Chandigarh, August 12
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab has strongly objected to the argument put forward by Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh during a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to repeal the Agriculture laws, accusing it of having a dangerous agenda. The AAP argued that if Captain Amarinder Singh’s intentions regarding farmers and farmers’ movement had been clear, then pretexts were not made about the security of the country and Pakistan for the agitation.
In a statement issued from the party headquarters here on Thursday, AAP state president and MP Bhagwant Mann said after meeting the Prime Minister, Captain Amarinder Singh issued a statement outlining the issues he had raised with Narendra Modi. Mann said in the entire statement, the Chief Minister had not made it clear that the three laws imposed by the Union government in the name of agrarian reforms were a threat to the very existence of the ‘annadatas’ of Punjab and the entire country. “These laws are anti-farmer and anti-agriculture and wrong. They are one-sided and only serve the interests of corporate houses. The biggest thing is that the farmers have never demanded such so-called agrarian reforms,” said.
Bhagwant Mann said to save their livelihood, the farmers of Punjab and the country had been compelled to hold peaceful protests on the borders of Delhi since November 26 last year. Therefore, these destructive laws should be repealed immediately while listening to the demands of the ‘annadatas’. He said on the contrary, Captain Amarinder Singh was telling Prime Minister Narendra Modi, “Due to these laws, there is a lot of resentment among the farmers. This farmers’ struggle is likely to pose a great threat to the security of Punjab and the country as the Pakistan-backed anti-India forces seek to take advantage of the farmers’ resentment.”
Mann sought clarification from Captain Amarinder Singh to make it clear to the public that the agriculture laws should be repealed as it was anti-farmer and a threat to the very existence of the agribusiness or should it be canceled so that the anti-national forces do not take undue advantage of the farmers’ movement. He alleged that in the run-up to the 2022 elections, there was a conspiracy to create a similar atmosphere of terror in the state, as the BJP creates by using anti-national forces to win the elections.
“Therefore, the people of Punjab and the country should be vigilant of such a dangerous alliance between Captain Amarinder Singh and Narendra Modi, which on the one hand does not leave the opportunity to discredit the peaceful farmers’ movement involving every class or religion and on the other hand, uses a particular section as a vote bank to create divisions and fear in the society to win elections,” said Mann. Apart from this, Bhagwant Mann said if Captain had been really serious, he would have met the Prime Minister with an all-party delegation instead of meeting him alone and would have put united pressure for immediate repeal of the agriculture laws.
