Farmers' protest: 'Kisan Kranti Padyatra' ends at Delhi's Kisan Ghat; Ghaziabad schools to remain shut

New Delhi: The 'Kisan Kranti Padyatra', which started on September 23, ended at the Kisan Ghat in the national capital in the early hours of Wednesday.

The protest march was started by the Bharatiya Kisan Union. It came to an end after the protesting farmers reached Kisan Ghat, the memorial of Chaudhary Charan Singh, a renowned farmer leader on late Tuesday night.

"The 'Kisan Kranti Padyatra' that started on September 23 had to end at Kisan Ghat. Since Delhi Police did not allow us to enter, we protested. Our aim was to finish the Yatra, which we have done now. Now we will go back to our villages," said Bharatiya Kisan Union president Naresh Tikait.

Earlier, the Delhi Police stopped the farmers from entering Delhi through Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border. The police also used water cannons and tear gas to disperse them. However, later, the police opened the barricades at the border allowing the entrance of the farmers.

The farmers were agitating to demand loan waiver, reduction in electricity tariff and pension for farmers aged above 60. The yatra began from Haridwar with the score of farmers from Gonda, Basti and Gorakhpur participating in the protest march. At least 70,000 farmers from Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Haryana staged the Kisan Kranti Padyatra, which concluded at the Rajghat.

In the wake of the agitation, the Centre accepted most of the demands of the farmers following consultations with top leaders of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) - the umbrella organisation under which thousands of farmers have been staging a protest to press for their demands.

However, the farmers at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border said that their stir would continue because the government has only agreed to seven of their eleven demands. Expressing dissatisfaction, they added that the government did not clear its stand on some of the major issues of the farmers like C2+50 and loan waiver.

All schools and colleges in Ghaziabad is scheduled to remain closed on Wednesday as a preventive measure in view of the protest. 

Despite adequate security arrangements by Delhi Police, the protesting farmers in the national capital turned violent. According to police, the farmers tried to break barricades forcefully through tractor-trolleys and were also carrying lathis.