36 panchayats in Abohar district vow to oppose farm laws

Our Correspondent

Abohar, November 2

Hundreds of members of 36 panchayats of nearby villages today took a pledge to oppose the three anti-farmer “black laws”, passed by the Central Government recently, during a rally at Maujgarh village on the Abohar-Sriganganagar highway.

They decided to participate in a door-to-door drive from tomorrow to apprise people in the rural area about the economic damage the new laws could cause to farmers, farm workers and grain market labourers.

District Youth Congress former president Sandeep Jakhar said the BJP-led government was discriminating against Punjab farmers, who made the highest contribution to the country’s granary.

The Centre had refused to withdraw the laws and was not keen on running goods trains even after the tracks had been cleared, he said. As a result, the cost of DAP and urea was set to rise, affecting wheat sowing, which starts on November 5, as well as hundreds of fruit orchards in the region.

“Instead of accepting PPCC chief Sunil Jakhar’s challenge for an open debate, senior BJP leaders were trying to vitiate the atmosphere by claiming the farmers’ movement was being run by middlemen, Naxals and trade union leaders,” he said.

Taking a dig at the Akali Dal, Jakhar said Harsimrat Kaur Badal was a Union Minister when the Central Minister drafted the anti-farmer laws and passed these in the Cabinet. But neither she, nor SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal spoke against these.

Others who addressed the gathering included Market Committee chairman Surinder Bishnoi, former Housefed chairman Sukhwant Singh Brar and veteran leader Balbir Singh Danewalia.