Farmers Movement Archive

Farmers of Hindustan know how to fight: Rahul in Kurukshetra

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said the newly enacted farm laws will take away the jobs of lakhs of people associated with the mandi system. Terming the new laws a ‘direct attack’ on farmers, the Wayanad MP, during his ‘Kheti Bachao Yatra’ that reached Haryana’s Kurukshetra in the evening, said, “By enacting these laws, the Prime Minister wants to enable the big corporate houses to take the entire agriculture business over.”“Modi ji, if you think that farmers cannot fight due to the pandemic, you are mistaken. You do not know the farmers of Hindustan. They know how to fight,” said Rahul, who was joined by Haryana’s former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and state Congress unit president Kumari Selja. “Procurement, MSP and food security are interlinked. Entire system will collapse and lakhs of people will be left jobless if this chain is broken,” he added. “If the BJP is to be believed, these bills are supposed to help farmers. Then why the farmers of this country are out on roads, agitating over these bills? Why were these bills introduced during the Covid-19 crisis and why there was no discussion in the parliament?” he asked. ‘Modi is a coward’Firing his final and sharpest salvo before wrapping his visit up, Rahul dubbed PM Narendra Modi a ‘coward’ while attacking him over the India-China standoff in the Ladakh theatre. “India is the only country in the world where army of another country entered, encroached upon its land, and killed its soldiers, but our coward Prime Minister says that there was no infiltration...” he said at a Kurukshetra grain market. “Desh ki zameen hadpi gayi hai aur yeh (prime minister) apne aap ko deshbhakt kehte hain,” he quipped. The former Congress president, who also visited Jyotisar and offered prayers, said, “This PM didn’t even know the strength of Indian Army, Indian farmers and labourers. He only focuses on building his image.” ‘Will repeal these laws within 10 days of coming in power’Rahul assured the farmers that these three laws will be abolished within 10 days of formation of the Congress government. He said during six years’ rule, Modi government not only failed to do anything for the poor, “but also inflicted several wounds in the form of demonetisation, GST and now, these farm bills”. Earlier, Rahul accused PM Modi of wasting taxpayers’ money. He said that PM Modi bought the Air India One because he saw that his friend US President Donald Trump has the Air Force One. Convoy stopped at Haryana borderHigh drama was witnessed on the Haryana-Punjab border from where Rahul Gandhi’s convoy was set to enter the state. Haryana Police stopped the Congress leaders and supporters, citing the ban on gathering of more than 100 people. “They have stopped us on a bridge on the Haryana border. I’m not moving and am happy to wait here. 1 hour, 5 hours, 24 hours, 100 hours, 1000 hours or 5000 hours (sic),” the former Congress president posted on Twitter. A small contingent was, however, allowed to enter Haryana after a protest and sloganeering by Congress workers.

Hindustan Times

07-10-2020

City