By IANS
New Delhi : Police barricaded some 25,000 poor people from rural India at the Ramlila ground here Monday to prevent them marching to the Indian parliament in support of their demand for land and water, organisers said.
Santosh Singh of Ekta Parishad, one of the leaders of those who have gathered from all parts of the country, said policemen had shut all the gates of the sprawling ground at the edge of Old Delhi.
“They have closed all the gates. Even our water tankers are not allowed to go out for refilling. This is causing great problems for people camping here,” Santosh Singh told IANS.
The 25,000 people, including farm workers, tribals and other villagers, had planned to march to parliament house Monday to mark the end of a 322-km walk from Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh that began Oct 2.
The marchers, including activists who work among the poor, are demanding that the government take steps to provide the poor and landless the very basic necessities of life – land, water, electricity and employment.
The police Monday cited security reasons to prevent the march, but said the protestors could go ahead in small groups if they so desired.
“The police are not allowing us to march together. They want us to go in small groups. But we want to do the ‘padyatra’ together to the parliament,” Birendra Kumar, the Jharkhand coordinator of rally organiser Ekta Parishad, added.
The demonstrators belong to 18 states. Their placards read: “We demand jungle, land and water.”
P.V. Rajagopal, founder of Ekta Parishad, insisted that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh talk to the marchers.
“We want a dialogue with Manmohan Singhji. Either he should take off the picture of Gandhiji from his office wall and stop performing rituals at Rajghat. The government must talk to us,” he said.
Added Ramchander Das, a villager from Donga Pahar in Jharkhand: “We don’t have anything – no land, water and electricity. There are no means to earn a livelihood, no school for our children, no hospitals and even no ration cards.
“We have come all the way to Delhi to tell our problems to the government and go back with solutions,” he added.
About 250 protestors have, however, managed to reach the road that leads to parliament.