In a letter that could trigger a new flash point in your ongoing five-month standoff with protesting farmers From Punjab, the Center has called on the state government to take action on the results of a BSF investigation that bonded migrant workers from Bihar and UP were employed on state farms and drugs were administered to extract long hours of work.
In the letter sent on March 17 to the Punjab Chief Secretary and DGP, the Ministry of the Interior (MHA) said that in 2019-20, the BSF detained 58 such workers from the border districts of Punjab.
The letter drew strong reactions from agricultural leaders protesting against the Center’s new agricultural laws. Jagmohan Singh, General Secretary of BKU Dakaunda and a member of the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC), accused the Center of trying to “smear the image of farmers”.
A senior Punjab police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed the content of the letter but described the findings as “implausible.”
Former NDA ally Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) said the letter was based on a “ridiculous assumption aimed exclusively at defaming farmers in the state.”
Referring to the 58 people “detained” by the BSF “from the border areas of Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Ferozepur and Abohar,” the Center’s letter reads: “During the course of the interrogation, it was learned that most of them had mental or in a weak mental state and they have been working as bonded laborers with farmers in the border villages of Punjab. The detainees are from poor families and come from remote areas of… Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. “
Raising the issue of human trafficking, the letter reads: “… the trafficking unions hire these workers from their place of origin to work in Punjab with the promise of a good salary, but after arriving in Punjab, they are exploited, poorly paid and subjected to inhumane treatment. To make them work long hours in the fields, these workers are often given medications that negatively affect their physical and mental condition. BSF has been handing over the rescued people to the state police for action ”.
Describing the issue as “multi-dimensional” and “overwhelming enormity,” he states that since it deals with human trafficking, bonded labor and human rights, “you are asked to investigate the matter and take action. appropriate measures to address this serious problem. ” .
He adds: “The actions taken in the matter can be reported to this Ministry with priority.”
When asked about the content of the letter, Jagmohan Singh said: “After calling us Khalistani and terrorists, the Union Government is playing another communal card. This survey, according to the MHA, was conducted by BSF in 2019-20 and it is surprising that they have sat on this report so far and written to the Punjab government only when the farmers’ turmoil is at its peak. “
Appealing to the MHA to withdraw the letter, Singh said: “We have an integral link with our workers. They want to create a difference between us and our Hindu immigrant workers from UP and Bihar who come every year to work all over the state. We will meet with the developing countries in the border districts of Punjab and convey our anger to them over this letter. We will produce migrant workers who work in the fields of these districts as proof. “
Harjeet Singh Grewal, the Punjab BJP contact person for farmers’ unions, described the letter as a “purely administrative matter” and said that “doing politics about this is not right.”
In a statement, former SAD MP Professor Prem Singh Chandumajra said: “Such letters from the Interior Ministry will also send the wrong signal to the entire country and create an atmosphere of confrontation.”
The senior police officer, meanwhile, expressed “surprise” at the content of the letter, saying that the issue “never came up in regular meetings” between the Punjab Police and BSF. “It seems like a crazy idea that bonded workers are brought in and often given drugs to improve their performance,” the officer said.
(With Kanchan Vasdev in Chandigarh)
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