Shiromani Akali Dal on Monday asked the Central Government not to deny the “constitutional right” for a peaceful Republic March in Delhi to the law-abiding farmers of the country on January 26.
SAD’s call to the Central Government came at the end of party’s core committee’s three-hour meeting, presided over by its president Sukhbir Singh Badal.
“The meeting considered the Government’s dragging of its feet over permission for the peaceful democratic March as a grossly violative of the very Constitution which the Republic Day symbolizes,” said Principal Advisor to the SAD president Harcharan Singh Bains, giving details of the meeting.
Bains said that the core group observed that the Central Government could not have chosen a worse and more inappropriate day and occasion than January 26 to deny the citizens of the country their fundamental democratic right to free expression as well as the right to organise democratic activity.
“The farmers of the country have already declared that their peaceful March would be a celebration of the spirit of the very Constitution for which the nation observes Republic Day. The March by farmers would, in fact, be a reminder that India is a democratic Republic and is neither a monarchy nor dictatorial set up. The government should, in fact, thank the farmers and facilitate the March,” said a resolution passed during the meeting.
URGES IMMEDIATE WITHDRAWAL OF ALL NIA NOTICES TO FARMERS
Bains said that the party Core Committee also came down heavily against the brazen abuse of the National Investigating Agency (NIA) against farmers who have demonstrated to the world how disciplined, peaceful, and democratic their genuine and totally justified protest is.
“It is really reprehensible that the Government is taking resort to such draconian measures against the country’s peaceful bread winners (annadata) who have not given law enforcing agencies a single excuse in over two months to complain of any violation of peace or law and order. It is really absurd that the Government sees a threat to peace and security from the law abiding citizens,” noted the core committee, while calling upon the Government to withdraw all the notices issued to farmers and farmer leaders by the NIA.
PARTY RESOLVE TO CONTINUE SUPPORT TO FARMERS
Through another resolution, the party resolved to continue to support and strengthen the farmers’ struggle in every way as it is fully in line with the ideals and principles for which the party has always led the fight from the front.
“The party stands for the establishment of an egalitarian Republic and it is in pursuance of this goal that the party had resigned from the Union Cabinet and quit the NDA. It was for the same ideals that the party patriarch Parkash Singh Badal had returned his Padma Vibhushan. We cannot remain a mute witness if the Government denies to the people their democratic rights for freedom of expression and peaceful assembly,” read the resolution.
