Farmers Movement Archive

Punjab: SAD patron Parkash Singh Badal back, feels betrayed on farm laws

BATHINDA: Putting up his second appearance in a week, SAD patron Parkash Singh Badal has started showing his political activities ahead of fast approaching assembly elections in Punjab. The former chief minister attended a rally organised by SAD at Bathinda on Sunday for seeking compensation to aggrieved farmers, whose cotton crop has been damaged due to pink bollworm attack. At his political best, Badal claimed that the cause of farmers’ is so dear that he and the party had not made such circumstances at the worst of the times in the past, which he and party has made now against the farm laws. The 93-year-old party patriarch claimed that as now, he has met people after long, he had added years to his life and will make a century of years. Before attending the party rally, Badal went to the rally of INLD supremo Om Prakash Chautala at Jind on September 25. The party says if the compensation is not provided to aggrieved farmers in a week, they would hold a protest at the residence of chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi. Badal said the BJP government at the Centre had committed “vishwasghaat” (betrayal) with him, his party and the farmers by going back on the assurances given about not converting the ordinances into acts without taking the farmers — the actual stake-holders — on board. These assurances had followed SAD’s public stance that it would oppose the bills and quit both the cabinet and the alliance if the government hustled the legislation through without taking farmers on board, said Badal. “I felt betrayed and pained when the bills were introduced. It brought back memories of how Jawaharlal Nehru went back on promises made to Master Tara Singh, of Indira Gandhi’s frequent flip-flops with us, and of Rajiv Gandhi’s betrayal of Sant Harchand Singh Longowal. But I thought BJP would be different.”

The Times of India

2021-10-04

Amritsar