Iron bars hooked between barriers, cement poured in to create makeshift wall at Singhu border

Workers under the watch of police personnel on Monday hooked iron rods between two rows of cement barriers on a flank of the main highway at the Singhu border to further restrict the movement of protesters agitating against the new farm laws at the siteAnother portion of the highway at the DelhiHaryana border is practically blocked now as a makeshift cement wall has come up thereA worker drilling rods in crossformation between two rows of solid barriers in the afternoon said The other flank was done yesterday Cement is to be poured in the space between the barriers on this flank to make a makeshift wallThe move comes days after the violent clashes between some protesters and police on January 26 during the tractor parade by the agitating farmersThe section of the highway at the Singhu border which has been the epicentre of the farmers protests for over 60 days had also seen a clash recently between farmers and a group of people who claimed to be local residentsOn Monday the Delhi side of the Singhu border saw a sparse crowd of protesters while the Haryana side was dominated by vociferous speeches denouncing the new farm laws and clarion calls to infuse a new sense of solidarity in the agitation after the Republic Day incidentSecurity personnel from the paramilitary forces RAF and CRPF were seen in relatively less numbers compared to the past few days but a large number of police personnel manned the stretch spanking a mile from the protest siteBesides the makeshift wall on the highway a small trench was also dug up earlier across an inner street a little off the highway and cement barricades put up on both the sidesThe protesting farmers and leaders at a tent however showed no signs of being cowed down and asserted that these barricades put up around us cant cage our spiritAll of them alleged that on January 26 a conspiracy was made to malign this movement and defame it and more such attempts are being made while asserting that the agitation has come out stronger nowJashandeep Singh 28 a resident of Mohali who left his private job and wife and oneyearold daughter behind in his hometown to join the movement at Singhu Border from its early days said We are not retreating an inchIf they think we will get intimidated by these force tactics then they are mistaken We are warriors and our fight is for everyone and for the future generations of this country And they may make cement walls but no wall is high for our free spirit This movement is not a flood that can be checked with a dam Its a tsunami no walls can stop it he saidIn the evening cement was poured into a section of the doublesided solid barricade even as a group of youth from the families of farmers stood huddled around right next to the barricade on the other sideThey are making a wall to stop the farmers and that too with the taxpayers money Is the media listening screamed one of the youths from the crowd as police officials and personnel watched from the Delhi side of borderEarlier in the day Balwinder Singh Sirsa a farmer leader from Sirsa Haryana while addressing farmers exhorted them to not get demotivated by what happened on January 26 as it was orchestrated by some people to denigrate the movementA woman protester from Haryana addressing a huge gathering from the dais said the alleged conspiracy on that day has failed to weaken this movement and has rather injected a new lease of life in itRandhir Singh 85 a farmer from Haryana also addressed the gathering saying I have worked with legends Mahendra Singh Tikait and I know how Jat movement was weakened few years agoWhat happened on January 26 was a conspiracy It was not done by farmers but all was part of a smear campaign bring run to defame the movement he allegedWe are not terrorists or Khalistani We are fighting for our rights Attempts are still being made to defame and weaken us But Tikaits tears have awakened the farmers of Haryana UP and other states he saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever