Farmers Movement Archive

‘Govt implicating us in false cases’

Jalandhar, January 17A day before appearing before the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in New Delhi, Jasbir Singh, a Jalandhar-based farmer, who was issued a notice by the agency, said the government was only trying to threaten farmers by unnecessarily implicating them in false cases.Summoned by NIAJasbir was reportedly among the 30-40 farm leaders who were summoned by the NIA to be examined as significant testimonies in a fresh case registered against Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), a US-based secessionist group that supports the secession of Punjab from India as Khalistan. The notices were issued under Section 160 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).After approaching his lawyer, Jasbir said the notice (a copy of which is with The Tribune) mentioned serious allegations against Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, an SFJ leader. And his attendance was sought to answer certain questions related to the case registered under FIR (number 40/2020) under Sections 120-B, 124-A, 153-A and 153-B of the IPC and Sections 13, 17, 18, 18-B and 20 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).“This is just yet another ‘attempt’ by the government to instill fear in farmers. The motive of such notices is to impede our peaceful agitation against the controversial farm laws. However, we are not at all affected by it. Even if we are arrested, we will continue to intensify our agitation until our demands are met,” added Jasbir, a resident of New Hardayal Nagar here.Founder of the internationally constituted Kisan Bachao Morcha, Jasbir said he had been at the protest sites on the outskirts of the national capital since December 2 and had been organising langar and medical camps for the protesting farmers. He claimed to have no connections with the SFJ.“I have been called at the NIA headquarters on Monday and I’ll definitely coorporate. We will neither disrupt our protest nor the tractor march on January 26 due to such petty politics by the government,” he said.Apart from the farm leaders, a journalist, an actor and others have also been summoned at the NIA between January 18 and 21.

The Tribune

2021-01-18