Chidambaram slams Centre over issue of farmers' protest

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram took to Twitter to express his displeasure over attempts by Ministers to label the protesting farmers as Khalistanis, tukde tukde gang and such. He asked that if the govt believes that the protestors are not farmers, then why is the govt talking to them?

New Delhi:Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Sunday slammed the Central government and alleged that some of its Ministers had alluded to the presence of "separatist" elements in ongoing farmers' protest against the agriculture reforms.

"Ministers have described the protesters against the Farm Laws as Khalistanis; agents of Pakistan and China; Maoists; and, the latest, tukde tukde gang," the Congress leader tweeted.

"If you exhaust all these categories, it means there are no farmers among the thousands of protesters. If there are no farmers, why is the government talking to them?" he asked in a subsequent tweet.

Meanwhile, several rounds of talks have taken place between the Centre and farmer leaders regarding the laws but no headway has been made on the front.

The farmers are protesting against the Farmer's Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmer (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

ANI