CHANDIGARH: The lathicharge on farmers at Karnal continued to generate heat on Monday, with the farmers’ panchayat held at Gharaunda grain market in Karnal district and the Samyukt Kisan Morcha’s (SKM) issuing a 7-day ultimatum to the state government for taking action against the Karnal SDM and cops allegedly responsible for the lathicharge and the Haryana chief minister Manohal Lal Khattar still trying to justify the police action.
At least 10 people were injured on Saturday when police lathicharged a group of farmers disrupting traffic movement on a highway in Haryana while heading towards Karnal to protest against a BJP meeting attended by Khattar, state BJP president Om Prakash Dhankar and other leaders.
Two days after defending the action t, Khattar on Monday admitted that the words uttered by Karnal SDM Ayush Sinha were not appropriate.
Khattar says Pb instigating protests, Capt claims Hry agenda ‘anti-farmer’
Amarinder, in his scathing reply, warned the Khattar government and the BJP government at the Centre that they would ‘have to pay for their sins’ and advised the BJP to stand down on its ego and pay heed to the cries of their ‘annadaatas’ before it is too late. “A government or a political party which allows such tragic and totally avoidable loss of lives to continue under its watch cannot survive,” he added.
In a combative mode, Khattar echoed his deputy CM Dushyant Chautala’s stand on Sunday when he had questioned why Haryana had become the epicentre of farmer protests. The CM alleged: “So far as violent agitation is concerned, the Punjab government and its people are to be blamed for this. We have seen in reports that farmer leader (Balbir Singh) Rajewal is seen offering ladoos to Punjab CM Amrinder Singh. Hence, you can all imagine this nexus. I do get the inputs from time to time on the number of people from each state at these sites and it is established that those sitting on Tikri and Singhu are only from Punjab.”
Khattar said that farmers from Haryana are busy with their work and are satisfied with the arrangements of the government, and are not part of any protest. Only those persons who have political aspirations are giving wind to the agitation, he added.
On Amarinder asking him to apologise to farmers or resign from his post over Karnal violence, the Haryana CM said, “With what authority is he asking me to resign or apologise? Who is he to ask me to apologise or resign? Rather, he should resign for instigating farmers. About 85 per cent of those sitting on Delhi’s borders are from Punjab.”
The Haryana chief minister squarely put all the blame for the Karnal violence on Congress and Communist party leaders, who he claimed were “misleading innocent farmers and provoking them to create chaos.”
Replying to the Haryana CM’s claims, Amarinder again criticised him for “defending the criminal assault” on protesting farmers by putting the onus of their agitation on Punjab, saying that these remarks had completely exposed the Khattar government’s “anti-farmer agenda.”
The Punjab CM reminded Khattar that the farmers who were protesting against the BJP meeting in Karnal when the police rained lathis on them belonged to Haryana and not Punjab.
Blaming the BJP squarely for the farmers’ wrath, Amarinder said the crisis would not have assumed such grave proportions had the BJP heeded the farmers’ concerns and empathised with their pain instead of taking refuge in shameful lies for the horrendous attacks on the peaceful farmers.
“Can’t you see that the farmers of your own state are angry with you for your apathetic attitude towards them and your party’s stubborn refusal to repeal the farm laws?” he asked the Haryana leaders, adding that the farmers were fighting for their survival and did not need provocation from Punjab or any other state to protect themselves and their families.
“Repeal the farm laws instead of blaming Punjab for the mess your party has put the farming sector in,” said Amarinder. The Khattar government’s repeated attempts to forcibly end the farmers’ agitation, and the derogatory and obnoxious terms used against farmers by various BJP leaders, will only backfire on their party, he added.
‘Will share ladoos if you repeal farm laws’
Responding to Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar’s remark on farmer leaders giving him (the Punjab CM) ladoos after the resolution of the sugarcane farmers’ protest, Capt Amarinder Singh quipped: “You repeal the farm laws and not just the farmers but even I will share ladoos with you.”
Khattar tweets 8 questions for Punjab CM
Khattar tweets a set of 8 questions for Punjab CM In a late response to Amarinder’s criticism, the Haryana chief minister tweeted a series of eight questions directed at his Punjab counterpart and at the end asked whether Punjab or Haryana was anti-farmer. Questioning Punjab about its schemes for farmers while giving details of his state’s work, Khattar highlighted Haryana’s procurement of 10 crops at MSP, Rs 7,000 per acre incentive to switch from paddy to other crops, 12% interest paid to farmers on delayed payment, Rs 5,000 per acre incentive for direct seeding for rice, Rs 1,000 per acre incentive for stubble management, sugarcane MSP for last 7 years, incentives for horticulture farmers and micro-irrigation scheme.
