December 18, 2020 4:42:31 am
Tomar said political parties, who have lost ground, have misled farmers by telling them that their land will be taken away under the new laws.
With farmers’ unions rejecting the concessions he proposed to end their opposition to the new farm laws, the Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Thursday criticized opposition parties and others for backing the protests to turn “innocent farmers … puppets of their politics.”
In an open letter to farmers protesting at the gates of Delhi, Tomar said that those who stop trains carrying supplies to soldiers at the borders, especially at a time when the situation in Ladakh is “challenging”, cannot be farmers.
The minister, who has been leading the government’s talks with farmers’ unions, also referred to the call for a boycott of “Indian products”; some unions had called for a boycott of the products of the Ambani and Adani groups.
“At a time when the country is moving forward with its determination of Atmanirbhar Bharat and the voice is turning local, the intention of these people who have called for the boycott of Indian products must be identified,” he said.
The letter from Tomar was retweeted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who said the minister had expressed his feelings and tried to have a humble conversation (vinamra samvad) with the farmers. He asked all the “annadatta” to read the letter and urged compatriots to get it to as many people as possible.
In his 8-page letter in Hindi, Tomar said: “When the security situation at the Leh-Ladakh borders is challenging and the snowfall is many feet high, those who stop the trains carrying supplies to the soldiers at the borders they cannot be farmers. “
“Because of these people, we have to transport supplies and other essential goods to our troops by air and other means,” he said.
Without naming any organization or political party, he recalled the situation during the Sino-Indian War of 1962. “The ideology of these people, who are deceiving farmers by hiding behind the curtains, was not with the country even during the War of the 62. Today, these people speak the language of the 62 again, ”he said.
He said farmers should think about what their goal was when they started their movement and what was happening today.
He urged them not to be fooled and to think on the basis of the facts. “It is the duty of our government to eliminate all your doubts and answer all your queries,” he said.
Tomar said political parties, who have lost ground, have misled farmers by telling them their land will be taken away under the new laws.
“Congress did not implement the Swaminathan Committee report for 8 years, how can Congress be a supporter of farmers? Why have the UPA government ministers, who used to write letters in favor of these reforms, turn 180 degrees now? ” he said.
“The Aam Aadmi Party wrote in its Punjab election manifesto that it will give farmers the possibility to sell their products outside the mandi, why is it now speaking out against it?” He said.
He said SAD leaders were part of the Hooda committee that recommended agricultural reforms, but now oppose these laws.
He also questioned why the agricultural unions, which supported these reforms until two or three months ago, suddenly opposed them.
The Tomar letter comes at a time when high-ranking ministers and BJP leaders are mobilizing support for new farm laws and attacking the Opposition for “misleading” farmers.
The sources said the Union Interior Minister Amit Shah and Tomar, along with BJP General Secretaries Arun Singh, CT Ravi and Dushyant Gautam, held a meeting on Thursday in which they reviewed the party’s movements so far. about the topic.
.
