Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday slammed his Haryana counterpart for defending the use of force on protesting farmers by putting the onus of their agitation on Punjab, saying that Manohar Lal Khattar’s remarks had completely exposed his government’s anti-farmer agenda.
The Punjab CM reminded Haryana CM Khattar and DyCM Dushyant Chautala that the farmers who were protesting against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) meeting in Karnal when the police rained lathis on them belonged to Haryana and not Punjab. Captain Amarinder was reacting to Khattar's and Chautala's allegations of Punjab being behind the farmers' agitation against the Farm Laws.
Blaming the BJP squarely for the farmers' wrath, Captain Amarinder said the crisis would not have assumed such grave proportions had the BJP, including the Haryana CM and deputy CM, heeded the farmers' concerns and empathised with their pain instead of taking refuge in shameful lies for the horrendous attacks on the peaceful farmers.
Amarinder trashed Khattar's claim that the Haryana police used force only after the farmers disturbed the state’s law and order, pointing out that the viral video of the SDM giving explicit instructions to the cops to bash up the farmers nailed the CM’s lies. "How did the SDM know that the farmers intended to resort to stone pelting etc, as claimed by Khattar?" asked the Punjab Chief Minister.
Also read: Haryana CM Khattar condemns Karnal SDM's 'words' not 'action'
“Can’t you see that the farmers of your own state are angry with you for your apathetic attitude towards them and your party’s stubborn refusal to repeal the Farm Laws?” he asked the Haryana leaders, adding that the farmers were fighting for their survival and did not need provocation from Punjab or any other state to protect themselves and their families.
"Repeal the Farm Laws instead of blaming Punjab for the mess your party has put the farming sector in," said Captain Amarinder, warning that the BJP would have to pay for their sins in the upcoming Assembly elections in various states, and in every poll thereafter.
The Khattar government’s repeated attempts to forcibly end the farmers’ agitation, and the derogatory and obnoxious terms used against farmers by various BJP leaders, will only backfire on their party, he added.
Recalling that the farmers had held protests across Punjab for two months before shifting focus to the Delhi borders, the Chief Minister pointed out that his state had not witnessed a single incident of violence during the period.
"Even recently, when sugarcane farmers staged protests, we negotiated with them and resolved the issue instead of using brute force to try and subjugate them," he added.
Also read: Karnal SDM orders police to beat protesting farmers
Captain Amarinder said he and his government were firmly with the farmers in their anti-Farm Laws stance and were even giving compensation and jobs to the families of those who have died at the Delhi borders because of the BJP’s follies.
"A government or a political party which allows such tragic and totally avoidable loss of lives to continue under its watch cannot survive," he added, sending out a strong warning to the BJP to pay heed to the cries of the farmers before it is too late.
