NEW DELHI: National Conference MP Farooq Abdullah said on Tuesday the three farm laws are not like religious scriptures that cannot be changed and pleaded with the government to engage with protesting farmers to find a solution.
Participating in the discussion on Motion of Thanks to the President’s address, Abdullah said, “I want to make this request on the farmers’ issue. It is not a ‘Khudai kitaab’ (religious scripture) that we cannot make changes. We have made the law. If they want it to be scrapped, why can’t you speak to them and do what they want,” he said.
Abdullah invoked the “Indian parampara” to assert that those of the bygone era should be shown respect, adding that he was saddened to see NDA MPs question the stature of leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi.
Adding that they were one despite political differences, Abdullah said BJP should bear in mind that it too will occupy the opposition benches one day.
“That time, we will respect you more than you have respected us. God has made us all in the same flesh and blood…. This is our country and you have to respect us too….We are sitting here to find solutions, not create problems,” he added.
With the House listening in rapt attention, Abdullah urged the government to embrace the people of Kashmir and to not differentiate between people on the basis of their religious identities. “You think Ram belongs only to you? Ram belongs to the World. He belongs to all of us. It is the same way that Muslims have clasped the Quran to their chests. The Quran is for everyone,” he said.
He also called for the reunification of the bifurcated J&K and for a law to stop the “steal of the democratic mandate” and the “illegal purchase of elected members” that took place in the DDC polls.
BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri, who opened the discussion on motion of thanks to the presidential address, alleged that people sitting in protest on Delhi borders “are not farmers”. He said, “Those people are not farmers. They are leaders affiliated with the CPI and CPM. There are people who have been paid for by three chief ministers.”
He also said Congress was playing ‘Shakuni’ with farmers to mislead them into protesting against the three farm laws, adding that minimum support prices for crops had increased manifold under the Modi government. Bidhuri also said it was India’s “great fortune” to be led by a Prime Minister like Narendra Modi, a man, he said, with “divya Shakti” (divine powers).
While Bidhuri found support in BJP’s Rita Bahuguna Joshi, who argued that farmers would benefit from an open market, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav alleged Uttar Pradesh was not purchasing crops at minimum support prices.
Akhilesh also aimed a jibe at PM Modi’s use of ‘Andolanjivi’ against the protestors. “What shall we call those who go around collecting money these days? Are you not Chanda-jivi?”, he said. He also attacked the breakdown of law and order in UP, alleging that a “thoko neeti” (bump off policy) was at play in the state.
TMC’s Swagata Roy, on the other hand, said differences he had with the ruling party MPs were only over “policy and ideology”, adding that the government’s “divisive agenda” was wrong. Roy also took a dig at PM Modi and said that while he was happy to see him “shed tears” while bidding farewell to Congress MP Ghulam Nabi Azad from Rajya Sabha, he hoped the PM would should also show empathy for the 200 farmers who died around Delhi and the lakhs more sitting in protest at the national capital’s borders.
“Running down the ‘Andolan’ does not behove the PM. Shyama Prasad Mookherjee did not go to jail for even a day. Nehru, on the other hand, stayed in jail for 9 years. You don’t become a leader just like that. But BJP doesn’t have this legacy,” Roy said, saying that TMC did not approve of the name calling against protesting farmers.