Haryana Recommends Medals to Police for Bravery During Dilli Chalo

The Haryana govt. has recommended Police Medals for Gallantry for three Indian Police Service and three Haryana Police Service officers for preventing Panjab and Haryana farmers from marching to Delhi during the Dilli Chalo (March to Delhi) agitation in February 2024 (SDW Vol. 2 Issue 8, Story 1). The police informed the govt. that these officers performed their duty when ‘the police were facing attacks from thousands of agitators from all sides.’ Panjab’s neighboring state recommending such medals signals how they view citizens as enemies of the state. Now that the Punjab and Haryana High Court has upheld the farmers’ right to protest, declared the barricades illegal, and asked Haryana to dismantle them, the state has appealed to the Supreme Court (SC). Both these stances show that the BJP govt. in Haryana does not believe in the law or the courts and wants to establish a culture of its own where it benefits those who do its bidding. Meanwhile, on 17 Jul, farmers were gathering in Ambala to demand Navdeep Singh Jalbera’s release. The courts released Navdeep the previous night stating his detention was under false cases. The farmers decided not to proceed towards the Superintendent of Police’s home but gather at the grain market instead to felicitate Navdeep and others released from jail. However, since the Haryana govt. has now petitioned the SC over keeping the road barricades because farmers are dangerous, they tried their level best to provoke the farmers. They detained farmer leaders and blocked their routes to the grain market, but the farmers adhered to their commitment to nonviolence. Finally, the police were forced to allow them to proceed to Shambhu, where they conducted their rally. At present, the farmers are camping at Shambhu and say they will march to Delhi when barricades open (SDW Vol. 2 Issue 29, Story 3).