They are insulting farmers by setting fire to the very equipment they worship, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Tuesday, launching a cold-blooded defense of farm laws and attacking opposition a day after members of the Punjab unit Youth Congress set up a burning tractor on Rajpath near the India Gate lawn in the heart of Delhi.
Large groups of farmers, particularly in Punjab and Haryana, continue to protest against the new laws, fearing that deregulation will leave them vulnerable to powerful agribusinesses and in an even weaker bargaining position than before. The reforms have cost the Bharatiya Janata Party one of its oldest allies, the Shiromani Akali Dal, who has left the ruling alliance.
Prime Minister Modi accused the opposition of being against the independence of farmers, noting that it has become a custom for these people to oppose everything that is happening in the country. It is the only way they can practice their politics, the prime minister said.
“A few days ago with the new laws, the country has freed its farmers from many shackles. Now the farmer can sell his produce to anyone, anywhere. But today, even when the central government is giving farmers their rights, these people have come to protest and oppose farmer independence. These people are now humiliating farmers by setting fire to the goods and equipment they worship, ”said the prime minister when launching six mega-projects in Uttarakhand via videoconference.
The government’s new agricultural laws have become controversial for two reasons: one, they do not guarantee the purchase of agricultural products at the minimum support price (at least, not by letter); and two, the way they were driven, by a dubious voice vote, ignoring calls for parliamentary oversight, even voting.
Opposition parties are protesting, the prime minister said, because “another means of earning black money has been blocked,” implementing the Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations: Farmers get the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for their crops and eliminate to intermediaries.
“A party whose four generations of a family ruled the country, today wants to demonstrate its selfishness by climbing on the shoulders of others, opposing all initiatives related to the national interest,” he said.
Prime Minister Modi said that during the Covid-19 pandemic, the country experienced a boom in the digital India campaign, “even the poor used Jan Dhan bank accounts, used the RuPay card and made digital transactions.”
“When our government started this work, these people opposed and have always opposed the opening of the bank account of the country’s poor,” he said.
Highlighting another instance, the prime minister raised the issue of protests by opposition parties against the tax on goods and services and against central government initiatives such as the One Rank One pension plan.
“Since the implementation of One Rank-One Pension, the government has handed over around Rs 11,000 crore as arrears to the former military. Here in Uttarakhand, more than one lakh of former military personnel have benefited from this. But these people (opposition parties) were always against the introduction of One Rank One Pension, ”Modi said.
The prime minister said that opposition parties even protested against the introduction of Rafale Jets into the Indian Air Force, which has been done to strengthen the security forces.
“Four years ago, our jaws carried out the surgical blows and destroyed the bases of terror. But instead of praising the courage of our security personnel, the Opposition asked for evidence of surgical strikes. It has become a habit of these people to oppose everything that is happening in the country. The only way to do politics that they know now is the opposition, “added the Prime Minister.
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