Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Monday slammed his Haryana counterpart for defending lathi-charge on peacefully protesting farmers by putting the onus of the agitation on Punjab, saying that Manohar Lal Khattar’s remarks had exposed his government’s anti-farmer agenda.
Amarinder reminded Khattar and his deputy Dushyant Chautala that the farmers who were protesting against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) meeting in Karnal and cops who rained lathis on them belonged to Haryana and not Punjab.
He was reacting to Khattar’s and Dushyant’s allegations of Punjab being behind the farmers’ agitation against the three farm laws.
Had the BJP, including the Haryana CM and deputy CM, heeded the farmers’ concerns, the crisis would not have assumed such grave proportions, said Punjab CM said blaming the BJP for farmers’ wrath.
He trashed Khattar’s claim that Haryana Police used force only after the farmers disturbed the state’s law and order, pointing out that the viral video of the SDM giving explicit instructions to the cops to bash up the farmers nailed the CM’s lies.
“How did the SDM know that the farmers intended to resort to stone pelting etc, as claimed by Khattar?” asked Amarinder.
{{/usCountry}}“How did the SDM know that the farmers intended to resort to stone pelting etc, as claimed by Khattar?” asked Amarinder.
{{/usCountry}}Farmers are fighting for their survival and did not need provocation from Punjab or any other state to protect their rights, he said, adding that the sentiment of the entire country was with the farmers.
Responding to Khattar’s remark on farmer leaders giving him (Captain Amarinder) laddoos after the resolution of the sugarcane farmers’ protest, the Punjab CM quipped: “You repeal the farm laws and not just the farmers but even I will share laddoos with you.”