Accuses Haryana Police of using brute force, breaching Punjab border
NEW DELHI: The Congress today expressed complete solidarity with the protesting farmers who want to come to Delhi to raise their demands including legal guarantee for the MSP and waiving off loans. The party also sought action into the killing of a young farmer, who reportedly died of gun wound.
Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters here today, senior Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Partap Singh Bajwa said, the situation was quite sensitive and the government of India was callously indifferent.
He accused the Haryana police of using aggressively brutal force against the farmers. He said the farmers had not crossed the Haryana border and were very much within the Punjab territory. He said, despite that the Haryana Police lobbed teargas shells and fired pellets leading to injury to about 300 farmers.
Referring to the killing of 22-year old farmer Shubhkaran Singh, Bajwa disclosed that while he was talking on phone, he suffered a gun or a pistol shot from behind. He said, no FIR has been registered so far in the incident nor has any postmortem been conducted.
He regretted that the Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has also not taken any action despite clear breach of Punjab’s jurisdiction by the Haryana Police.
The senior Congress leader pointed out that the Prime Minister had not expressed any regret or sympathy with the deceased farmer from Punjab. He said, the deceased farmer owned just 2 acres of land and owed Rs 20 lakhs in debt.
He condemned the attempts by some sections of people on social media to describe the protesting farmers as anti-nationals. He said, while all the pro-farmers social media handles were being blocked, those spewing venom against farmers and spreading discord, and which have clear links with and leaning towards the ruling dispensation, were being allowed a free run.
The senior Congress leader said, Punjab is known primarily for defence services and farming. He said, now both of these have been made to suffer. He said, while the farmers are facing distress, the Agniveer scheme has affected the youth who wanted to join the defence services.
Pointing towards the discrimination suffered by the Agniveers, he disclosed that during the past some time three Agniveers had laid down their lives for the country. When their bodies reached their native villages there was no military honour and nor were these wrapped in the national tricolor and they were being treated like mercenaries.
Bajwa said, Punjab has paid heavy price by feeding the country during the last six decades. He said, the experts have warned that if the current paddy-wheat cycle continues, the water table will drop to an alarming level so much that Punjab is feared to turn into a desert in another 10-12 years. Besides, the use of pesticides and fertilisers to boost the production has led to spread of cancer in the state.
Extending the support of the Congress party to farmers, he pointed out, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi have already committed to provide legal guarantee for the MSP once INDIA government is formed at the center.
He said, the INDIA government may also consider the issue of waiving off the loans of farmers. He pointed out, the Modi government waived off Rs eleven lakh crore loans of the corporate sector but was not prepared to waive off any loan of farmers who feed the country.