Indian ‘warriors’ face police to back protesting farmers

Indian Sikh warriors, some on horseback, gathered yesterday to protect protesting farmers stalled by fearsome police barricades from advancing on the capital New Delhi to demand higher crop prices.

"The farmers' leaders believe that solution is through talks but the police attack us at the same time," said Daljeet Singh, a farmer from Gurdaspur in India's north.

Thousands of farmers on tractors launched what they have dubbed "Delhi Chalo", or "March to Delhi", last week to demand a law to fix a minimum price for their crops, in addition to other concessions including the waiving of loans.

Protesters have defied repeated efforts to disperse them, vowing to push through a fearsome blockade of metal spikes and concrete barricades erected to halt their progress.

"No farmer, no food," one protester scrawled on a concrete barrier.

However, the farmers remain blocked by the barricades and by barrages of tear gas fired or dropped by drones when they try to come close.

Alongside the farmers, hundreds of Nihangs -- a centuries-old warrior group renowned for their bravery in defending the Sikh faith -- have come to guard the demonstration.