Eviction of Sikhs: SAD delegation to meet Yogi Adityanath on Saturday

As per media reports Sikh farmers are settled in districts of Rampur, Bijnor and Lakhimpur for three generations now and had even received proprietorship rights from UP government in the 1980s are now forced to leave the area.

New Delhi: A three-member delegation of Shiromani Akali Dal will meet Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on the issue of dispossession of Sikh farmers in different villages of Uttar Pradesh at his residence in Lucknow on Saturday.

According to sources, former Member Parliament Prem Singh Chandumajra and former cabinet ministers Daljit Singh Cheema and Sikander Singh Maluka will be meeting the Chief Minister along with local leader Jasbir Singh Virk and others.

Speaking to ETV Bharat, Shiromani Akali Dal leader Daljit Singh Cheema said, "Sikh farmers are in Uttar Pradesh since 1947 and we will take up the issue of dispossession with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister tomorrow. Before meeting Yogi Adityanath we will also meet local Sikh leaders. A case has already been registered against people who tossed the turban of the Sikh boy and had beaten him."

Taking cognizance of the reports of an attempt by state government to displace thousands of Sikh farmers by evicting them from the land they have cultivated, Union Minister for Food Processing Harsimrat Kaur Badal had a telephonic conversation with Yogi Adityanath on Thursday.

As per media reports Sikh farmers are settled in districts of Rampur, Bijnor and Lakhimpur for three generations now and had even received proprietorship rights from UP government in the 1980s are now forced to leave the area.

In a phone call, Chief Minister Adityanath had assured Union Minister that no injustice will be done to the farmers.

Shiromani Akali Dal had announced that it would also approach Home Minister Amit Shah to ensure the farmers are not subjected to any kind of injustice. The party has formed a three-member committee which included member of parliament Balvinder Singh Bhunder, Naresh Gujral and Prem Singh Chandumajra to take up the issue with Uttar Pradesh government.

The party's core committee has also resolved to ensure justice to the affected families of Uttar Pradesh. After the partition in 1947, most of the affected families settled in Uttar Pradesh and cultivated barren lands to make it fertile. The reports of Uttar Pradesh government trying to displace these farmers have generated a strong resentment among the Sikh community.