Farmers Movement Archive

BJP goons asking farmers to vacate protest sites at Delhi borders: AAP

Senior AAP leader and Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Friday said that it was not local residents, but “goons of the BJP” who are asking farmers to vacate protest sites at different borders of Delhi. While visiting a protest site in Ghazipur at Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border, Mr. Sisodia said that BJP should explain why they were terming “sardars as traitors”. Meanwhile, Water Minister Satyendar Jain, who had visited Singhu border, another protest site, with water tankers claimed that on the BJP’s orders, the police did not even allow supply of basic facilities, such as water to the farmers. “It’s unfortunate that “sardars”, who are strong patriots, are being called traitors. The real traitors are the ones who are calling the farmers that. Central government is wronging the farmers under the pressure from ‘capitalist friends’. AAP always stands with farmers and the Sikh community,” Mr. Sisodia said. He said that farmers who feed the nation are being called traitors, being abused and being called violent. “The BJP is calling them traitors. The BJP will have to tell the country why they are calling ‘sardars’ traitors,” the AAP leader said. Mr. Sisodia said that on Thursday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had talked to Rakesh Tikait, one of the leaders of the farmers. “He [Mr. Tikait] had said that the Uttar Pradesh government has removed facilities for water. We made arrangements last [Thursday] night. We have arranged nine to 10 tankers and toilets on directions of the Chief Minister.” When asked about local people allegedly asking farmers to leave the protest sites, Mr. Sisodia said, “These are not locals. These are goons of the BJP.” “Rakesh ji, we are completely with the farmers. Your demands are valid. It is wrong to discredit the farmers’ movement, call farmers as traitors and make false cases against leaders of farmers who have been agitating peacefully for so many days,” Mr. Kejriwal said in a tweet in Hindi. Mr. Jain claimed that the central government and the BJP leadership were behind this “shameful decision” to stop the water tankers at Singhu. “They want to keep the farmers thirsty and hungry because they think in this way, they can stop the protest. The Kejriwal government believes that when the farmers are in Delhi, it is our fundamental duty to provide them with water and toilet facilities,” he said.

The Hindu

2021-01-30

New Delhi