Farmers Movement Archive

Shiromani Akali Dal slams Centre for not counting farm stir deaths

CHANDIGARH: The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Saturday condemned the NDA government’s refusal to recognise deaths at the farm agitation on the borders of Delhi. SAD said a human tragedy was unfolding on the borders of Delhi and more than 550 people had died in the peaceful protest against the three agri-marketing laws passed last year. It also demanded an apology from Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar on this issue. Expressing shock at Tomar’s statement that the Union government did not have any record of farmers who died in the ongoing farm struggle on the borders of Delhi, former Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal said, “This anti-farmer attitude of the NDA government is responsible for the plight of farmers who have not only been stonewalled for eight months, but even their dead are not being recognised. SAD condemns this anti-human attitude and requests the agriculture minister to apologise to farmers for this statement and assure the country that the ‘annadaata’ will not be humiliated in this manner again in Parliament.” Badal said the NDA government had also made it clear in Parliament that it was functioning in a dictatorial manner and had not even cared to conduct any study to ascertain the apprehensions in the minds of farmers about the three laws. “Tomar’s assertion that no study has been conducted on this issue proves that this government is committed to fulfilling its pact with corporations and will not even take any feedback from farmers on the three farm laws,” Badal added.

The Times of India

2021-07-25

Chandigarh