To tackle ‘misinformation’, print farm laws in Punjabi: senior BJP leader Avinash Rai Khanna writes to Tomar

Vibha Sharma

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Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 9

With farmers’ organisations continuing and also threatening to intensify agitation against the new farm laws, senior BJP leader from Punjab Avinash Rai Khanna has given an interesting suggestion to Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar – print the three farm Acts in local language, Punjabi, and distribute them via the government set-up in order to remove all “misconceptions”.

In his letter to Tomar, Khanna wrote that “misinformation is being spread regarding the Acts by the Opposition”, the root cause of which was that only copies printed in English and Hindi were available.

“It is because of this very reason that whatever the Opposition tells them, farmers believe it and participate in agitations against the laws,” wrote the former BJP vice president.

“Keeping this in mind it is important that the laws are printed in Punjabi in the government press and distributed among organisations and institutions in Punjab via the government set-up so that farmers of Punjab know the truth and they are able to see through the Opposition lies,” said Khanna.

This will also help the ‘sangathan’ (BJP cadres) make farmers understand the laws in a better way, Khanna added.

Notably, farmers in Punjab have rejected the Centre’s offer to initiate a dialogue and resolve the issue. The unions have also warned Capt Amarinder Singh’s government in Punjab  that they would hold protests outside the houses of state Congress leaders unless the government calls a special Assembly to repeal the agriculture Laws passed by the Centre.

The Opposition, primarily the Congress, is hopeful the Centre will be forced to give in under the sustained pressure just like it had in 2015 when facing backlash the Narendra Modi government agreed to drop most of the contentious amendments in the Land Acquisition Act of 2013.

While that came as a victory for the Opposition, this time BJP leaders are firm that there is “no scope” of such a thing happening with the farm laws.