Pushing for a swift resolution of the farmers’ unrest, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh invoked the state’s troubled past to remind an all-party meeting here on Tuesday that protracted negotiations also over a list of Lawsuits led to Operation Blue Star in 1984, the Center’s Military Action at the Golden Temple.
“Underlining the need for an early resolution of the crisis,” said a government statement after the meeting, “the Chief Minister warned and said that the threat from Pakistan could not be undermined… We have to work to solve this problem before things are getting out of control, he said, adding that he knew how many drones, weapons and ammunition were being smuggled into the state from across the border. “
Recalling how, shortly after two months of negotiations on a previous crisis in Punjab, in relation to a list of some 42 demands, Operation Blue Star had occurred, the Chief Minister warned that “if anger rises here, it will be exploited”, the statement says. .
In Delhi, the opposition rallied to force the postponement of both Houses of Parliament due to ongoing farmer agitation. Among those who joined an Opposition meeting for the first time was the Akali Dal.
The Punjab CM was referring to the demands for autonomy raised by Akali Dal before militancy broke out in Punjab, leading to Operation Blue Star. These 42 demands included the transfer of Chandigarh, the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana, to Punjab; the transfer of its share of the irrigation waters of Haryana and Rajasthan; the declaration of Amritsar as a holy city; the establishment of a radio transmitter in the Golden Temple to broadcast the daily prayers; and the recognition of Sikhism as a separate religion by the Constitution. Various demands, including Amritsar as a holy city, were accepted when the violence got out of control.
Saying that the CM’s focus on security threats stemmed from its “awareness of the grave challenge to Punjab,” the Punjab government’s statement quoted it as saying that if there is no peace here, no industry will come.
While Akali Dal parted ways with her former ally BJP in September over farm laws, Tuesday was the first time she sided with the Opposition on the issue, having avoided his campaign so far, including the two meetings with President Ram Nath. Kovind.
Akali Dal Rajya Sabha MP Naresh Gujral attended the meeting held in the chamber of the opposition leader in the House, Ghulam Nabi Azad, to discuss the opposition strategy. Gujral told The Indian Express: “We are not part of any group. Azad said all parties seeking a separate discussion on the farmers issue are invited. So I went. It wasn’t just the Akali Dal. All the parties were there. The Aam Aadmi Party was there, the Samajwadi Party was there. They are not part of the UPA ”.
Farmers at the Singhu border protest site in New Delhi on Saturday.
When asked if Akali Dal will continue to coordinate with Congress and other opposition parties, Gujral said: “It’s just for one issue. It is based on problems. “
On what happened at the meeting, he said: “The discussion was about whether the Opposition should stop the House for the next four or five days or if we should give in. Because the government does not want a separate discussion on the issue of farmers. They are saying that we will begin the debate on the motion of thanks to the president’s speech and that all questions can be raised during the debate. So the question is whether we should abstain or if we should participate. My opinion was that we should participate because the farmer wants to listen to his representatives ”.
Congress said it had decided to offer legal support to farmers and journalists facing cases over coverage of the unrest, and Vivek Tankha held a meeting of heads of legal departments from Punjab, Haryana and Delhi. They will also “consider filing petitions in the Haryana High Court to challenge the systematic suspension of Internet services,” Tankha said in a statement.
The all-party meeting called by Amarinder Singh, which was boycotted by the BJP, demanded that the Center make the MSP “a statutory right” and continue to purchase grain through the Food Corporation of India and other similar agencies, as well as ahrtiyas. . He also sought to withdraw changes to environmental and electrical laws, which are part of the demands raised by farmers.
The parties, including Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, Akali Dal, Lok Insaaf Party, SAD Democratic Party, BSP, CPI and CPM, also demanded a judicial investigation into what they called “laxity” and ” complicity “of those responsible for maintaining law and order in the Red Fort, during the January 26 violence.
Calling the peasant turmoil “historic” and flaying the attempted “sabotage” on Republic Day, the resolution said that violence should not be used to victimize protesters or mediators. He demanded that the Center “withdraw all registered cases against farmers, agricultural workers, journalists and other peaceful agitators, and release all those detained” and that the “disappeared” be returned to their families.
Farmers on the Ghazipur border
Thanking BKU leader Rakesh Tikait for his role and Haryana farmers for their support, the parties sought dialogue “in accordance with the principles of cooperative federalism, respecting the constitutional role of the states and the people.”
The CM said that his government will re-introduce bills to deny the agricultural laws, as the governor had not sent the previous ones to the president for ratification. “The Constitution provides that if Vidhan Sabha passes a bill twice, the governor must send it to the president,” Amarinder said. He added that he would find time to meet with the president again on the issue and said he was constantly in contact with the Union Interior Minister Amit Shah.
State Congress Speaker Sunil Jakhar claimed “a major conspiracy” against Punjab, calling the barricades erected on Delhi’s borders and the new weapons with police to keep protesters out “appalling” as “appalling” the Chinese troops who were in the Galwan Valley. ”He accused the government of calling the farmers hooligans, terrorists, Khalistanis and anti-nationals from the start.
He also questioned the Sangh Parivar for raising a scandal over the Nishan Sahib in the Red Fort, saying that it had not allowed the national flag at its headquarters for decades.
Akali Dal leader Prem Singh Chandumajra sought an independent commission to expose “the entire conspiracy” behind the Red Fort violence.
Bhagwant Mann of the AAP also said that the Red Fort violence appeared to have been planned in advance and that the barricades suggested that Punjab farmers were sitting on the other side of a hostile border. The AAP withdrew after the CM rejected its demand that the Punjab police be deployed to protect farmers protesting at the Delhi borders as unconstitutional.
The meeting began with two minutes of silence in memory of those who died during the protests.
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