WEDNESDAY RAFALE MAKES DEBUT AT RAJPATH FLYPAST 27 The Rafale fighter jet conducted Eklavya formation by flying at a height of around 300 metres along with two Jagaur and two MIG-29 aircraft. The Rafale led the pack which resembled a V shape | P5,8 IAF’s Rafale fighter jet flies past Rajpath, during the 72nd Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi on Tuesday | PTI JANUARY, 2021 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard twitter.com/TheMornStandard BENGAL TMC SENDS NOTICE TO MLA Trinanool MLA Prabir Ghoshal had resigned from two party posts A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS PAGE 8 86 Delhi Police personnel injured in clashes with the protesters 41 police personnel injured in clashes at Red Fort 16  NEW DELHI FIRs lodged so far by the Delhi Police against rioters 12  PAGES 12  J8.00 4,500 hours, there was no internet at five border points paramilitary personnel were already deployed for R-Day security 1,500 additional personnel will be brought in for deployment in sensitive places FARM LAWS SOW LAWLESSNESS Farmers and their supporters hoist the Nishan Sahib on the ramparts of the Red Fort after they forcibly entered the 17th century monument in New Delhi on Tuesday; tear gas fills a site as police try to stop farmers attempting to break barricades near Nangloi for advancing to the city | PARVEEN NEGI Samyukta Kisan Morcha distances itself from the violence, blames anti-social elements; Home Minister orders police to take strict action against violators E X P R E SS N E WS S E R V I C E @ New Delhi REPUBLIC Day that is marked by pomp and show in front of stately government edifices and seats of power turned into a day of anarchy when thousands of farmers entered the heart of Delhi much ahead of the agreed time and after deviating from pre-determined routes. What was promised to be a peaceful tractor rally at agreed routes was anything but that as the protesters, who outnumbered the police in all the three routes, defied tear gassing and lathicharge. They breached barricades and clashed with the police at several locations. By the end of the day, one farmer had died, an unspecified number of them injured and 86 police personnel were hurt, some of the critically the , police said. The farmers riding tractors, S U V s a n d t wo - w h e e l e r s breached security cordons and barricades, entering Delhi before 12 noon, the agreed time for their rally The first breach . happened from the Singhu border in north Delhi, when farmers forced their way through. This was followed by protesters entering the city from Ghazipur in East Delhi. Once in the city, the protesters clashed with the police first in ITO, central Delhi. They used their tractors to break the police barricades. Buses parked in the middle of the road to obstruct them were vandalized and it was here that Navreet Singh, a farmer driving a tractor died. While the police claimed he died as the tractor turned turtle, the farmers alleged that Navreet was killed in police firing. The protesters draped his body in the tricolor and sat in protest for several hours in the middle of the road. The scene then shifted to the historic Red Fort, where both sides fought pitched battles. Hundreds of farmers entered the fort, reached the rampart and hoisted their flag where the Prime Minister every Independence Day hoists the tricolour and addresses the nation. “About 200 artists and kids who got stranded inside Red fort were safely rescued by the Delhi Police. These artists came here for the Republic Day parade. The police first took them to a nearby hotel in Daryaganj to have food and then carefully rescued them to their destination,” said DCP North Anto Alphonse. The Samyukta Kisan Morcha, the umbrella organisation of all the 40 farm unions distanced itself from the violence and blamed anti-social elements. Later in the evening it said they had called off the kisan rally and asked all the farmers to return to the borders. Joginder Singh Ugrahan, the leader of the biggest farm union, accused actor-singer Deep Sidhu for the violence and for hoisting the flag at Red Fort. “Deep Sidhu incited the youth to take over the agitation and give it a different colour. He damaged our agitation and we don’t know who he is working for,” Ugrahan said. Sidhu was part of the election campaign team of Sunny Deol, the Bharatiya Janata Party member of Parliament from Gurdaspur in Punjab. A leader of the Morcha said it was the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Commitee that deviated from the agreed route. The KSMC is not part of the umbrella farmers’ outfit and takes part in the talks at the invitation of the government. AIKS general secretary Hannan Mollah condemned the violence and said the farmers had been holding a peaceful agitation for the past several weeks. “It was a few anti-social elements who caused the violence and clashed with the police to defame our peaceful protest.” To prevent further escalation, the home ministry ordered suspension of internet service in parts of the city for 12 hours. With inputs from Harpeet Bajwa, Gayathri Mani, Nikita Sharma & Ritwika Mitra B L O W - B Y- B L O W ACCOUNT 8:30 am: Farmers begin tractor march at all three borders — Singhu, Tikri, Ghazipur — much before the agreed time of 12 noon; break barricades, try to push across cement dividers placed by Delhi Police Farmers deviate from designated routes, enter heart of Delhi 10.50 am: Mob forcibly tries SINGHU BORDER Mukundpur Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar Village GT Karnal Bypass Road Mukarba Outer Ring Road Chowk Nangloi Civil Lines Kashmere Gate Peeragarhi Chowk ITO TIKRI BORDER to enter Outer Ring Road, clashes with police; policemen resort to caning, firing tear gas shells 11.30 am: Farmers from Ghazipur enter Delhi via Akshardham flyover; mob breaks barricades, cement blocks, central median; faces police batons and tear gas Najafgarh Akshardam flyover 1.00-2.00 pm: Another group reaches ITO crossing; clashes break out between police and farmers; buses, police vehicles smashed by the mob; a farmer dies after his tractor turns turtle as it rams into a barricade 3.00 pm-5.00 pm: Farmers staged a sit-in protest demanding justice, martyr status, apology from Delhi Police for the farmer’s death 4 pm: Farmers removed from Red Fort 4.30 pm: Home minister Amit Shah reviews situation with home secretary & Delhi Police 6.30 pm: Farmers disperse from ITO 7.30 pm: Samyukta Kisan Morcha calls off march GHAZIPUR BORDER Delhi Meerut Expressway Flashpoints GT Karnal Bypass Road, Mukundpur, Burari, Nangloi, Akshardham Flyover, Ghazipur, Tikri, Kashmere Gate, Red Fort, ITO 1.30-2.00 pm: Hundreds of people reach Kashmeri Gate; break barricades, enter Red Fort and hoist Khalsa flag and national flag at the pole where the PM hoists the Tricolour every Independence Day Commuting became tough as the DMRC temporarily closed entry, exit gates of 20 Delhi metro stations SHEKHAR YADAV Shocking scenes in Delhi. The violence by some elements is unacceptable. It’ll negate goodwill generated by peacefully protesting farmers. Kisan leaders have disassociated themselves & suspended #TractorRally Amarinder Singh, Punjab chief minister We strongly condemn the violence seen in today’s protest. It is regrettable that the Central government allowed the situation to deteriorate to such an extent Aam Aadmi Party Actor Deep Sidhu incited the youth to take over the agitation and give it a different colour. He damaged our agitation. We don’t know who they are working for Joginder Singh Ugrahan, BKU (Ugrahan) chief Tricolour sanctity not violated in fortress breach N I K I TA S H A R M A & S A N A S H A K I L @ New Delhi THE very spot in Red Fort where Prime Ministers have addressed India on Independence Day from, became a centre of unwanted attention on Republic Day. Agitating farmers barged into Red Fort and hoisted the Nishan Sahib, which is a symbol of the Sikh religion. It was seen fluttering a few metres away from the Tricolour. Visuals of the incident and the Flag Code of India, 2002 — which governs the display of the national flag — made it clear that the Tricolour was not disrespected. The mast where protesters hoisted the Nishan Sahib was empty . According to the Flag Code, no other flag should be placed higher than or above or alongside the national flag. Visuals showed that the Tricolour continued to remain hoisted on top of the iconic Red Fort, which is a UNESCO world heritage site. The incident came in for criticism from several quarters, with some describing it as an “assault” on the national flag. “Red Fort is a symbol of the dignity of our democracy The . farmers should have stayed away from it. I condemn the violation of this dignity. It is sad and unfortunate,” said Un- ion Minister of Tourism and Culture Prahlad Patel. Farmers broke barricades and entered Red Fort despite the presence of police personnel, who were significantly outnumbered. Some of the tractors were parked on the ground in the front of the monument and people could be heard raising slogans from the top of the fort. Officials said it was a security breach, as agitating farmers had crossed around half a dozen barricades to reach the flagpole at the Lahore Gate Controversy over flag hoisted at Red Fort Social media was abuzz with many claiming that protesters hoisted Khalistan flag at the historic monument. It was later pointed out that the flag in question is the Nishan Sahib. A religious flag of the Sikhs, the Nishan Sahib has the ‘khanda’ (two-edged dagger) insignia. ramparts, which was being manned by Delhi Police, CISF and a private security agency . Paramjeet Singh Katyal, of Jai Kisan Andolan led by Yogendra Yadav, said: “The Sanyukta Kisan Morcha was not involved in this. It was done by miscreants and associations like Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Samiti and some government agencies.” He alleged it was done in a planned manner to brand them Khalistanis. “To an extent, it happened the way the government wanted it to happen. We are criticising whatever has happened. I have been a part of several movements since the one started by Anna Hazare. And I have never seen people enter the fort. Moreover, it’s not easy to P4,7 enter Red Fort.” India’s growth to be fastest in 2021: IMF Petrol price crosses `86-mark in city EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday revised its India’s growth rate projection for 2021 to a decent 11.5% from 8.8% it had projected earlier on the back of the country’s “stronger than expected recovery”. It also improved its forecast for India’s current fiscal to 8% GDP contraction from 10.3% negative growth projected in its October World Economic Outlook report. According to the IMF , India is the only major economy that can register a double-digit growth in 2021. China is next with 8.1% growth followed by Spain (5.9%) and France (5.5%). The latest projections give India the tag of the fastest developing economy in the world. They are also in line with the Centre’s assessment of a strong revival in the coming months, aided by the recent vaccine approvals. But, India’s GDP growth is likely to slow in 2022 to 6.8%. IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath said India seems to be having a faster pace of rec ove r y t h a n p r ev i o u s l y thought. “We are seeing India come back to its 2019 levels and 2021.” She, however, noted cumulatively by the end of 2022, India’s rate will be 9% below its pre-pandemic projected level. EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi PETROL price was raised by 35 paise in the national capital on Tuesday, pushing it to an alltime high of `86.05 per litre. Likewise, the price of one litre of diesel was increased by a similar amount to `76.23 from `75.88. According to data available, Tuesday’s petrol price is the highest ever recorded in Delhi, while diesel price is at a record high in Mumbai. Rates had gone up by `1 per litre each last week before hitting a two-day pause. In Mumbai, petrol and diesel prices were `92.62 and `83.03, respectively, on Tuesday. In Chennai, one litre of petrol was retailed at `88.60 while diesel was sold for `81.47. It needs to be mentioned that bulk of the fuel price — 67% in case of petrol and 61% for diesel — goes towards various taxes, dealer commission and freight charges. The base price of petrol and diesel remains below `30 per litre.