Centre had to finally give in: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal welcomes repealing of farm laws

NEW DELHI: The lives of over 700 farmers who were killed during the farm protests could have been saved had the three contentious farm laws been rolled back earlier, said Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday.

Welcoming the Centre's announcement to repeal the laws he congratulated farmers for their victory after a prolonged and year-long struggle.

आज जनतंत्र की जीत हुई है।

किसानों ने सभी सरकारों को बता दिया - जनतंत्र में सिर्फ और सिर्फ जनता की मर्ज़ी चलेगी, अहंकार नहीं चलेगा।

- CM @ArvindKejriwal #FarmLaws pic.twitter.com/qekRzUdcp9

— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) November 19, 2021

"The announcement has come on Prakash Diwas (birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh), which is happy news. More than 700 farmers have been killed. Their sacrifice will be remembered forever. The coming generations will remember how the farmers of our country put their lives on stake to save farming and farmers. My greetings to the farmers of the country," Kejriwal, the Aam Aadmi Party chief convenor said in a tweet.

In a statement, Kejriwal said that today is a "golden day in the history of India" and will be written with golden letters in the chronicles of Indian history alongside the Independence and Republic days. "All sorts of attempts were made to break the spirit of the farmers by calling them terrorists, Khalistanis and anti-nationals but like the freedom fighters, the farmers fought and won the fight. The coming generations will never forget the sacrifice made by the farmers," the chief minister said.

The chief minister further said that he salutes the farmers who were killed during the anti-farm bill movement and bows down before the families of those slain farmers for their supreme sacrifice. Their sacrifice will remain immortal.

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"The coming generations will remember how the farmers of the country saved farming and the farmers by risking their own lives. My tribute to farmers of my country. The struggle also united the entire country. The Central government had to finally give in to the farmers' tireless struggle and go back on the 'kaale kaanoon'," Kejriwal said.