NEW DELHI: Taking a veiled dig at the Centre, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said that, rather than using ‘lathis’ and firing tear gas on them, the debt of farmers should be paid by ensuring justice and rights for them.
The Congress leader also accused the Central government of lying on national television.
“Farmers are protesting on the streets, and lies are being spoken on TV! We are all indebted to the hard work of farmers. This debt can only be repaid by ensuring rights and justice for them. We should not reject their demands by beating them with ‘lathis’ and firing tear gas on them. Wake up, and accord the farmers their rights,” he tweeted (roughly translated from Hindi).
Yesterday, the Congress leader had slammed the Central government over the new farm laws and appealed to his party workers to provide food and help to farmers protesting against the new laws.
He asked why farmers are protesting if these “reforms” are in their interest. He had also tweeted a video in which he urged Congress workers to stand by farmers.
Farmers have been protesting at various places in Delhi and Haryana and have rejected the Central government’s offer to hold talks on December 3 saying that imposing conditions for starting a dialogue is an insult to them.
The farmers are protesting against The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.
Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has said that the Central government is ready for talks with the farmers’ unions on December 3.
