On July 2 (Friday) a group of protesting ‘farmers’ destroyed paddy from 1.5 acres of land that is owned by BJP leader Harjeet Singh Grewal in his native place in the Dhanaula village of Barnala district of Punjab. The so-called farmers, which included women, entered the BJP leader’s field on Friday afternoon, uprooted the paddy saplings and later ploughed the entire land with a tractor, thus destroying the entire transplanted crop.
#NewsAlert | Farmers uproot farms of a BJP leader in #Barnalla.
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) July 3, 2021
Details by Gurpreet. pic.twitter.com/88qLyEe3Eu
These ‘farmers’ under the banner of Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), made videos of the act and also raised anti-BJP slogans while destroying the crop.
Among those present at Friday’s protest were Balwant Singh Uppali, convener of Samyukta Kisan Morcha for Barnala district, Jagsir Singh Chhiniwal, president of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), Kadian, Karnail Singh Gandhi, president of BKU. Sidhupur, among other leaders.
After the incident, the Union leaders claimed they had only gone to talk to the farmer who had taken Grewal’s land on rent but some angry protesters damaged the saplings. They said that they had earlier warned farmers not to rent the BJP leaders land as he has always spoken in favour of the farm laws.
“We had appealed to the farmer to not work on Grewal’s land. However, he transplanted the paddy. When we visited for a talk today, the mob abruptly uprooted the saplings. We have no personal vendetta against the BJP leader but he should not use derogatory language against farmers,” said Balwant Singh Uppali, the convener of Samyukta Kisan Morcha for Barnala district.
‘Yeh aatanki, Congress aur Maowadi sab mile hue hain’: BJP leader Harjeet Singh Grewal tells OpIndia
Meanwhile, OpIndia got in touch with BJP leader Harjeet Singh Grewal to get his take on the entire incident. The BJP leader informed that a group of 100-200 people who called themselves farmers, entered the field on Friday afternoon. “At first, they hurled abuses while going live on social media. They destroyed the paddy crops and openly threatened and abused PM Modi and myself”, said Grewal, adding that these people are not farmers but terrorists.
He said: “Yeh aatanki (terroists) kisan, Congress aur Maowadi (Maoist) sab mile hue hain”, roughly translated as “these terrorists (farmers) are hands in gloves with Congress and the Maoists.
‘Farmers’ have the backing of Punjab police, alleges BJP leader
The BJP leader alleged that these people are being able to carry out such felonious activities with impunity because of the backing of Punjab police. He mentioned how difficult it was for him to file a police complaint against these miscreants, as the Punjab police, working at the behest of the Congress government in the state, were reluctant to register a complaint against them. It was only due to the intervention of higher authorities, that the case could be registered.
Punjab police reluctant to register complaints against these ‘farmers’: BJP leader Harjeet Singh Grewal
Speaking on how the entire system is in cahoots with these criminals, who identify themselves as farmers, Grewal informed that it was not only his complaint the Punjab police is unwilling to register any case against them. They have a free hand and can get away by doing whatever they want. They are not farmers but some sort of extortionists. They are a disgrace to society.
When asked whether the incident was a retaliation to his pro-farm law opinions, Grewal opined that in a democracy, everyone has the right to protest, but peacefully, definitely not by resorting to violence like these miscreants have been doing.
According to reports, the BJP leader has filed a complaint with the DGP of Punjab and also apprised Home Minister Amit Shah about the incident, who, in turn, also had a word with the DGP. An FIR has also been lodged in Dhanaula police station against the culprits,” said Grewal.
The BJP leader has also told The Indian Express that the incident would not have any financial impact on him as he had already got an annual contract of this land. The poor farmer, Nachhatar Singh, who took the 1.5 acres of land on rent is the one at loss, said Grewal, adding that he has assured Nachhatar that he will compensate him for his loss as it was not his fault and he is just a poor farmer.
“The loss will be that of Nachhatar Singh because I had already got an annual contract of this land. I have a total of 17 acres of family land in different patches, out of which paddy was transplanted only in this patch. This land in question belongs to my brother, who is in the UK. I have promised Nachhatar to compensate him for his loss as it was not his fault and he is just a poor farmer,” Grewal was quoted by The Indian Express as saying.
How these ‘Farmers’ have carried out rampant violence in the name of protest
This is not the first such incident where these so-called farmers have resorted to violent means in the name of agitating against the farm laws. The scars of the January 26 insurgency, when so-called farmers opposing Centre’s three agriculture bills marched into Delhi from various sites to lay siege to the Red Fort, have remained with the people.
After this tragic incident too, these ‘farmers’ refused to relent. On June 12, OpIndia reported how these protesting ‘farmers’ announced that they will stage ‘Raj Bhavan gherao’ across the country on June 26.
These are, of course, a few, of the many such incidents which have been carried out by these criminals disguised as farmers. In fact, details had emerged revealing how the very people who had instigated JNU violence and the Anti-Hindu riots in Delhi early this year are now fanning the ‘farmer protests’ along the Haryana-Punjab border. Furthermore, the Greta toolkit had also exposed how the anti-farm law protests in India is nothing but a systematic and well-planned conspiracy to destabilise India and dismantle the Indian democracy.
