The Indian government on Tuesday January 26 ordered the deployment of 2,000 paramilitaries to reinforce the police in New Delhi, after clashes between thousands of Indian farmers and the police during a demonstration against agricultural reforms government, on the sidelines of the national day celebrations.

A major security operation was put in place on Tuesday to prevent farmers from disrupting the Republic Day military parade, which ultimately went as planned.

But convoys of tractors crowded with farmers succeeded in breaking through the roadblocks and were able to travel at high speed on the main arteries of the city.

A farmer was killed when his tractor accidentally overturned, police say, and at least 86 police officers were injured, an official statement said.

Thousands of Indian farmers clashed with law enforcement in the streets of #NewDelhi 🇮🇳 on Tuesday, on the sidelines of the #RepublicDay ceremonies, the national day.



They had come to demonstrate against the new agricultural reforms pic.twitter.com/PsmZGxo0RH

- FRANCE 24 French (@ France24_fr) January 26, 2021

At the Old Red Fort in Delhi, erected over 400 years ago, demonstrators raised the colors of their movement where the Indian flag usually flies, before being driven from the ramparts by the police.

Clashes broke out between hundreds of people gathered outside Delhi Police Headquarters and the security forces.

All over the capital, the latter fired tear gas and charged, baton in hand, the demonstrators who responded with their sticks.

Some even took over buses which they used to block police convoys.

As night fell, authorities cut internet and telephone links in places on the outskirts of Delhi where farmers have set up camps.

Deployment of 15 companies of paramilitary forces

Interior Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday ordered the deployment of 15 companies of paramilitary forces to reinforce security forces in the capital, according to media reports.

Smaller farmer protests have also taken place in metropolitan Mumbai and Bangalore as well as in rural Haryana state.

Leaders of the protest movement blamed authorities for the violence against farmers, saying police provoked them.

Police responded in a statement that they were forced to act after protesters chose "the path of violence and destruction."

>> To see: India: the reasons for the anger of small Indian farmers

"When we attack a peaceful demonstration, then the difficulties for the government will surely increase," union leader Kawalpreet Singh Pannu told AFP, before announcing a new demonstration for February 1 in front of parliament. when the government releases the budget.

Satnam Singh Pannu, the head of one of the main farmers' committees, warned that protesters had enough food to siege Delhi for a year if needed and assured them they had "massive popular support ".

Narendra Modi avoids farmers

Tens of thousands of farmers have been camping since November on the main roads at the gates of the capital and counting on this national holiday to give a wider echo to their fight against reforms aimed at liberalizing agricultural markets.

Some protesters reached a large crossroads just three kilometers from the site where Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the National Day parade: a line of tanks and soldiers flew over by fighter jets, including Rafales recently purchased from France and featured for the occasion.

On the other hand, the size of the parade has been reduced this year due to the coronavirus crisis, just as the number of spectators allowed to crowd along Rajpath Boulevard has been reduced from 125,000 to 25,000.

January 26 is the anniversary of the entry into force in 1950 of the Indian Constitution, following India's independence from the United Kingdom.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted the crowd of spectators before returning to his residence, avoiding any direct confrontation with the farmers.

The months-long standoff is the toughest test the Hindu nationalist government has faced in its six years of existence.

With AFP

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