While the talks between leaders and Ministers were underway at Vigyan Bhavan, at Singhu border, Punjabi singer Jaswinder Singh Bains a.k.a. Jazzy B and Punjab’s Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Lakhwinder Singh Jakhar — who resigned earlier this month — cheered the protesting farmers.
Addressing the crowd from the stage, Mr. Bains said, “Get stronger. We only have to move forward and not take any step back.”
The singer also said that the protesters are being called out for eating pizzas and almonds but that’s the nature of the Sikh community. “Asi chardi kala che rehnde ne (we live in a state of positivity and optimism),” he said. Mr. Bains claimed that he was offered a stay in hotels during his visit to Singhu border but he stayed inside his car instead to feel like a part of the protest.
Mr. Jakhar, who resigned as DIG-Prisons recently in support of the farmers said that they were being called terrorists but were in fact protectors of the nation. “Most farmers’ sons are in the Army and they call us terrorists and Khalistanis. They also question where the funds are coming from to feed so many people. I would like to say that, since childhood, we are taught about langars and serving the community,” he said, adding that the government wanted farmers to become slaves to corporates “but they won’t and will rule their fields like kings”. He ended by asking their “brothers abroad” to extend support for the protest in all the ways possible.
Protesting farmers, on Tuesday, said that while they hoped for a positive outcome to the talks between leaders and the government, they weren’t optimistic that the outcome would be as they hoped.
“The government has spoken to our leaders five times before this and it’s unlikely that they will agree to the demands. The deadlock will continue though we hope it ends,” said Gurmeet Singh (48) from Rupnagar. Standing next to him, Iqbal Singh (43) said that if the deadlock continued, “We will lock our houses in Punjab and Haryana, bring all the family members here and seize Delhi… our Gurus had won Delhi 18 times, we will win for the 19th.”
This is the first protest in which government is giving people something and they don’t want it, said Pradeep Singh from Fatehgarh Sahib. “People think we are having fun here. I sell milk for a living. I have left it to be taken care of by a boy I hired. It’s so cold here at night. One can’t imagine the condition we bathe in. It’s not easy,” he said.
