Farmers Movement Archive

What does BJP know of tricolor’s grace?: Punjab CM Amarinder Singh to Tarun Chugh

CHANDIGARH: Calling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) functionary Tarun Chugh’s remarks on his Army background as reprehensible, Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday retorted, “What does the BJP or its leadership know of Army honour or the grace of the national flag?” “We in Punjab know the pain of seeing the bodies of our sons and brothers, wrapped in the national flag, come home every second day,” he said, alleging that BJP clearly had no empathy or sensitivity towards the soldiers losing their lives to protect India’s honour and integrity. “Neither Chugh nor his party could relate to the anguish of those very soldiers on seeing their farmer fathers and brothers being beaten up and tear-gassed while fighting for their rights,” the chief minister added. Attacking the BJP national general secretary over his remarks on the ‘Republic Day grace’, he said BJP, “which had systematically ripped the constitutional fabric apart over the past six years and most notably over the draconian farm laws, had lost all moral and ethical right to talk of the honour of the R-Day”. “What was wrong in my statement that “maligning the farmers (for the Red Fort violence) could cause the morale of the armed forces, 20% of which is from Punjab, to go down? How does that amount to insulting the Republic Day grace and my own Army background,” asked Captain Amarinder. “What happened to the grace of the R-Day when the central government, which BJP leads, trampled over the federal and constitutional rights of the states to unilaterally bring in the farm ordinances without consulting anyone? Where is the grace in letting the poor farmers, who are feeding you along with the billion plus people of India every day, shiver out in the cold on the roads, with many of them dying out there,” Amarinder asked. Reacting to Chugh’s accusations that he had backed those who had insulted the Tricolour at the Red Fort, Amarinder said far from supporting anyone involved in the violence in any way, “I was among the first to outright condemn the violence and the dishonour to the symbol of independent India”. Reiterating, however, that he did not believe it was the farmers who created the trouble, Amarinder alleged it was miscreants, including BJP’s own supporters, who were seen inciting the trouble at the historic Red Fort in the national capital on the Republic Day. He repeated his demand for a thorough probe into the incident.

The Times of India

2021-01-31

Chandigarh