By Abdul Bari Masoud
New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party leaders on Sunday attacked the Prime Minister and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for their apathetic attitude towards the agitating farmers who have been protesting since the last four days against the new agri-laws. They underlined that Amit Shah does not have time to speak to farmers, but he has time to campaign 12,000 km away in Hyderabad addressing potholes and sewers.
Addressing separate press conferences, senior party leader and MP Sanjay Singh called BJP as an anti-farmer party. He said by ignoring thousands of protesting farmers, AMit Shah went to Hyderabad for a municipality election campaign that clearly shows India now has an anti-farmer, intolerant, irresponsible Home Minister. He said that the BJP is terming the farmers as terrorists and goondas; this exposes the anti-farmer mindset of the BJP.
“It is unfortunate that the BJP government is treating them as terrorists. The police have lathi-charged these poor farmers, used water cannons in this winter and also thrown tear gas shells to disperse the protest, he said.
“The BJP has been completely blind towards the farmer issue as Shah told the farmers to come to the Burari ground and then only he will talk to them this behaviour shows utter intolerance, fascist ideology and ego.”
By using the excuse of COVID-19 pandemic, the BJP ruled central government passed these anti-farmer laws while it sees the threat of Corona in Delhi when the farmers are protesting but they are doing massive roadshows at Hyderabad where they are not caring about the pandemic, Singh said. He also slammed the Prime Minister who hailed the farm laws in his monthly Mann ki baat program.
“Today Prime Minister Modi hailed these anti farmer laws which show that the BJP has no intention to solve the problems of the farmers and the BJP is an anti-farmer party,” Singh added.
In another press conference, AAP spokesperson and MLA Atishi also blasted BJP and Shah. It is shameful that the Home does not have time to speak to the farmers, but he has time to campaign for municipal election in Hyderabad.
Atishi said, “Today, farmers from Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh are reaching Delhi braving cold weather because they want the central government to listen to their voices.”
Shame on such governments and such Home Minister, who have forced the farmers to take to the streets, and put conditions before the farmers to avoid listening to them, she said.
Meanwhile, the main opposition Congress also severely attacked the PM and HM. Party spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said the PM’s “obduracy, arrogance, and rigidity” in dealing with 62 crore farmers and farm labourers of India is writ large by his insistence today in the ‘Mann Ki baat’ who hailed the agri laws. Addressing media persons at the party headquarters, Surjewala said the three Anti Farmer, Anti Agriculture laws forcibly passed in an illegal and unconstitutional fashion by Parliament.
“But for Prime Minister to say that these three laws are absolutely right, when lakhs and lakhs of farmers are sitting all around Delhi agitating, demanding their withdrawal shows that Modi Government is drunk with power and the PM does not care about the welfare of farmers and farm labourers of India, he said.
He also mocked HM Shah’s visit to Hyderabad campaigning in municipal elections.
“If Home Minister of India has time to travel 1,200 kilometers to address a public meeting in Hyderabad, why does he not have time to go 15 kilometers to the border of Delhi and speak to the agitating farmers?” Congress leader asked.
“Why have 12,000 FIRs been lodged on the farmers? Why is it that no conversation is taking place, no dialogue is taking place with the farmers? Why are farmers being branded as terrorists by the Modi Government as also the BJP Chief Ministers?”
He also attacked some news channels for calling farmers as anti-nationals
“ Why is it that select news channels aided and abetted by the Modi Government are out to prove that 62 crore farmers are antinational? Does this not show an absolute arrogance of power on part of the Prime Minister and his Government?”