NEW DELHI—Earlier today, a group of people arrived from Delhi and led a small protest against the farmers at Singhu. The group claimed to have the support of locals at Singhu, however, such claims have been refuted by Alt News India (altnews.in)
The incident is being used by the police to use force to get farm union leaders to vacate the protest sites.
Alt News reported that a number of mainstream Indian media reported the protest as having been carried out by the locals. These channels included The Hindu, Times Now, Hindustan Times, CNN News18, India Today, The Times of India, The Indian Express, TV9 Telugu, and Hindustan.
“Delhi: Hindu Sena group and locals took out a procession against farmers’ protest at Singhu border,” said a tweet by Aaj Tak which was also retweeted by the organization’s founder and president Vishnu Gupta.
Gupta had also issued a press release which stated, “Today, local Hindu Sena activists along with local area residents went to Singhu border amid farmers and raised slogans against Khalistan supporters and appealed to the farmers to clear the road.”
Alt News contacted Vishnu Gupta who reiterated that the protest was organized against ‘Khalistani’ elements in the farmers’ protest. “We want to give them an ultimatum to clear the roads. But we did not interact with farmer leaders since the area was barricaded by the police.” He added that the demonstration, which saw the participation of locals, was organized by the Hindu Sena. “We have local units that help in these situations,” he said.
Hindu Sena is a fringe outfit that has often made headlines for the forceful imposition of ‘Hindu values and culture’. Last year during Valentine’s Day, it warned couples of police arrest. The outfit had also threatened violence against Shaheen Bagh protestors and later called-off mobilization. They had put up posters on the signage of India Islamic Cultural Centre which read “Jihadi Terrorist Islamic Centre”.
