In all-party meeting, AAP raises issue of providing security to farmers by Punjab Police

…..AAP walks out of meeting after Captain runs away from providing security to farmers

……Captain insensitive to farmer’s issues: Bhagwant Mann

…..AAP’s demand; Captain should meet Prime Minister and raise issue of farmers

Chandigarh, February 2, 2021

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) state president and MP Bhagwant Mann, Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Punjab Assembly Harpal Singh Cheema, MLAs Aman Arora and Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, participated in an all-party meeting convened by the Punjab government on the farmers’ agitation on Tuesday. Interacting with the mediapersons after the meeting, Bhagwant Mann said that the Aam Aadmi Party had stood by the farmers from the very beginning and in today’s meeting also, AAP had raised the issue of security of farmers sitting on the Delhi borders. He said the Aam Aadmi Party demanded that since the Delhi Police could harm the farmers by colluding with the BJP goons; CM Captain Amarinder Singh should deploy Punjab Police personnel for the protection of the farmers.

“The Chief Minister of the state is very insensitive towards the demands of the farmers and has been ignoring their every demand. It is on this issue that the Aam Aadmi Party decided to walk out of today’s all-party meeting,” said Mann. Harpal Cheema said that Captain Amarinder Singh had never taken the demands of the farmers seriously and had never sought time from the Prime Minister or the Home Minister on the issue of farmers. He said that the Chief Minister was always trying to evade by talking in the air but today the Aam Aadmi Party had directly asked him to clarify the date on which he was going to meet the Prime Minister regarding the farmers’ demand.

Cheema said currently the people of Punjab were feeling helpless on the borders of Delhi that no one was speaking in their favour. He said the BJP was sending its ‘goons’ to intimidate and attack the farmers and on the other hand, the Delhi Police as per their wish catches the farmers and registers false cases against them. “Thousands of youths have been arrested and sent to jail, while hundreds of youths still do not know where they are,” he said, adding that the Punjab government should set up a help desk there so that the people in problem could be addressed. Cheema further said that the representatives of all parties should be included in it.

He said that since November 26, 2020, the farmers had suffered a lot. Cheema said it was true that the farmers’ movement was apolitical but a meeting could be held with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah in this regard. “If an inquiry is opened against any member of the family, then they go to meet the Home Minister for that, but now when cases have been registered against thousands of people, no one went to meet him,” he added.

The AAP leaders said that in the last all-party meeting on June 24, it was proposed that the all-party delegation would meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but the promise was not fulfilled. “If he had met the Prime Minister then, things would have been different now. If Kahan Singh Pannu’s report had been considered then it would have been different today. Also, if the people had been informed at the time of the High Power Committee meeting, the mobilisation would have taken place at that time, and we would not have to see this day,” said the leaders.

They said that on one hand, the Modi government at the centre was promising the farmers that the stubble burning bill and electricity bill would not be introduced, but now as per the list of bills to be introduced in the Parliament, stubble burning was on number one and electricity bill at number 29. “The Aam Aadmi Party wanted to amend the resolution passed in the all-party meeting that it should also be noted that by this date, the Prime Minister should give time to meet the delegation, but our demand was not met,” added the leaders. They said that Captain Amarinder Singh had always tried to put the demands of the farmers on the back burner at the behest of Modi.