Punjab Cong seeks release of arrested farmers

Congress in Punjab on Tuesday demanded immediate release of farmers arrested for allegedly defaulting on loan repayment in the state saying the step might prompt more farmers to commit suicides.

Congress in Punjab on Tuesday demanded immediate release of farmers arrested for allegedly defaulting on loan repayment in the state saying the step might prompt more farmers to commit suicides.

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"It has exposed the anti-farmer face of SAD-BJP government. This action is a blatant violation of even the election manifesto of the Shiromani Akali Dal and will lead to aggravate social tension in rural areas," state Congress President Mohinder Singh Kaypee said in a statement said here.

Demanding their immediate release, he said the recent arrest of six farmers in Jalalabad area in Ferozepur district, the constituency represented by Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, was the beginning of the crackdown on poor peasants.

Noting that Badal had always projected himself as a sympathiser of farmers by often talking in favour of subsidising
He said Badal himself had all along been maintaining that farming in Punjab was not a viable proposition and there was need for subsidising agriculture.

However, this action by the administration clearly shows the huge gap between his words and deeds, Kaypee said.

He expressed apprehensions that such actions of the state government might result in more suicides by farmers.