Gurugram, Jan 20 (IANS): The Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) in Gurugram conducted a tractor rally 'rehearsal' in Gurugram on Wednesday ahead of Republic Day, in support of the farmers' protests against the three farm laws.
SKM president Chaudhary Santokh Singh, farmers and other members of the Morcha participated in the event.
Singh said hundreds of tractors and other vehicles which had affixed the national flag on their vehicles started their journey at 12 noon and covered major stretches of the city.
"The tractor rally rehearsal started from the Bajghera flyover and later moved towards Palam Vihar Road, Sheetla Mata Road, Atul Kataria Chowk and Maharana Pratap Chowk. The rally covered around 12 kms in the city," Singh said.
However, when the tractor rally cavalcade reached the Maharana Pratap Chowk the police personnel stationed at the chowk stopped the tractor rally by erecting barricades at the location as the farmers wanted to go on the Delhi-Jaipur expressway.
The protesters later ended their tractor rally rehearsal at Maharana Pratap Chowk.
"We had asked the police the reason behind the stoppage but they didn't give us a satisfactory reply. Later the protesting farmers sat on the road and sang the national anthem with the national flag but the police force were strict and did not allow farmers to proceed further. This led to some tension between the protesting farmers and the police," Singh added.
The SKM president also asserted that stopping the tricolour journey is an insult to the entire country.
"This is a dark day in the history of independent India. Who has given the right to the police to stop the tricolour carrying farmers like this? They stopped us despite the fact that we had sought all necessary permission from the district administration," he fumed.
The tractor rally disrupted traffic movement inside the city on different stretches.
Extra traffic police personnel were also deployed by the Gurugram Police to control traffic movement on the tractor rally route. Traffic movement was also disrupted at Maharana Pratap Chowk due to the farmers' protest but later the traffic was smooth.
"The central government must roll back the black farms law at any cost. The tractor rally rehearsal was supported across the city. Which means the public have known about the wrongdoing of the government. A mass tractor rally will be conducted on Republic Day," the SKM chief said.