The ongoing farmers’ protests along the Delhi border is not a spontaneous agitation but a carefully manufactured conspiracy by leftist organisations against the central government, a report broadcasted on India TV said. In his prime time show ‘Aaj Ki Baat’, veteran journalist Rajat Sharma exposed the nefarious designs and elaborate plans made by the left-leaning organisations to gin up farmers into launching protests against the Modi government.
Sharma alleged that political parties averse to the central government have been resorting to lies and propaganda to mislead farmers into believing that the three newly introduced Agriculture laws were against their interests. Sharma spoke to many farmers in various cities of Punjab, who confessed to the involvement of the leftist organisations in kindling protests against the current regime.
Exclusive: Punjab farmer reveals, how Leftists misguided farmers in the name of Sikh religion, Guru Govind Singh Ji #AajKiBaat @RajatSharmaLive pic.twitter.com/PB86wYYzpY
— India TV (@indiatvnews) December 29, 2020
Sharma said that an array of vile tricks and machinations were employed by the leftists to get unwitting farmers to the Delhi borders for protesting against the central government. Photos of those who had died a natural death were circulated in far-off villages in Punjab stating that they were ‘martyred’ during the farmers’ protest in Delhi in order to generate resentment against the Modi government. The farmers are also fed with lies that demonstrators are dying in the protest while the government is simply watching over.
“The propagandists are goading people into joining the protests in the name of Sikhism and Guru Govind Singh. Those who oppose them are branded as enemies of the community and are threatened with banishment from the society and this is all happening under the pretext of farmers’ protests,” Sharma said.
Appeals made to Sikh pride and Guru Govind Singh to get farmers to participate in the protests
According to Sharma, the leftist organisations were preparing for the last five months to launch protests against the central government to recapture their lost political ground. Fear-mongering about the new laws was extensively used to scare the farmers into believing that the government would capture their lands. They were galvanised into participating in the protests by appealing to their pride, Sikhism and Guru Govind Singh.
Vijendra Singh, a farmer from Sangrur revealed how the leftist organisations had been befooling farmers in his villages to join the protests. He said that when lies about new farm bills did not stick with the people, the leftists tried to enlist them for the protests by citing Sikhism and Guru Govind Singh.
Farmer Vijendra Singh exposes leftist propaganda of inciting people to join the protests
“The farmer associations of the Malwa belt farmers hold great sway in the region and they all have strong ties to the leftist organisations. Initially, when the three Farm Bills were passed, these organisations started promoting in the villages that the Modi government has legislated ‘Black Laws’ and these legislations would destroy our farm produce and enable corporates to take over our lands. Gradually the people bought into their propaganda and their popularity started soaring high,” Singh said.
However, Singh added that after some time people who had extended their support to the movement dug deeper into understanding the laws passed by the government. It is then that they realised that the furore over the laws was unwarranted and they started parting ways from the movement. Realising that their agitation was petering out, the leftist organisations then linked the protest to the Sikh pride since Punjab is predominantly Sikh, Singh said.
Comrade leaders defrauded money from villagers to finance Delhi protests
Singh further adds, “As they realised that people were not joining in the protests, the leftist organisations tried to link the protests with the Sikh pride. They instigated people stating that Guru Gobind Singh snatched the lands from the Mughals but this just Modi. We will press our knee against Modi’s neck.”
The farmer also said that the comrade leader in his village sought a donation of Rs 200 per acre of land from people which was then used to finance the farmers’ protests in Delhi. Singh said that the leftist leaders fleeced money from the villagers by selling a Rs 2.5 bottle of water at Rs 20.
“Most of those who are protesting in Delhi are leftist supporters and cadres. I don’t deny that farmers have not joined the protests but they were deceptively enlisted for the protests by appealing to Sikh pride which is very dear to us here in Punjab,” Singh said.