Farm laws: Amarinder stages dharna in Delhi, alleges 'step-motherly' treatment by Centre

CHANDIGARH: Alleging step-motherly treatment towards Punjab, CM Amarinder Singh on Wednesday said he was not in Delhi to confront the Centre but warned that any move to tinker with religion or livelihood of the people was bound to trigger resentment and anger.

Amarinder said he and other MLAs from Punjab were forced to reach Delhi as the President declined the request for a meeting on the plea that the State Amendment Bills were still lying with the Governor. 

“I did not want to meet the President over the Bills because I know the Governor has not even forwarded them to the President. The Governor is just a post box and has no rights. He has to send the Bills to the President but is sitting on them,’’ he said.

“I wanted to brief the President on the emerging national and food security issues in Punjab where Pakistan is looking to create trouble. We do not have sacks to store wheat harvested from the fields.”
The Congress veteran asserted that he and his colleagues were not in Delhi to disturb national unity. “The soldiers from Punjab were among those killed in the Galwan clash.

We know how to shed our blood for the nation. ... Some farmers are agitating but we have assured the Centre that railway and Punjab Police can together handle the matter.” At Jantar Mantar, where he reached after paying respect at Rajghat, Amarinder expressed the hope that the Centre would look at Punjab and its problems in the backdrop of the sacrifices made by Punjabis through the decades. He trashed any suggestion of Punjab’s farmers resorting to anti-national activities, pointing out that their agitation had been completely peaceful. With inputs from Delhi