Violence unfortunate, concerns about new farm laws remain: CM
NEW DELHI: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said that the January 26 violence in the capital — during which groups of protesting farmers clashed with police — was “unfortunate”, even as he maintained that the incident does not put an end to concerns regarding the three contentious farm laws that were passed by the Centre in September last year.
“Farmers are distressed. Every party has cheated them for years. Now, it has become a question of survival for them after the government passed the three anti-farmer laws… What happened on January 26 was unfortunate. Those who are guilty should be punished. (And) I mean those who are responsible (for the violence) and not those against whom fake cases are being registered,” said Kejriwal, who is also the national convener of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), while addressing a gathering of party members in Delhi.
He further said, “But that incident does not put an end to the protests. The concerns still exist and we should all support farmers in a peaceful way. We cannot be a happy nation with unhappy farmers,” said Kejriwal.
Groups of farmers had clashed with Delhi Police on Tuesday, after a tractor rally organised as part of the larger protest against the contentious farm laws turned violent. The participants in the tractor rally allegedly violated designated routes leading to clashes between farmer groups and the police.
The violence left hundreds , including at least 394 police officials, injured. It has so far led to 25 cases being filed by the police with some of the first information reports (FIR) mentioning several farm union leaders, including those leading the larger protests at Singhu, Tikri and other prominent border points in the city.
On Wednesday, the AAP and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had blamed each other for the violence with both parties alleging that supporters of the other faction being involved in provoking farmers and instigating violence.
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. The AAP had voted against the three laws in both houses of the Parliament when they were passed in September.
Later on Thursday, the AAP also said that its MPS in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha would boycott the President’s budget speech at the Parliament scheduled on Friday, in solidarity with the protesting farmers.