SAD is proud of its sacrifices for farmers

Harsimrat Kaur Badal

Former Union Minister

FOR almost a year now, the beleaguered farmers of the country have been agitating against the three black laws which we feel put the big corporate houses in charge of the farmers’ destiny. Even as the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has stood by the patriotic farmers in their just struggle, attempts are being made, chiefly by the Congress and AAP, to negate the SAD’s role in this struggle. Interestingly, these are the parties that had run away from opposing these laws in Parliament. Incidentally, the basic draft of these Acts is based on recommendations made by a high-powered committee of which nine Chief Ministers, including Capt Amarinder Singh, were members. Capt Amarinder had deputed his Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal to represent him, who went along with the recommendations to make these laws.

Earlier, a committee of experts, including Congress’ economic ideologue Montek Singh Ahluwalia, had recommended the same structure of agricultural marketing as contained in these laws. Thus, the system which these laws bring into force is actually co-authored by the Congress and the BJP. That is why Capt Amarinder, through his nominee, endorsed these ideas in the committee comprising CMs or their representatives. Besides, both AAP and the Congress have already implemented many operative portions of these laws in Delhi and Punjab, respectively.

Before the Narendra Modi government introduced these Bills, it had promulgated an ordinance to the same effect. I was then a member of the Union Cabinet. When I raised concerns and asked that the stakeholders in these laws — the farmers — be taken on board, I was assured that since the ordinance was only a temporary measure, the concerns of the farmers would be addressed before making laws on the subject. I have stated this several times in my public utterances. To this day, no one in the government has contradicted my claim. But those who have no way of knowing what transpired between me and the rest of the government in closed-door meetings seem to know better! They keep parroting preposterous lies that the Bills wouldn’t have been a reality if I had not supported these in the Cabinet.

Even if, for argument’s sake, someone were to accept their allegations, these still don’t make any sense to anyone familiar with how Bills are passed and laws enacted in the country. First of all, the Cabinet has no power to make laws. It is not a legislative body. Thus, the Bills are not passed by the Cabinet. They are presented, debated, voted, passed and made in Parliament in the most transparent process possible. No one can support a Bill and not be found out. It was in Parliament where I and my party stood up and fought till the very end to oppose the Bills. No one else and no other party even entered the ring. History will reveal that only two MPs in the country opposed and voted against these Bills: Sukhbir Singh Badal and Harsimrat Kaur Badal.

History will also reveal that this was the first time ever in independent India that a Union Minister quit the Cabinet to stand by the farmers. Unfortunately, those who never tire of venting their spleen against us shirked their responsibility and played the hypocrites — running with the hare and hunting with the hounds. Both the Congress and AAP openly defied a formal “people’s whip” issued by kisan organisations which said that no political party should either boycott or abstain from voting against these Bills in Parliament. I leave it to farmers and the Samyukt Kisan Morcha to see who defied their ‘whip’ and why.

Isn’t it bizarre that instead of acknowledging our broad-daylight fight against these black laws, those who ran away from standing by the farmers are questioning us on our role, asking us why did we justify the Bills in public before voting against these?

What we did was this: we said that both sides sit across the table and find a solution through talks. Simultaneously, SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal kept publicly asking the Prime Minister to bring the real stakeholders in the Bills, the farmers, on board and talk to them. He also held a meeting with the farmers’ unions, and while he advocated negotiations, he assured them that when a line would finally be drawn, the SAD would stand right beside the farmers. “You ask me to lead the fight, and I will lead the fight. You ask me to follow you, and I will follow you. SAD will do exactly what you tell us to do on the democratic path. But don’t give our opponents the opportunity to say that farmers don’t believe in talks,” he told the representatives of farmers’ bodies. This was in full public view and is on record.

And even while suggesting negotiations to break the deadlock, Sukhbir Badal categorically assured them that finally, if the government didn’t accept the farmers’ demands, the SAD would quit the Cabinet and oppose and vote against the Bills in Parliament. That’s exactly what we did.

Actually, even our opponents know all this. The Congress and AAP are making noises just to divert attention from their own betrayal of farmers during the passage of these laws. We did what we had promised: I resigned from the Cabinet and the SAD broke its alliance with the BJP — all to stand by the suffering farmers. What does any other political party have to show for its sacrifices for the farmers?

In the final analysis, we as a party are very, very proud that we quit the Cabinet to stand by our brethren farmers. That my resignation doesn’t suit either the Congress or AAP narratives is immaterial to me: what matters is that it promoted the farmers’ narrative. It demonstrated in actual deed that a fully responsible, democratic party, having full faith in constitutional norms, is fighting alongside the farmers and deems their cause just and important for the entire country.

In retrospect, I believe this was the hour for which God had put me in the Cabinet in the first place. I see my role as predestined by God to re-emphasise the long history of SAD’s sacrifices for Punjabis in general and farmers in particular.

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