Farmers burnt an effigy of PM Narendra Modi and set ablaze copies of three agri-ordinances

Jaswant Singh Gandam / Raman Nehra
India Post News Service

PHAGWARA: On the warpath against anti-farmers three agri-ordinances, activists of various farmers’ bodies burnt effigy of PM Narendra Modi and set ablaze copies of the ordinances here and at several other places in Punjab.

This was disclosed here by Satnam Singh Sahni, General Secretary, Bharatiya Kisan Union(Doaba) that spearheaded the protest at Phagwara. Modi government drew flak from all speakers at the rally and dharna held earlier by farmers at main grain market. They flayed indecent haste shown by Modi government in tabling the Bills related to ordinances in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha.

They said,” Modi government wanted to benefit Corporate houses with these ordinances. The government wanted corporatization of agriculture and pauperization of farmers, especially small and marginal farmers. It wanted to withdraw MSP and ruin mandi regime, thereby spelling doom for lakhs of farmers and rendering thousands of employees jobless. Agriculture is backbone of Punjab economy and we won’t allow Modi government to break this backbone with his dictatorial decrees.”

Then the slogan-shouting farmers converged on Phagwara-Hoshiarpur road and burnt effigy of PM Narendra Modi and set ablaze the copies of the ordinances. Some angry protesters vented their ire  by shoe-beating the effigy before making its bonfire.

Besides Sahni, farmers’ leader Kirpal Singh Mussapur, commission agents(arhtiyas) Association representatives Sarwan Singh Kular,Jaswinder Singh Ghuman addressed protesters. Meanwhile, on 15 September, thousands of farmers ,led by Manjit Singh Rai, President BKU(D),had blocked state and national highways, including GT road at Phagwara in  protest against the ordinances.

This was preceded by a ‘Lalkar’ rally here on 14 September. A group of farmers also staged a dharna outside Punjab Raj Bhavan at Chandigarh on 16 September. On 19 September, 30 farmers’ bodies held a joint meeting at Moga with Kulwant Singh Sandhu,General Secretary Jamhoori Kisan Sabha Punjab presiding over it.

The meeting chalked out several stringent measures for stepping up the ongoing stir, including a call for Punjab Bandh on 25 September to demand roll back of the three ordinances as well as Power Bill-2020.