Delhi netas issue statements when animals die, but not on farmers: Meghalaya Governor

In a scathing attack against the Centre, Meghalaya Governor Satya Pal Malik said that the central government is intoxicated by power and Delhi politicians are continuing their silence on farmers plight. Malik also said if he was the leader of farm protests, he would have justified the Red Fort incident

Jaipur (Rajasthan): Meghalaya Governor Satya Pal Malik came down heavily on Centre for ignoring the farmers' protest raging in North India which completes a year this month. Addressing Global Jat Summit here on Sunday, Malik said that the 'arrogant' government intoxicated by power will realize repercussions of the protest.

Expressing his anguish over the death of 600 farmers during the protest, Malik said "Even when an animal dies, Delhi 'netas' express condolences, but in Lok Sabha, they keep mum on farmers."

"There was a fire in Maharashtra yesterday… and there was a statement from Delhi. But our 600 people died and no one is speaking on them. Even people from our varg (farming community) did not stand up in the Parliament to pass the prastav. This is not a good situation,” he said.

Malik said that he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi over farmers' protest and expressed his feelings to him. He warned the Prime Minister that he was misreading the situation and the Sikhs and Jats are formidable to defeat. "You think that they (the farmers) will go away just like that; but give them something before sending them off, and don’t do two things: don’t use force on them, second, don’t send them empty-handed because they don’t forget, they don’t forget for a hundred years.”

The Governor delved on as how former prime minister Indira Gandhi had to pay for her life after 'Operation Blue Star', which hurt the Sikh community. The governor added that General A.S. Vaidya was assassinated in Pune after his retirement, and General Michael O’Dwyer was assassinated in London, years after the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre.

Governor justifies Red Fort incident

Malik also said if he was the leader of farm protests, he would have justified the Red Fort incident. He sought to separate the farmers’ agitation from the incident at the Red Fort on Republic Day. “When Kargil (war) happens, 20-year-old kids of these farmers are made to climb the mountains. I believe it was the government’s failure that they entered Kargil, and it was the children of farmers who paid the price for it. This injustice is done only with us, and sometimes people react to it. I don’t want there to be such a day when these farmers react. The farmers haven’t even hit someone with a piece of concrete yet. The Red Fort incident had no relation with farmers’ protest,” he said.

The Lal Qila has been part and parcel of the folklore and imagination of Sikhs and Jats, Malik said. Sikh Guru Teg Bahadur was beheaded outside the Red Fort. If anyone else, other than the PM, has a right to hoist the tricolour, it is us, he said. He also ruled that farmers did not hoist the tricolour where the Prime Minister used to hoist but it was made to look “as if something dangerous had taken place, as if treason had been committed.”

Malik stressed the importance of Minimum Support Price (MSP) for farmers and he said “when MSP is implemented, it leads to the loss for someone. They want a distress sale by farmers; they purchase at a low price from farmers and then sell it at a higher price… I am giving it to you in writing, government or no government, MSP will remain, and it will become law.”

At his satirical best, Malik said he was aware that how his words are seen by the Centre. Every time he speaks on farmers' issue, he has an apprehension of receiving a call from Delhi. Pointing out that a Governor can not be removed, Malik said his 'well-wishers', however, wait for him to say something that can lead to his removal. “I say, did your father appoint me? The one who made me (the Governor)… I did not become by vote, I was made (appointed) by 2-3 big people in Delhi, and I am speaking against their wish…The day they say they have a problem ‘leave’, I will not take even a minute,” Malik said.

“I can leave anything, but I can’t see atrocities on farmers, that they are being defeated…while we continue on our post. There is nothing more shameful than that,” he added.

Malik also criticised how the construction of new parliament is given importance over setting up world-class educational institutions in India. He emphasised the importance of education and pointed out how some foreign universities have scores of Nobel Prize laureates. “We don’t have good world level colleges…Our government is spending on creating a new Parliament. I would have understood if a good world-class college was being constructed instead of a new Parliament. But it is not their priority,” he added.