Citing the burning of a tractor, PM Modi attacked those who oppose agricultural laws.
New Delhi:
“Opponents of farm laws are insulting farmers,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today, attacking the opposition a day after Punjab Youth Congress workers set fire to a tractor near India Gate in the heart of Delhi during protests against controversial agricultural laws. that have sparked widespread unrest in several states.
“Various reforms, related to farmers, workers and health, were introduced during the recently concluded session of Parliament. These reforms will strengthen the nation’s workers, youth, women, farmers. But the nation can see how some people are opposed just for the sake of that, “Prime Minister Modi said as he inaugurated development projects in Uttarakhand via video conferencing.
“They are insulting farmers by setting fire to the machines and equipment they worship,” he said.
The Prime Minister accused those who were against agricultural laws of “misleading farmers” about the minimum support price or MSP. “There will not only be MSP in the country, but also the freedom for farmers to sell their products anywhere. But some people cannot tolerate this freedom. Their other means of earning black income is over,” he said.
A tractor was set on fire near the Gateway of India on Monday morning, a few hundred meters from Rashtrapati Bhavan and the parliament. The Punjab Youth Congress took responsibility for the burning of the tractor.
“We have to make noises and make the right kind of noises … We are not in the government. We can only fight in the streets. We are street fighters,” Brinder Dhillon, president of the Punjab Youth Congress, told NDTV. “This was the only way we could have made the government hear deaf and dumb,” he said, justifying the act.
Five people, all from Punjab, were arrested and the car they were traveling in was seized.
Over the past few weeks, there have been protests by farmers and opposition parties over the controversial agricultural laws that were passed in parliament last week.
The BJP accused Congress of trying to “mislead” the peasants and said that the opposition party has “embarrassed” the country with “drama” aimed at “gaining publicity.”
The government has claimed that the new laws will free farmers from the clutches of middlemen and allow them to sell their products anywhere they want at a remunerative price.
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