Political wars over the farmer bills have been on a rise lately, especially in Punjab. On Thursday night, October 1, 2020, Sukhbir Singh Badal, the president of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) was prohibited from entering Chandigarh while he was leading a Kisan march in protest of the farmer bills.

The protestors were marching towards the Punjab Governor, VP Singh Badnore, from Akal Takht in Amritsar to hand over to him a memorandum to the President of India, requesting to act against the farmer bills that have been passed in both the houses of the Parliament.

Badal and his wife Harsimrat Kaur Badal, the former Union Minister and Member of Parliament from Bathinda, were detained along with many other senior leaders of the Akali Dal from entering Chandigarh.

The party president and senior SAD leaders were taken into preventive custody along with Bikram Singh Majithia, Prem Singh Chandumajra, and Jagir Kaur, in a station near Mullanpur.

On the other hand, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, NK Sharma, the Dera Bassi MLA, Balwinder Singh Bhunder, Rajya Sabha MP, and Parambans Singh Bunty Romana, president of the Youth Akali Dal were detained in a town in Mohali district of Punjab, Zirakpur.

The situation got worse when the police had to use canes and water cannons to keep the protestors away from the barricades, which prevented them from entering Chandigarh. Jagir Kaur and Chandumajra sustained minor injuries.

As per section 144 of the CrPC imposed by the administration of Chandigarh, assembly of more than five people at a place is prohibited because of the ongoing pandemic. Due to this, the police officials allowed only a few members of the party to enter the state and meet the governor. However, Badal did not agree to this and demanded that all members and protestors should be allowed to enter.

Harsimrat Kaur addressed all the protestors to continue their battle against this injustice until they convince the Central Government to repeal the farmer bills. Her husband, the president of the Akali Dal had claimed that violence against peaceful protestors had made this experience dark and painful, and that this day would be recognized as a ‘dark day for democracy’ in India.

Earlier this morning, the leaders were let off, as they marched to meet the Punjab governor and discuss in detail the strategy to convince the central government to take quick actions against the farmer bills.

The author is a student member of Amity center of Happiness.