Punjab: Farmer Stir Could Take a Dangerous Turn
Asia News Agency
There were reports of violence Wednesday by Khalistani elements on the Punjab-Chandigarh border, seeking to highjack the movement of ‘protesting farmers’. Farmers of Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh had fought against the farm laws that they feared would dismantle the minimum support price regime and got the Union Government to accede to their demands. The Tribune notes that “since 2014, it is the only instance of a protracted popular movement that was wholly successful in making the Central Government eat crow. However, with great success comes great responsibility.”
Their “achievements and attributes are being squandered by a few who are turning some farmer groups into the vanguard of a communal and radical agenda.
One of there issues is the demand is “to get militancy-era convicts languishing in jail released….If Shiromani Akali Dal wants to turn the convicts’ release into a political issue, it is most welcome to do so. But the farmers should not lose their credibility by lending their platform to a failed Opposition. On its part, the Punjab Government should understand that the radical fire will first singe the state before spreading elsewhere…”
