A group of farmers will embark on a foot march to Delhi on Friday from the Shambhu border protest site, farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher said on Thursday.
The farmer leader said that a 'jatha' of 101 farmers will embark on a foot march to Delhi at 1 pm on December 6 despite prohibitory orders from the authorities.
The Ambala district administration has issued an order under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), restricting any unlawful assembly of five or more persons in the district.
The order issued by the deputy commissioner prohibited taking out any procession on foot, vehicles, or other modes has been prohibited till further orders.
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Meanwhile, the police in Ambala also sounded an alert on Thursday over the farmers' plan to march to Delhi, and sent senior officers to the border to assess the security situation there. Central paramilitary forces have also been deployed on the Haryana side of the border.
The Ambala district administration has urged the farmers to reconsider their march and contemplate any action only after obtaining permission from Delhi Police.
Meanwhile, Sarwan Singh Pandher, addressing a press conference at the Shambhu border on Thursday, said that the group will march towards Delhi on Friday.
"What the government will do is for them to decide. We will begin our march towards Delhi at 1 pm from the Shambhu border. He also said if the government stops them from carrying out their march, it will be a moral victory for the farmers.Their leaders at the Centre and in states have been regularly saying that if the farmers do not bring tractor-trolleys, there should be no objection. So if we go to Delhi on foot, there should be no reason to stop the farmers," he said.
The farmers gathered under the banner of Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha earlier announced a foot march to the national capital seeking legal guarantee for minimum support price of crops, among several other demands.
The farmers have been camping at Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since February 13 after their march to Delhi was stopped by security forces.
Invoking Section 163 of the BNSS, the Ambala deputy commissioner-cum-district magistrate in an order dated November 30 prohibited unlawful assembly of five or more persons, and taking out any procession on foot, vehicles or through any other mode.
"It is apprehended that a large number of protesters are likely to come from Punjab and Haryana and assemble at Shambu border to move towards Delhi. Hence, appropriate steps need to be taken at the border points and within the district, including issuance of prohibitory orders under Section 163 of BNSS so as not to allow movement of any such person without prior permission," the order read.