Thousands of farmers breached police barricades to launch a protest march into New Delhi on Tuesday, with some protesting on their tractors, along with the government's main Republic Day military parade.
The country's police conducted one of their biggest security operations in history with the aim of halting the rallies against agriculture reforms farmers say will decimate their livelihoods, according to AFP.
Indian authorities had approved allowing tens of thousands of farmers to stage a 'tractor rally' as long as they waited for the military parade to finish.
But flag-waving farmers on at least three major roads overran security and pressed on into the city. Police, who put up barricades of containers and trucks, fired tear gas on at least two groups.
A protester, known as Nareesh Singh, revealed as he revved up his tractor at Singhu on the edge of Delhi: "We are going to show the government that we mean business."
