ILL TREATMENT OF FARMERS BY PM MODI, SHAH MAY TRIGGER UNREST: RAUT

MUMBAI: Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday cautioned the central government over its handling of the ongoing farmers’ protests against three farm laws and said “the country has already experienced what happens when a spark of revolt was lit among the Sikh community”. In his weekly column Rokhthok in party mouthpiece Saamana, Raut said politics is driving the country towards instability.

He added that the ill-treatment of the farmers from Punjab by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah would spark unrest in the country. “Neither the PM nor our home minister have spoken. Modi and Shah are leading the country by occupying constitutional posts. Such a treatment of farmers from Punjab is sparking unrest in the country,” the Sena leader wrote.

On January 26, during the tractor rally by farmers, some groups of protestors deviated from the assigned routes, broke through the security barriers and clashed with security personnel in several parts of Delhi. They also vandalised property and entered the Red Fort, where they hoisted a religious flag.

Raut said the events of January 26 could have been avoided by the Centre. “The government engineered a split in the farmers’ protest. The infiltration at Red Fort was done to cause a split. Politics is driving the country toward instability. This needs to be stopped,” he said.

He further added, “The country has once experienced what happens when a spark of revolt is lit among the Sikhs. Therefore, linking the farmers’ stir to Punjab’s issues and causing unrest in Punjab should not happen.”

Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi also slammed the BJP. “Farmers being beaten up, honest journalists being jailed, genuine protests being discredited. This isn’t democracy but BJP’S democrazy (sic),” she tweeted.