CHANDIGARH: The protesting farmers from Punjab and Haryana have decided to ask leaders and candidates of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) 11 questions whenever they are out campaigning during the Lok Sabha elections.
Among this is a poser on what happened during their latest agitation for a guaranteed Minimum Selling Price:
"Why were the roads (to Delhi) blocked by digging them with iron rods? Who put up barricades, fired bullets and teargas shells on farmers during their agitation? Are we foreigners that we were not allowed to go to Delhi?"
The committee comprising of five Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) leaders -- Balbir Singh Rajewal, Prem Singh Bhangu, Ravneet Singh Brar, Angrej Singh and Baldev Singh Nihalgarh -- met in Chandigarh at the Kisan Bhawan and prepared a questionnaire for all the BJP candidates in the states.
Senior leader of SKM and President All India Kisan Federation, Prem Singh Bhangu and Harinder Singh Lakhowal president of BKU (Lakhowal), said that BJP is anti-farmer, anti-democratic, anti-federal and pro-corporate, and so it has to be stoutly opposed and exposed.
"It has no right to take the votes and should be opposed and questioned peacefully in a democratic way," said Bhangu.
The farmer leaders appealed to the people to cast their vote in favour of candidates who are in a position to defeat the BJP candidates.
They said the eleven questions will be sent to farmers in both the states.
In most villages, farmers have been putting up posters that read, "Farmers are barred from entering Delhi, BJP is banned from entering villages."
Another banner dedicated to young farmer Shubhkaran and pasted in several villages read, "What was my fault? I was merely coming to Delhi remind you (Modi government) of your promises."
Farmers are again at loggerheads with the Modi government after they gave a call for a ‘Delhi Chalo’ on February 13.
Many saffron party candidates like Preneet Kaur from Patiala, Hans Raj Hans from Faridkot, former ambassador to US Taranjit Singh Sandhu, who is standing from Amritsar in Punjab, and BJP MP and Rohtak candidate Arvind Sharma in neighboring Haryana as also Hisar candidate Ranjit Singh Chautala have faced farmers' protests.
The 11 questions
1. Why were the roads blocked by digging them with iron rods? Who put upbarricades, fired bullets and teargas shells on farmers during their agitation? Are we foreigners that we were not allowed to go to Delhi?
2. Why was the young farmer Shubhkaran killed by firing and made a martyr? Why were 400 farmers injured and their tractors damaged?
3. Why have you not implemented Dr MS Swaminathan's report? What is the problem in giving MSP legal status and fixing it as per C2 plus 50 percent?
4. Why Lakhimpur Kheri farmers have not been given justice and keeping Ajay Mishra Teny in the union cabinet.
5. Why were the cases registered against farmers during the agitation not withdrawn?
6. Why was farmers' debt not waived when you have not any difficulty in waiving the corporates huge debt?
7. Why was the Electricity Amendment Act presented in the Parliament despite promises that this will not be done?
8. Why was agriculture not kept out from the purview of the Pollution Act?
9. Why have you sold the country to corporates by way of corruption through Electoral bonds?
10. Why have Bhakhra and Pong Dams been snatched from Punjab by enacting the Dam Safety Act?
11. Why you are destroying the marketing system of Punjab by setting up Silos?
