Farmers Movement Archive

Amarinder Singh: Won’t let BJP divide Punjabis on caste lines

CHANDIGARH: Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh, on Friday, accused Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of trying to divide society on caste lines to further its vested political interests. He asserted that he would not allow them to impose their vicious agenda in the state. “I will not let them disturb Punjab’s peaceful atmosphere at any cost,” said Amarinder, referring to the BJP’s attempt to take out the “Dalit Insaf Yatra” on Thursday without permission. These divisive tactics will never succeed in Punjab, where people have been living in harmony, he said. Amarinder also said the saffron party does not have the moral right to talk about Dalit rights, which they violated wherever they were in power. He corroborated this saying that Uttar Pradesh, under BJP rule, accounted for over 25% of cases of atrocities against SC community in the country and had recorded the highest number of such incidents in 2018. “Is this your definition of justice for Dalits? Is this what you are offering the SC people of Punjab?” he asked the BJP. Amarinder said the BJP, finding itself totally cornered by the draconian, anti-farmer and unconstitutional farm laws, is indulging in theatrics and propaganda to divert public attention. “The fact is that the party has completely failed farmers and SC students, whom its national leadership has deprived of access to higher education by abruptly withdrawing from the central postmatric scholarship scheme,” he said. Amarinder attributed BJP’s attempted rally to its alarm over the state government’s successful launch of its own scholarship scheme for SC students. Despite suffering Rs 800 crore in losses due to the “anti-Dalit” decision of the BJP-led Union government, the cash-strapped Punjab government not only introduced a new scheme - B R Ambedkar SC Postmatric Scholarship - for SC students but even expanded its ambit to benefit more youngsters, he said.

The Times of India

2020-10-24

Chandigarh