Even as he condemned the alleged attack on a journalistat the farmers’ protest site at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, Punjab Chief MinisterCaptain Amarinder Singh on Thursday demanded immediate resignation of UnionMinister Meenakshi Lekhi for dubbing the farmers as `hooligans’.
Slamming the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader forusing derogatory language for the farmers, who have been peacefully agitatingagainst the central Farm Laws for the past nearly 8 months, the Chief Ministersaid it reflected the party’s anti-farmer mindset.
Given the ruling party’s brazen attempts to stifle allvoices of dissent and protest, the fact that it had failed to break the spiritof the farmers was clearly rankling, said Captain Amarinder, lambasting the NDAgovernment for its continued efforts to suppress every single voice that daresto speak against them, as in the latest instance of the IT raids on the DainikBhaskar media group.
While the assault on the journalist covering the Farmers’Parliament was deplorable and action should be taken against the guilty person,the Union Minister’s reaction was totally uncalled for and provocative, saidthe Chief Minister. Lekhi, he said, had no right to defame the farmers in suchmanner. The Delhi Police should file a case and investigate the case toidentify the accused, and the law should take its own course, he said, addingthat the BJP had no right to condemn the farmers in such an outrageous mannerover the incident.
Pointing to the disparaging comments made by various BJPleaders against the farmers since their agitating started at the Delhi borders,he said the ruling party had been trying to malign the farmers and underminetheir peaceful protests from the outset. He recalled that BJP leaders had evenearlier tried to defame the farmers with slanderous descriptions like‘terrorists’ and ‘urban Naxalites’.
Having failed to deter the farmers, who had been bravingthe elements with many losing their lives in this fight for their rights, theBJP leadership was once again resorting to such shameful tactics out of sheerfrustration, said the Chief Minister.
From the enactment of the draconian laws to theirapathetic attitude towards the farmers, without whom India would still havebeen begging to feed its people, the BJP-led central government had proved,time and again, that it was not interested in hearing the voice of the‘annadaatas’, said the Chief Minister.
Captain Amarinder said the simmering anger among thefarmers, who are losing their lives and livelihoods due to the Centre’sdraconian actions, was a matter of serious concern and Prime Minister NarendraModi should immediately take steps to resolve the crisis, which could haveserious repercussions for the country. Intelligence reports suggest thatpro-Khalistani elements from across the border are looking to exploit theresentment of the farmers against India, he pointed out, warning of a gravesecurity failure if these reports are not heeded by the Centre.
Instead of indulging in such shameful acts in theirdesperate bid to make the farmers toe their line, the Government of Indiashould try to settle the issue at the earliest, he stressed.