NEW DELHI: Minister of Defense Rajnath singh On Wednesday he said it is regrettable that terms like “Khalistani” and “Naxal” have been used to describe farmers who are agitating against the new farm laws, saying that farming communities are “annadatas” (food donors) and deserve the greater respect.
Singh’s comments in an interview with the ANI came after ministers alleged that left-wing and Maoist elements had “infiltrated” the agitation against agricultural laws, pointing to the demands for freedom of people accused of being members of Outlawed Maoist groups, which were raised by a section of agricultural unions.
Singh said he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were hurt by the ongoing demonstrations, and said that it is not about being insensitive towards farmers. “We express our deepest respect for them. Our heads bow in respect to our farmers. They are our ‘annadatas’,” he said.
However, the defense minister advised agitating farmers to stay away from people using derogatory remarks against Modi. “Personally, it hurt me to see some of the protesters shouting slogans like ‘Mar Jaa’ for the prime minister. It was disappointing to see that the prime minister’s president is an institution and represents the whole country,” Singh said. He suggested that farmers should be considerate and agree to a logical debate on each clause of farm laws.
When asked about describing the agitators as “naxales” or “khalistanis”, the minister said such accusations should not be made at all. “No one should make these accusations against farmers … In times of economic recession, farmers have taken responsibility for getting the economy out of trouble. They are the backbone of the economy,” Singh said.
He said the government has been working to increase farmers’ incomes through farm laws and that the prime minister was concerned about the issue ahead of the 2014 election campaign.
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