Left, Khalistani Groups Fuelling Farmer Protests to Derail Economy: Intelligence Sources

Thousands of farmers have been protesting at various border points of Delhi for over two weeks, demanding repeal of the new farm laws.

Amid the ongoing 'Dilli Chalo' protests against the Centre's agriculture reform laws, top intelligence sources said left-wing groups were attempting to derail the economy by fuelling the agitation.

They said Left and Khalistani groups were behind "systematic attack on political leadership" in India and abroad. They added that Khalistani groups had the support of Pakistan's ISI towards a "social media narrative".

The sources said there were thousands of fake profiles of Sikhs with their IP address pointed to Lahore and Karachi, and added that protesters did not "understand" the farm laws and were "fed with wrong information".

They added the farmers should be "considerate" towards the industries suffering because of the protests, and that farm laws in any case would "not be repealed".

Thousands of farmers have been protesting at various border points of Delhi for over two weeks, demanding repeal of the new farm laws. Farmer leaders on Wednesday rejected a government proposal to amend the reforms and announced that they would intensify their agitation by blocking the Jaipur-Delhi border.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Police has scaled up security by deploying extra personnel and putting in place multi-layered barricades at various border points in view of the call given by farmers to intensify their protest.

They said major highways linking the national capital will be blocked from Sunday and they will sit on a hunger strike on December 14, when they have called for a nationwide protest Adequate arrangements have made and these include multi-layered barricades and deployment of extra personnel.

Measures have also been taken to ensure commuters do not face inconvenience at places were protest are being staged, a senior police officer said. The Delhi Traffic Police has deployed its personnel across important border points to ensure commuters do not face difficulties and is also constantly updating people about open and closed routes on its Twitter handle.