The BJP’s national secretary general and the state unit in charge of Uttarakhand, Dushyant Kumar Gautam, alleged on Sunday that the farmers’ protest had been hijacked by extremist elements and claimed that the slogans in favor of Khalistan and Pakistan were proof of this.
He made the claims while addressing the media in Dehradun during his first visit to Uttarakhand after being appointed as the unit in charge of the state along with Rekha Verma, the new co-head of the state unit.
“The farm laws are for the whole country, but why are the protests only in Punjab? People in the protests have raised slogans from Khalistan Zindabad and Pakistan Zindabad. How can you call it a protest then? Gautam said.
“Extremist elements have taken over the protest and are raising slogans for those who are anti-national forces.”
When asked where the slogans in favor of Khalistan and Pakistan were raised, he said: “You can see it in the videos circulating on social media.”
Gautam also said that law enforcement agencies will soon arrest those raising such slogans. “It will happen at the appropriate time after a thorough investigation.”
He also attacked Congress and accused it of instigating peasant protests to “incite riots.”
“There are congressional workers in the protest and not farmers. They do it to incite riots, as it is the party that developed after the 1947 riots and then took over after the anti-Sikh riots of 1984. Now they also want to do the same thing that feeds on the riots, “he said. Gautam.
He then praised the new farm laws saying they are for the development of farmers.
“The laws are to increase your income and free you from the clutches of middlemen. We will never go against the farmers because they are our brothers. It was our government that solved the problem of urea supply and acquired the maximum production at MSP in Punjab, ”Gautam said.
Congress has refuted Gautam’s accusations and accused the BJP of “painting any protest against him in anti-national or terrorist colors.”
“Whenever there is a massive protest against their government, they call in anti-national, terrorist or Naxal protesters. They have also done the same in this farmers’ protest by calling Punjab farmers Khalistani terrorists, which is shameful, ”said Suryakant Dhasmana, vice president of Congress in Uttarakhand.
He said: “When our brothers from Punjab fight for the country in the army and give their lives, the BJP hails them as martyrs and when they fight for their own rights, they call them terrorists. How is this justifiable? ”
Dhasmana also dismissed Gautam’s accusations that Congress is involved in the protests.
“Congress is supporting protesting farmers but is not involved in it. There is not a single flag of Congress among the protesters. It is the farmers who are speaking out against the black agricultural laws that they never asked for ”.
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