LI Network
Published on: February 23, 2024 at 11:28 IST
Hours after announcing that action would be taken under the National Security Act (NSA), 1980 against farmer leaders who are protesting along the state’s border with Punjab, the Haryana Police on Friday morning said the NSA will not be invoked against them. Officers added that the police had not yet invoked NSA against the farm leaders and had only initiated the process for the same.
Inspector General of Police (Ambala) Sibash Kabiraj released a statement on Friday morning, stating, “This is to clarify to all concerned that the matter of invoking provisions of the National Security Act on a few farm union leaders in Ambala district has been reconsidered and it has been decided that the same will not be invoked.” The IGP further urged the protesters and their leaders to maintain peace and cooperate with the authorities in upholding law and order.
The decision to backtrack on invoking the NSA comes after the Ambala police had earlier initiated the process to detain farmer leaders in order to “maintain law and order and to prevent a disturbance in the social harmony,” as stated in an official statement shared on social media platform X on Thursday evening.
The ongoing protests, part of the farmers’ ‘Dilli Chalo’ call against the Centre’s policies, have seen continuous efforts by farmers to breach barricades at the Shambhu border since February 13.
With the police’s reversal of their decision to invoke the NSA, tensions may ease at the protest sites as both sides seek to find a peaceful resolution to the ongoing standoff.