Farmers under the banner of Bharatia Kisan Ekta (BKE) on Monday staged a protest and burned an effigy of former Haryana Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda at the Mini-Secretariat in Sirsa. The protesting farmers alleged that Hooda’s statement crediting Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party for the repeal of the three farm laws was an insult to the farmers’ movement and the farmers who lost their lives during the agitation.
Addressing the protesters, farmer leader Lakhwinder Singh Aulakh said farmers across the country had carried out a historic struggle against the three “black” farm laws introduced by the Central government. He said farmers had remained stationed at Delhi’s borders for 378 days, thousands faced police cases and around 750 farmers lost their lives during the agitation.
Referring to the Lakhimpur Kheri violence, Aulakh said roads had been “stained with the blood of farmers” during the movement. He added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had eventually announced the repeal of the farm laws on the occasion of Guru Nanak Dev’s Prakash Purb after prolonged protests and mounting public pressure.
Aulakh claimed that Congress leaders were now wrongly trying to take credit for the withdrawal of the laws. He questioned why farmers had to continue their protest for over 13 months if the Congress party alone was responsible for the repeal.
The farmer leaders also said no political party leaders were allowed to share the stage during the agitation and accused political parties of attempting to gain mileage from the sacrifices of farmers.
The protesters demanded a public apology from Hooda and warned that farmers would not tolerate any insult to those who participated in or died during the movement.
