Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday condemned the issuance of notices by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to several farmers and their supporters in the midst of the anti-farm laws agitation.
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“Do these farmers look like secessionists and terrorists?” asked the Chief Minister in a statement, hitting out at the BJP-led government at the Centre, accusing it of resorting to “reprehensible and oppressive tactics” in their desperation to undermine the peacefully protesting farmers’ fighting spirit.
“But these measures will not succeed in destroying their resolve. The Centre will only end up provoking them into stronger reaction,” he said, questioning the intent of the Central government.
Capt. Amarinder said the BJP’s most powerful minds will not be able to control the situation if things get irretrievably out of hand.
Fighting spirit
It was obvious, he said, the BJP-led NDA government neither cared for the farmers and their concerns, nor understood their psyche. “Punjabis are fighters by nature. They are imbued with the fighting spirit which makes them among the best warriors in the world,” he said, adding that the Centre’s coercive actions will only provoke the farmers from Punjab to react negatively.
He said not only had the Centre been standing on ego in its adamant refusal to repeal the farm laws, it was also actively indulging in strong-arm tactics to suppress the voice of the farmers, pointing to the income tax notices issued to several big commission agents (Arhtiyas) of Punjab about a month ago and now the NIA notices that were clearly aimed at pressuring the farmers into withdrawing their stir.
