Farmer stir: AAP's district unit participates in dharna

Ludhiana:  The district unit of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) under the leadership of Jagraon MLA Bibi Sarabjit Kaur Manuke participated in the district level 'dharna' today in response to the call given by farmers against the central agricultural laws enacted by the Modi government at the Centre. He was accompanied by Suresh Goyal and other local leaders of the party.

Sarabjit Kaur Manuke on the occasion said that when the entire leadership of Aam Aadmi Party started raising a pitch against the agriculture related ordinances in June this year, pushed by the central government, it (AAP) had been opposing them since then as they were designed to encroach upon the legitimate rights of the farmers.

The AAP leader said that on the guidelines issued by Aam Aadmi Party's national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister, everyone from the level of volunteers to leaders had been participating in the ongoing peasant struggle like their 'sons and sevadars' without using any party's flag to leverage it further their political aspirations, saying that it was a decisive battle to save the existence of agriculture and farmers in the state, which, he said, was possible only when each and every citizen of the country stood behind them, united.

The leader further said that the movement was not confined to agriculture sector or farming, it was a decisive struggle to safeguard the economic interests of every class and category, saying that the state and country's economy revolved around agriculture. He said that if the interests of the farmers were not protected we won't be able to save the interests of other sections of society associated with agriculture and it was imperative upon us to protect it.

Cursing Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and the Badal clan, the AAP leader said "If these so-called 'messiahs' of the farmers had taken a clear stand against these black laws from day one, the Modi government would not have dared bring in these laws under brute force. He said that the wishy-washy stand adopted by both Captain and Badal together in cahoots with the Modi government, had caused a huge financial losses to the farmers of Punjab.

She said that all MLAs, MPs, seniors and local leaders and a large number of activists of the party, including Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab state unit Bhagwant Mann, were on hunger strike today (Monday) in support of the farmers' call.