‘Made you PM, never thought…’: Farmer leader calls out Modi over ‘Delhi Chalo’ protest

Farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher on Wednesday appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to not “oppress” the farmers protesting against the government over the MSP demand.

Pointing out that farmers made Modi the Prime Minister of India, he warned that the country will not forgive the BJP-led Centre.

“We have told the government that you can kill us but please don’t oppress the farmers. We request the Prime Minister to come forward and put an end to this protest by announcing a law on the MSP guarantee for the farmers,” he said.

Pandher, who is coordinating the massive protest, claimed paramilitary personnel have been deployed in villages in Haryana to halt their march.

“The country will not forgive such a government…There are paramilitary forces deployed in the villages of Haryana…What crime have we committed?…We have made you the Prime Minister. We never thought that the forces would oppress us this way…Please protect the Constitution and let us peacefully head towards Delhi. This is our right,” he said.

He promised that the protest will remain peaceful.

“We tried our best from our side. We attended the meetings, every point was discussed and now the decision has to be taken by the central government. We will remain peaceful…The Prime Minister should come forward and accept our demands. ₹1.5-2 lakh crore is not a huge amount…We should be allowed to remove these barriers and march towards Delhi…”

Yesterday, Sandhu announced that the farmers would resume their ‘Delhi Chalo’ protest from the Punjab-Haryana Shambhu border. He made the remark hours after the farmers rejected the Centre’s proposal of procuring pulses, maize and cotton at MSP by government agencies for five years.

The Central government has estimated that more than 1200 tractors and 14000 farmers are present at the Shambhu border.

The farmers, who faced teargas shells lobbed by the police last week in Haryana, have come fully geared up to breach the barricades. They have brought bulldozers, JCB machines and heavy machinery to break through the police cordon.

They have fashioned the bulldozers in such a way that those operating the machines don’t get hit by pellet guns used by the police to quell the agitation.

The farmers have also brought along gas masks to negotiate with teargas attacks.

The police have also come fully prepared. Apart from loaded trucks, buses, barricades, iron barbed wires and nails, they are also using loaded shipping containers to stop their advance.

The police have also extensively used concrete to bolster the barricades.

Around 8,000 personnel have also been stationed at the Tikri, Singhu and Ghazipur borders in Delhi.