Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Chandigarh, The Punjab Congress President Mr Partap Singh Bajwa today strongly condemned the inaction of the Gujarat government to protect the Punjabi farmers settled in that state from the land mafia which had renewed efforts to uproot them in league with the administration. He slammed the Chief Minister Mr Parkash Singh Badal for turning a deaf ear to this longstanding problem of these farmers there.
He said it was the then Gujarat Chief Minister and now the Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi who was responsible as it was during his tenure that the state government had went in for appeal to the Supreme Court against the relief given by the high court to these farmers. The petition is currently pending in the apex court. These farmers are rightful owners of their land and the Gujarat Government ought to withdraw their appeal which is currently pending before the Hon’ble Supreme Court.
He pointed out that these farmers had been invited to be settled there way back in 1965 and they turned the barren lands into cultivable land through sheer hard labour. However, now for the last several years, they were facing the threat of being uprooted under the law enacted by the Gujarat government. It is pertinent to indicate that a special three judge’s bench of the Gujarat high court had ruled in favour of the farmers.
He said the Akali Dal was part of the alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party but still this issue continued to linger as Mr Badal has failed to impress upon the Gujarat government to withdraw its petition from the Supreme Court challenging the high court verdict.
He said the land mafia had become active once again and what was all the more shocking was the administration had registered cases against the victims who had been attacked.
He said the worst fears of the BJP coming into power at the centre were coming out true as the minorities have been repeatedly under attack since the change in regime at the centre.
He questioned the silence of Mr Badal and his Gujarat counterpart on this serious issue.
He said that the BJP Government in Gujarat is deliberately creating an environment of insecurity in pursuance of their parochial politics with an objective to usurp the land belonging to the Punjabi farmers and thereafter providing this land to corporate companies. This politics of divisiveness practiced by the BJP in Gujarat is antithetical to the idea of India and will have serious repercussions on the secular fabric of our country.
The culprits responsible for these acts must be immediately apprehended and strict legal action must be taken he said
