Condemning the issuance of NIA notices to several farmers and their supporters in the midst of anti-farm laws agitation, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Monday said that such arm-twisting tactics would not weaken the resolve of the farmers to fight for their rights and their future.
“Do these farmers look like secessionists and terrorists?” asked the Chief Minister, slamming the BJP-led Government at the Centre for resorting to such reprehensible and oppressive tactics in their desperation to undermine the peacefully protesting farmers’ fighting spirit.
“But these measures will not succeed in destroying the resolve of the farmers, rather the Centre will only end up provoking them into stronger reaction,” he said, questioning the intent of the Central Government, “which seemed bent on pushing the farmers over the edge through such intimidatory actions”.
Capt Amarinder warned that BJP’s most powerful minds will not be able to control the situation if things get irretrievably out of hand.
“Instead of resolving the crisis triggered by the draconian legislations, the BJP-led Central Government is resorting to victimization and harassment of the protesting farmers and their supporters,” the Chief Minister pointed out, dubbing it a regressive step that would lead to further hardening of the farmers’ stance.
It was obvious, said the Chief Minister, that the BJP-led NDA Government neither cared for the farmers and their concerns, nor understood their psyche. “Punjabis are fighters by nature, they are imbued with the fighting spirit which makes them among the best warriors in the world,” he said, adding that the Centre’s coercive actions will only provoke the farmers from Punjab to react negatively.
Capt Amarinder expressed shock over the Government of India’s unrelenting opposition to the farmers’ genuine and justified demands and its total failure to empathize with the cause and concerns of the farmers who have been braving the record cold of Delhi, with many of them succumbing to the harsh weather and prolonged exposure.
“Not only has the Centre been standing on ego in its adamant refusal to repeal the black farm laws, it is actively and shamelessly indulging in strong-arm tactics to suppress the voice of the farmers,” he said, pointing to the IT notices issued to several big arhtiyas of Punjab about a month ago and now the NIA notices that were clearly aimed at pressurizing the farmers into withdrawing their stir.
These low-level actions will not suppress the voice of the farmers, or those millions of Indians who are supporting the ‘annadaatas’ in their battle for survival, said the Chief Minister, adding that if the Central Government had any shame left it should immediately withdraw the farm laws and sit down across the table with all the stakeholders, especially the farmers, to usher in an era of genuine agricultural reforms.
INTIMIDATING AGITATING FARMERS THROUGH CENTRAL AGENCIES, A DISGRACE TO MODI GOVT: AAP
Strongly condemning the notices being sent by the central agencies to the farmers, social workers, and organizations, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday termed it as shameful and “highly reprehensible to use central agencies to suppress the farmers' movement”.
“It is highly reprehensible to use central agencies to suppress the farmers' movement, who are fighting for truth and justice. It is a disgraceful act of the government to send notices to various help-aid societies, social organizations, and journalists, supporting the agitation to save agriculture,” said AAP’s Punjab unit president Bhagwant Mann.
Mann said that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Central Government had first tried to tarnish the image of the movement by calling farmers as terrorists, Khalistanis, agents of Pakistan and China; and now was trying to weaken the agitation by issuing notices through government agencies, to those supporting the farmers' movement.
“The Modi Government at the Centre is playing a double standard. On one hand, it is negotiating with the farmer's organisations to find a solution, and on the other hand, is sending notices through NIA to intimidate the farmers’ leaders and their supporters,” he added.
Mann said that the Modi Government should listen to the people of the country rather than the corporate houses. “For the benefit of the farmers, the Central Government should stop its anti-people activities and immediately repeal the three black laws, accepting the direct and clear demands of the farmers,” he said.
