Police urge protesters not to gather on Black Country streets ahead of second rally for Indian farmers

More than 1,000 people took part in protests across West Bromwich and Birmingham last weekend in solidarity with farmers who have blockaded highways across India in protest against new agricultural reforms.

Similar demonstrations are expected to take place in the West Midlands this weekend but West Midlands Police has warned people that they could face action if they deliberately defy coronavirus regulations or break traffic laws.

Three people were fined, several drivers were prosecuted and more than 1,000 people were issued with directions to leave last week as the rally travelled from West Bromwich to the Consulate General of India in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter.

The force said the situation was made worse by the fact that organisers of the protest did not make contact with police, meaning the lack of an established route caused traffic chaos and held up emergency vehicles needed elsewhere.

• MORE: Indian prime minister offers to address farmers' concerns as protests continue

Superintendent Martin Hurcomb, from Sandwell police, said: “If you’re planning on attending or travelling to the West Midlands to take part, I’d urge you not to.

“Please consider your personal responsibility – we’ve all been living with various restrictions placed upon us for many months, which I understand is frustrating, but we must keep up our efforts to get this deadly virus under control. Avoiding large gatherings is one way you can help.

“It’s also the last weekend before Christmas and we expect lots of shoppers to be out, I’d like to remind those people that traffic congestion is highly likely. We’ll be using our traffic officers to monitor this throughout and we will deal with any traffic offences.

“Last weekend we saw incidents where emergency vehicles struggled to get through – this is unacceptable – imagine if it were one of your loved ones in need of help.

“I recognise the right for a peaceful demonstration, but we’re again unable to identify or engage with an organiser for this event. I’d ask them to make contact so we can work together to ensure that our priority, which is keeping you safe, is maintained.”

Birmingham, the Black Country and Staffordshire are all currently under the strictest Tier 3 coronavirus regulations which ban people from mixing with more than five people from outside their household in the outdoors.

Leaders at gurdwaras in the Black Country told the Express & Star they were aware of a planned demonstration on Sunday but that London was likely to be the focus for protesters.

Sarbjit Singh, education secretary at Guru Nanak Gurdwara in Smethwick, said he had been sent a poster mentioning an event on Sunday but had been given very few details about what was taking place and where.

He said: "We don't know who has been circulating the poster or who is organising the event on Sunday, so there's not a lot of information available about it.

"It may end up being a smaller event than the event on December 12, but there's not a lot of information for Sandwell, more are people likely to head to London and the protest happening there outside Hamleys.

"In terms of attending these protests, we're conscious of social distancing and attending these events while following government guidance, so we would follow the rules as necessary."

Arjinder Bhogal, a committee member at Sedgley Street Gurdwara in Wolverhampton, added: "We are not prohibited from attending these events, as long as we follow the social distancing guidelines, but we haven't been given much information about what is going on.

"We don't know who is organising it and no one has made it clear that they are in charge for it."

The region currently has a Covid-19 infection rate broadly in line with the UK average. Sandwell had an average of 202.2 cases per 100,000 people in the week to November 12 while Birmingham's rate was 210.3.

Dr Ian Sykes, the chair of the Sandwell and West Birmingham Clinical Commissioning Group, said it as crucial to keep social contacts to a minimum to reduce the impact on the NHS.

“This has been a tough year and we have all made sacrifices, we're all missing family and friends and it's understandable to want to be able to go about life as normal," he said.

“However, Covid-19 doesn't respect this, Covid-19 doesn’t respect the right to freedom of speech, just as it won’t respect the festive period.

“This awful virus is as dangerous now as it was back in March and tragically we continue to see community transmission, people being admitted to our local hospitals and sadly more and more deaths.

“I have a very simple message for local people, the single biggest thing we can all do for our families and friends especially at this time of year is to keep them safe.

“The more we all limit our contacts, regardless of how difficult that might be; the lower the likelihood of there being a wave of Covid admissions into our hospitals in the new year; and therefore the sooner we are all likely to successfully get through this.”

Sikhs from across the region took part in last weekend's demonstration, which saw pedestrians wearing orange clothing walked alongside cars, vans, tractors, trucks and bikes in support of the tens of thousands of Indian farmers, who have been protesting for three weeks. Similar protests have taken place across the UK and in cities all over the world.

West Midlands Police said it has a "robust policing plan" in place for this weekend and that officers were still reviewing CCTV and footage from drone and body-worn cameras to identify more people from the previous protest.

A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said this afternoon: “Everyone has the right to peacefully and lawfully protest. On Saturday there was a build up of traffic near to our hub in Sandwell whilst the protests were taking place, but no patients were affected as a result of this.”

Farmers in India fear new laws mean the government will stop buying grain at minimum guaranteed prices and corporations will then push prices down, allowing agricultural workers to be exploited.

They have been camping on highways on the outskirts of New Delhi since November 27.