Leader of opposition in Haryana Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Sunday accused Chief Minister Manohar Lal of insulting farmers of the State by giving an impression through his recent remarks that farmers from Haryana were not a part of the ongoing agitation against Centre’s farm laws.
Besides, Haryana Congress chief and former Rajya Sabha MP Kumari Selja has demanded the BJP-JJP government to immediately withdraw the FIR registered against farmers in the State.
Mr. Hooda said Haryana farmers have been agitating against the three agricultural laws for several months but the indifferent and ignorant attitude adopted by the BJP-led government towards such a big movement was indeed ‘shocking and disturbing’.
“The Chief Minister should tell whether he does not consider the agitating farmers as residents of Haryana? If the farmers of Haryana are not part of the movement, then who did the government lathi-charge in Pipli? Who are the people who were detained by Haryana Police before their Delhi march? Who where are the farmers against whom the Haryana government has filed cases,” quipped Mr. Hooda.
“Farmers of Haryana and Punjab have stood shoulder to shoulder in this movement. They are also getting support from farmers of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and other states as well. Ignoring them is an insult to those who work hard who put food on our tables,” he added.
Mr. Hooda said the stance adopted by the government to crush the movement is completely undemocratic as every citizen and every class has the right to demonstrate peacefully for their just demands in democracy.
“This government has completely lost the trust of the farmers and that is why the farmers does not believe in the assurances given by the government and now want a law that guarantees Minimum Support Price. Not only this, the government should also withdraw the cases lodged against the farmers immediately and release the detained farmer leaders,” he said.
Ms. Selja, accusing the State government of adopting an anti-farmer stance, said, “First the government committed atrocities on the farmers, who were agitating against the agriculture laws, now FIR has been lodged against the same farmers. The BJP government at the Centre and the BJP-JJP government of the State are bent on completely crushing the farmers,” she alleged.
Reacting on the conditions laid by the Central government for negotiation with the farmers, Ms. Selja said the intention of the Centre had been under suspicion from the very beginning. “Now, placing a condition for talks with farmers shows that government is not interested in listening to their demands,” she added.
