Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra with the family of Navreet Singh, who died during the tractor rally in Delhi on January 26, at Dibdiba village in Rampur. (Express Photo) Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday met the family of 25-year-old Navreet Singh, who died during the January 26 farmers’ protest in New Delhi, and demanded repeal of the three “black” agri laws.
Priyanka, who reached Dibdiba village in Rampur to attend a prayer ceremony of Navreet Singh, slammed the BJP government “for calling farmers terrorists” and their agitation against the new farm laws “a political conspiracy”.
“The government should repeal the farm laws. This is oppression of farmers. The bigger wrong is that they call farmers terrorists; when they see the farmers’ movement as a conspiracy against them. This is a very serious form of oppression. When people raise their voice, they are called all kinds of names. It is never said that you are my countrymen and your pain is my pain, and I will hear you… if a politician can’t hear and feel the pain of the poor farmers, the people; if a politician can’t do this, then they are not useful anymore. This is not the occasion for me to make political statements, but we can’t tolerate such (zulm) oppression on farmers. What is true is true. This is not a political movement. This is a movement of truth. This is your movement – the farmers, and each and every citizen of the country,” Priyanka said at the gathering.
Assuring Navreet’s family that the Congress party would always stand beside them, the 49-year-old leader said a martyr’s family can never forget the martyrdom. “From my own experience, I know that a martyr’s family can never forget the martyrdom. They keep the sacrifice in their heart forever. A hope remains that their loved one’s martyrdom does not go waste, and I know that all of you have this hope. Navreet was 25 years old. My son is 20. You all have young sons who went to stand with the farmers there and an accident happened to him due to which he could not return. Why did he go there? It was not a political conspiracy. They went there because they understood the pain of the farmers. Because Navreet knew that farmers are being oppressed,” Priyanka said.
Invoking Guru Guru Gobind Singh, Priyanka said, “Guru Gobind Singhji has said facing oppression is a bigger sin than committing it. And maybe it was because of this that a youth reached Delhi from Dibdiba so that he can be a part of it and so that government hears them when they stand united… but nothing of this sort happened.”
“I would like to tell the family that you are not alone. Every citizen of the country, be it of any religion, is with you. Farmers from all corners of the country are with you. We are with you. Thousands of Congress workers who are here today are with you. And I would like to say to Sardar Hardeep Singhji that your grandson’s martyrdom will not go waste. I came here to say this and I hope that all of you have the same feeling in your heart. The movement will continue till the three black farm laws are not repealed,” Priyanka said, concluding her brief speech with “Wahe Guruji Ka Khalsa, Wahe Guruji Ki Fateh” chant.
During her visit, she was accompanied by senior Congress leaders, including Uttar Pradesh party unit chief Ajay Kumar Lallu. RLD leader and former MP Jayant Chaudhary also visited the village and met Navreet’s family.
Earlier in the morning, three to four vehicles in Congress leader’s cavalcade hit each other on a highway in Hapur district. No one was hurt in the incident that took place near Gajraula area. The vehicles at the end of the convoy hit each other, media in-charge of the Congress Lalan Kumar said in Lucknow. Lallu had retweeted a post which had a video of him along with Priyanka Gandhi seated in a car en route to Rampur. A video of Priyanka Gandhi wiping the windscreen of her car went viral on social media.
For over two months, farmers from Punjab, Haryana and west Uttar Pradesh have been protesting against the three laws brought by the BJP government at the Centre.