Farmers protest | Punjab farmers’ union questions intent of Central govt.

It is trying to target and weaken the agitation on one pretext or the other, say leaders

Farmers from Punjab and Haryana protesting against the new farm laws at the Singhu border. File

As the farmers’ agitation over the Centre’s new farm laws continues, the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta-Ugrahan), one of the largest outfits in Punjab, has questioned the intent of the Central government in resolving the stalemate.

BKU(U) president Joginder Singh on Tuesday told The Hindu that since the agitation has started the government has been repeatedly trying to align the movement with someone or the other with the sole aim of discrediting it. He said there is nothing wrong in waving photos of jailed activists on the Human Rights Day from the outfit’s platform at Tikri (Delhi-Bahadurgarh border), where they are staging the agitation against the farm laws.

“Raising the voice demanding release of activists and intellectuals, who we feel have been wrongly put behind the bars, is not something new. We have been raising this demanded earlier as well. On December 10 to observe the Human Rights Day we again raised the demand from our stage. What’s wrong in that?”

Mr. Singh alleged that the BJP-led Central government has been finding ways to target and weaken the agitation on one pretext or the other. “..first they [government] said the ongoing movement is led by the Congress [Opposition], then they associated it with the ‘Khalistanis’, then with “Pakistan-China and then tried to label us as anti-national.”

Mr. Singh accused the government of targeting the movement in all possible manner. “They are trying to bring to the fore the farm unions which they claim are backing the new farm laws . In Haryana their Ministers are trying to provoke emotions by raising the Satluj-Yamuna Link canal issue...all this is being done to weaken our struggle,” he said.

“The government is double faced.. On one side they give an impression that they want to resolve the issue but on the other hand they are making attempts to defame and dilute the agitation. “Also, what’s the point of selectively inviting farm unions separately for discussions? The intent of the government is not pure. They are fearful of our unity and therefore they want to divide us at any cost. I urge all the unions to stick together.”

Mr. Singh said while the BKU (Ugrahan) is not part of the group of 32 farmer unions from Punjab, they have been working in coordination with the 32 unions and it strongly supported the key objective of getting the farm laws revoked.

“If need arises, we will not hesitate to join the group of 32 unions. There are no differences among us and we will continue to fight jointly.”

Mr. Singh said the Central government should not stay adamant and pay heed to the demands of the agitating farmers. “The elderly and the children are protesting here to secure their livelihoods, which is under threat. The government should sympathetically hear out their feelings and not ignore them.”

“We will intensify our agitation if the government does not fulfil our demand.. there’s no question of relenting now.”