Farmers Movement Archive

Farmers ‘annadatas’, shouldn’t be called Khalistanis: Rajnath

NEW DELHI: Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday said it is regrettable that terms like "Khalistani" and "Naxal" were used to describe farmers agitating against the new farm laws, saying that the farming communities are "annadatas" (food givers) and deserve utmost respect. Singh's comments in an interview to ANI came in the wake of ministers alleging that the Left and Maoist elements had "infiltrated" the anti-farm laws agitation, pointing to the demands to free persons charged with being members of outlawed Maoist groups, which were raised by a section of farm unions. Singh said PM Narendra Modi and he were pained over the ongoing demonstrations, and asserted that there is no question of being insensitive towards farmers. "We express our deepest respect towards them. Our heads bow in respect towards our farmers. They are our 'annadatas'," he said. However, the defence minister advised the agitating farmers to stay away from people using derogatory remarks against Modi. "I was personally pained to watch some of the protestors shouting slogans like "Mar Jaa" for the PM. It was disappointing to see as the chair of the Prime Minister is an institution and represents the whole country," Singh said. He suggested that the farmers should be considerate and agree to a logical debate on every clause of the farm laws. Asked about agitating farmers being described as "Naxals" or "Khalistanis", the minister said such allegations should not be made at all. "These allegations should not be made by anyone against farmers ... In the time of economic recession, the farmers have borne the responsibility of taking the economy out of trouble. They are the economy's backbone," Singh said. He said the government has been working to boost the income of farmers through the farm laws and the Prime Minister was concerned about the issue before the 2014 election campaign.

The Times of India

2020-12-31

India