to march to Delhi peacefully. If not, they should accede to our demands.”

Police in riot gear lined the highway as the farmers waved colourful flags emblazoned with symbols of their unions.

Late on Tuesday, Haryana’s police chief ordered the immediate seizure of heavy equipment brought by the farmers, to keep protesters from using them to destroy barricades.

About 10,000 people had gathered on Wednesday, along with 1,200 tractors and wagons at Shambhu on the state border, police in Haryana posted on X.

Security was stepped up at entry points to New Delhi, ensnarling traffic to the city of more than 20 million. Two key entry points north of the city have been shut for days and traffic diverted.

An earlier government proposal of minimum support prices to farmers who diversify their crops to grow cotton, pigeon peas, black matpe, red lentils and corn was rejected by the protesters, who wanted additional food grains covered.

Similar protests two years ago, when farmers camped for months at the border of New Delhi, forced Modi’s government to repeal a set of farm laws.

–Additional reporting for Reuters by Anushree Fadnavis, Francis Mascerehnas and Sakshi Dayal in New Delhi.

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Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda, who met farmers’ representatives late on Thursday along with Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and deputy interior minister Nityanand Rai, told reporters the talks were “positive”, adding: “We believe we will all find a solution together peacefully.”

Movement leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal also said the farmers would hold off their march for now.

“When the meetings have started, if we move forward (towards Delhi) then how will meetings happen?” Dallewal said, adding that the protest “will continue peacefully”.

Thousands of farmers had embarked on the “Delhi Chalo”, or “Let’s go to Delhi” march earlier this week to press the government to set a minimum price for their produce, but they were stopped by security forces about 200 kms (125 miles) away from the capital, triggering clashes.

Union leaders said a 63-year-old farmer, who was among those camped at the site, died of a heart attack early on Friday. A state police officer said they had received information about a farmer’s death and are looking into it.

The protests have erupted a few months before India is due to hold national elections in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking a third term. Farmers are an influential voting bloc.

The farmers remained camped on the border between Punjab and Haryana states on Friday. Security forces have used concrete and metal barricades, as well as drones carrying tear gas canisters, to stop them for advancing.

The protest comes two years after Modi’s government, following a similar protest movement, repealed some farm laws and promised to find ways to ensure support prices for all produce.

–Additional reporting and writing for Reuters by Sakshi Dayal.

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Travelling on trucks and trolleys loaded with food, bedding and other supplies, the farmers began their “Delhi Chalo” (Let’s go to Delhi) march on Tuesday morning after talks with the government failed to yield a commitment on minimum prices for a range of crops.

Authorities imposed tight security arrangements in areas bordering New Delhi, with hundreds of personnel in riot gear deployed amid cement blocks topped with barbed wire and shipping containers as barriers in the path of the convoy.

Security forces stopped the farmers at the Shambhu border that divides Punjab and Haryana – the northern states to which most of the farmers belong – almost 200 km (125 miles) from their destination.

Protesters threw stones and tried to break down barricades, Haryana Director General of Police Shatrujeet Kapur said.

“Police and paramilitary forces used minimum force (like) tear gas and water cannon and kept the situation under control,” he said.

Security forces also used drones to drop tear gas canisters on farmers who, in response, released kites into the sky in the hope of entangling the machines.

Multiple farmers’ unions said they would protest against the police action by blocking rail traffic at several places in Punjab for four hours on Thursday.

‘We won’t be fooled’

A similar year-long protest in 2021 by farmers, a powerful voting bloc, had pushed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to repeal some farm laws and promise to find ways to ensure support prices for all farm produce.

Farmers say the government has been slow on fulfilling the latter promise.

“Last time they fooled us but this time we won’t be fooled. We will not return until our demands are met,” said 23-year-old Jasmeet Singh, a resident of Haryana’s Ambala region who also participated in the protests in 2021.

The latest protests come just months before a national election in which Modi will seek a third term.

Leaders of farmers’ unions said the government should accept their demands or “democratically” allow them to go to Delhi.

“But they are not doing either,” said Sarwan Singh Pandher, general secretary of the Punjab Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee.

The government has appealed to farmers to come forward to discuss their demands, with Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda saying that efforts will continue to speak to them “in a constructive and positive manner”.

However, an influential farmers’ union linked with Modi’s party on Wednesday rejected demands raised by the protesting farmers.

The leader of Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS) or the Indian Farmers’ Group, said the protests were masterminded by opposition political parties with the aim of fracturing Modi’s agrarian reforms.

“Protesting farmer groups do not represent concerns of all farmers, their views are limited to regional agrarian practices,” said Mohini Mohan Mishra, general secretary of BKS.

Time for tea

A rare moment of respite in the protest came in the afternoon when farmers moved back to their vehicles for lunch, lining up to be served. In some places, farmers and police stood side-by-side, warming themselves with cups of tea against a backdrop of rows of barricades.

Traffic was disrupted across Delhi’s border regions. On Grand Trunk Road, which connects Delhi to Punjab via Haryana, vehicles were redirected for the last 20 km (12 miles) through side roads.

The opposite carriageway, carrying commuters to Delhi, remained deserted, with traffic movement prohibited along its entire 150 km Haryana stretch.

Haryana has also suspended mobile internet services, bulk messaging, and dongle services in several parts until Thursday night.

–Additional reporting for Reuters by Mayank Bhardwaj and Rupam Jain.

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