Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij Haryana Home and Health Minister Anil Vij Thursday appealed to farmer leaders to call off the ‘chakka jam’ planned for Saturday, and “come forward for a dialogue”. Speaking to the media after launching phase 2 of the Covid-19 vaccination drive in Gurgaon Thursday morning, Vij said, “Even big issues of the world, international issues too, are solved through dialogue… even the Prime Minister has said the roads for dialogue are always open, so they should come forward…”
On Monday, farmer unions had announced a countrywide ‘chakka jam’ on February 6 when they would block national and state highways for three hours — between 12 pm to 3 pm — in protest against the internet ban at protest sites, harassment allegedly meted out to them by authorities, and other issues.
Vij said: “Everyone has a right to demonstrate and stage protests in a democracy, but it must be considered that while using this right of ours, the rights of others should not get violated… That is why I request farmer leaders to cancel the chakka jam programme.”
The Minister also alleged that the farmers’ protest has turned into a place where political leaders are “breaking bread (roti sek rahe hain)”. “You must be seeing that instead of a farmers’ forum, it has become a platform for political parties, all political leaders are going there and breaking bread… all these parties don’t want a solution to be found, they want to take every step by which the fight can continue,” said Vij.