Bharat Bandh: Congress asks PM Narendra Modi to talk to agitating farmers

As farmers across the country held protests as part of the Bharat Bandh the Congress on Monday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to talk to agitating farmers and listen to their legitimate grievancesThe Congress also alleged that instead of redressing the grievances of farmers the government is trying to paint them as enemies of the country and that is why the farmers are protesting on the roadsThe Bharat Bandh was called by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha an umbrella body of 40 farm unions to demand repeal of three agri laws enacted by the CentreExpressing support for protesting farmers Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the farmers nonviolent satyagraha is still resolute but the exploitative government does not like this and that is why a Bharat Bandh has been calledAlso Read Bharat Bandh evokes lukewarm response in Andhra PradeshPosting rhyming lines in Hindi on Twitter Gandhi said Kisano ka ahimsak satyagraha aaj bhi akhand hai lekin shoshankar sarkar ko ye nahi pasand hai isliye aaj Bharat Bandh hai Farmers nonviolent satyagraha is resolute even today but the exploitative government does not like this and thats why it is Bharat Bandh todayCongress spokesperson Pawan Khera said farmers are facing angst and helplessness based on which they have called for the Bandh which his party wholeheartedly supportsWe have to stand unitedly with the farmers otherwise the future of our nation is dark he told reportersNoting that the country has seen many prime ministers and will see many more after Modi Khera said You cannot be arrogant when you are the prime ministerYou have to listen to your country and when 60 per cent of your country speaks please speak to them he saidYou have a strange confidence and a strange belief in your diversionary tactics and you are very confident that come elections and you will be able to distract the attention of the country again from the basic fundamental critical issues that the farmers face today But I am sorry this would not happen again the Congress leader claimedHe alleged that the government has imposed GST on agri equipment and as if this was not enough it went ahead without due process of consultations with stakeholders and bulldozed all democratic norms and parliamentary practices and brought these three black laws which the farmers are protesting againstKhera said the prime minister made a loud announcement and people took him seriously when he said on January 22 2021 that he is still a phone call awayThe farmers are still waiting for that phone call But instead of that phone call what has the prime minister his government and the party done is that they have tried to delegitimise the farmers of the country and they have tried to portray them as the enemies of the country he chargedInstead of engaging with them and telling them that we have gone wrong and we will correct and undo what we have done this is what the government is doing and that is why the farmers and angry and that is why they are agitating and are on the roads he told reportersKhera said each one of us irrespective of our occupation and political affiliation needs to support the farmers and only then will this government perhaps yieldHe also said that it is a pity that the country which is a civilisation and a civilisation which is the mother of democracies is given a lecture on democracy when we travel abroadIt is shameful for all of us he notedThe government and farmer unions have held 11 rounds of talks so far the last being on January 22 to break the deadlock and end the farmers protestTalks have not resumed following widespread violence during a tractor rally by protesting farmers on January 26The three laws The Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce Promotion and Facilitation Act 2020 The Farmers Empowerment and Protection Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act 2020 and The Essential Commodities Amendment Act 2020 were passed by Parliament in September last yearThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever