Congress slams police action against protesting farmers

The Congress on Wednesday dubbed Prime Minister Narendra Modi “anti-farmer” for the alleged use of force against the protesting farmers at Delhi border on Tuesday, and claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government wanted “kisan-mukt Bharat (farmer-free India)”.

Police on Tuesday had halted tens of thousands of farmers, attempting to enter the national capital from Uttar Pradesh demanding better prices and concessions, with the use of water cannons and tear gas shells.

“Today, only one voice is heard in every corner of this country — ‘Narendra Modi - Kisan Virodhi’...,” Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said on Wednesday.

“The situation can easily be gauged from the fact that when farmers were being lathi-charged in Delhi, another farmer, Ranveer Singh, from Bhiwani in Haryana breathed his last behind the bars on account of his failure to repay a loan of ~9 lakh. Nothing can be more tragic on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi,” Surjewala added.

Quoting Mahatma Gandhi, he said if justice was not done to the farmers, the crores of “starved but awakened” farmers will create such a revolution that even the armed forces will fail.

“These words of Mahatma aptly apply on the present anti-farmer Modi government. Giving deep wounds to the farmers with bullets and baton, this Modi government has become a symbol of cruelty on farmers,” he said.

The Congress leader also posed ten questions to the Modi government, including why the government had not fulfilled its 2014 promise of cost plus 50% profit to farmers.

“As per the RBI report, the Modi government waived a loan of ~3,17,000 crore against its crony industrialists... what are the reasons for government’s reluctance in waiving the loan of ~62,000 crore of farmers who are the ‘annadata (the provider)’...?”

Since Independence, Surjewala said, no government has ever imposed a tax on agriculture.

“Then why has the Modi government imposed 5% GST on tractor and agriculture implements, 12% GST on insecticide, 18% GST on tractor tyres and spare parts.”

First Published: Oct 03, 2018 23:04 IST