Farmers slam ministers for dodging dialogue
Farmers under the banner of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC) gathered at Bandala village to question Punjab Cabinet Minister Harbhajan Singh ETO over the recent police action against protesting farmers at the Haryana borders.
The protesting farmers alleged both the ministers and the Punjab Chief Minister have been avoiding them. They claimed that even during his visit to Bandala, Minister Harbhajan Singh deliberately evaded any interaction with the farmers to avoid addressing their concerns.
KMSC general secretary Sarwan Singh Pandher criticised the ruling party, stating, “It is strange that the cabinet ministers of the government are not willing to meet the public. In five different locations across the state, five ministers have avoided farmers.”
“It seems they have no answers to our questions, but we will continue to confront them at public events until they are ready to listen,” Pandher added. He accused the state government, led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, of adopting an autocratic approach.
He recalled the leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party had earlier promised to implement minimum support prices and even stood with farmers during their protests before forming the government. “Now, the same leaders are unwilling to even meet us,” he said. Pandher declared the agrarian community would persist in opposing the ruling party’s events until their demands are addressed.
The minister was visiting a government school in Bandala to inaugurate its boundary wall.
