Farmers Movement Archive

Despite Capt’s appeal, farmers to go ahead with 3-day protest

Despite chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh’s appeal, farmers under the banner of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ugarahan) have decided to go ahead with their call of three-day protest from May 28.The farmers will protest against state government for its alleged failure in tackling the Covid crisis and imposing curbs across the state.Farmers claimed that the ill-preparedness of state and central governments has led to spread of Covid. “Both the governments have failed to check Covid spread. People are dying due to lack of ventilators, oxygen and other medical facilities,” said BKU’s general secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan.He added that the traders are already feeling the brunt of undue restrictions imposed in the state. “To hide its failures, the government has come up with curfew-like decisions, which has battered the trader class,” he said.The farmers have prepared detailed demand charter in which they demanded government to fill vacant vacancies in the health department, to make adequate arrangements for oxygen and ventilators, to bring private hospitals under its control and to stop forcible vaccination and testing.Rejecting the allegations of the state government’s failure to tackle the Covid pandemic, Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Sunday urged the BKU not to go ahead with their proposed dharna, which he said could turn into a super-spreader of the contagion.The CM said his government had fought hard to prevent Punjab going the way some other states, such as Delhi, Maharashtra and even Uttar Pradesh, where bodies floating in the Ganga.“Any event, such as the proposed three-day dharna of the BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) in Patiala, had the potential to negate the gains made by his government in tackling Covid in the state,” he said.Amarinder urged the farmers’ group not to act irresponsibly and jeopardise the lives of their own people with such reckless behaviour amid the pandemic, especially when there is a complete ban in the state on all gatherings and any violation of the ban would be highly detrimental to the interests of Punjab and its people.“The group’s action was also completely unwarranted considering the total support the state government had extended all these months to the agitating farmers on the issue of the centre’s black farm laws. It is time for the farmers now to reciprocate by supporting the state government in the fight against the pandemic,” he said.He added that taking note of the gravity of the situation, there was no scope for any laxity in Covid appropriate behaviour, and rallies or dharnas of any kind were totally unacceptable when the lives of the people were at stake.

Hindustan Times

24-05-2021

Chandigarh