'Don't upset Punjab farmers': Sharad Pawar to Centre, reminds consequences of the past

Amid the ongoing farmer's protests, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar urged the Central government to avoid upsetting the protesting farmers and advised them to handle the agitation sensitively as most of the farmers belong to the border state Punjab. On Saturday, while addressing a press conference in Pune, the NCP chief also recalled the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and the consequences that country faced in the past for a troubled community of Punjab. 

'Central government should not upset farmers': Sharad Pawar

"The central government should not upset farmers from Punjab, since it is a border state. In the ongoing agitation, the majority of farmers are from Punjab and it is a state on the border. If we make the states on the border unstable, then what are the ramification of it, that has been seen once before. The country has paid the price for a troubled Punjab. And, that price has been paid with the assassination of Indira Gandhi (former Prime Minister)," Pawar told ANI.

NCP chief Pawar's reaction came after a 35-year-old Dalit farmer was mutilated at the Singhu Border on Friday. 

Singhu Border Murder

On Friday morning, the body of 35-year-old named Lakhbir Singh was found hanging by 'a barricade near farmers' protest site'. Visuals from the site indicated that the man was attacked with sharp weapons and one of his hands was chopped off. The body was later taken for postmortem to a nearby civil hospital by the police. With several visuals of Nihangs claiming credit for the murder surfacing, Haryana Police initially detained two Nihangs for lynching and mutilating Lakhbir Singh. An FIR has been registered under sections 302 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). According to police, Lakhbir Singh was a Dalit Sikh labourer from Cheema Khurd village in Punjab's Tarn Taran district and was allegedly living with the Nihangs in their tent near the Singhu border.

Meanwhile, Samyukta Kisan Morcha has distanced itself from the incident and blamed the Nihangs for killing Lakhbir Singh.

Farmers Agitation

Since November 26, 2020, Farmers have been protesting at different sites against the Centre's enacted farm laws. The three Farm laws are:

• Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020
• Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and farm Services Act 2020 
• Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020

Despite, several rounds of talks held between Farmer leaders and the Centre, there has been no solution and the impasse remains.

(With ANI Inputs)