News Analysis India

Tag: Haryana CM

  • One has freedom to agitate, not to spread anarchy: Haryana CM Khattar in R-Day address

    By PTI
    CHANDIGAR: In an apparent reference to the farmers stir against the Centre’s new farm laws, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Tuesday said one has the freedom to agitate, but not to spread anarchy.

    In his Republic Day address after hoisting the tricolour during a function in Panchkula, Khattar said the Constitution talks about rights, but these rights do not give us the “freedom to do anything”.

    All citizens have to abide by the Constitution, he said.

    Without directly mentioning about the farmers protest, the chief minister said, “We are a democracy… On Republic Day, we got our Constitution. The Constitution makers talked about various rights with which we can make our lives happier. But I want to remind one thing that under the Constitution, both our rights and duties have been mentioned.

    “… Our rights do not mean that we can do anything, there are some limits. And through these limits, we should remember that the Constitution which we have accepted, it becomes our responsibility to abide by it,” he said.

    Khattar also cautioned against exercising the fundamental rights without taking into account the duties that come with them.

    “We have right to freedom of speech and expression and we must use it, but that does not mean we will use it to abuse anyone. We should not hurt anyone”s sentiments or insult anyone. We have the freedom to live our lives, but this does not mean we will do any such act which causes harm to anyone else”s life.

    “Therefore, while we have the freedom to do agitation, it does not mean we have freedom to take this agitation to anarchy,” he asserted.

    Notably, the Haryana CM has been targeted by farmer unions for supporting the new farm laws enacted by the Centre in September last year.

    Earlier this month, protesters had vandalised the venue of the kisan mahapanchayat the chief minister had planned to address in support of the laws in Karnal.

    Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at several Delhi border points since November 28, demanding a complete repeal of the three farm laws and a legal guarantee on minimum support price (MSP) for their crops.

    During his Republic Day address, Khattar touched upon several “pro-farmer” initiatives taken by the BJP-led state government over the past six years.

    “As far as procurement is concerned, Haryana is one such state which is procuring nine crops on its own at MSP. No other state has done so. In addition to wheat and paddy, be it cotton, bajra, maize, groundnut or moong, we are procuring these crops at MSP,” he said.

    Under the ”Mera Pani Meri Virasat’ crop diversification scheme, the CM, said 80,000 acres of land under paddy cultivation have been given up and farmers were now sowing other crops.

    He said the state has taken several steps to ensure that farmers get payment of their crops directly into their bank accounts, adding that 50 per cent of peasants were availing this benefit.

  • AAP leader compares police action on farmers to Jallianwala Bagh episode, calls Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar General Dyer

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: AAP’s Punjab unit co-incharge Raghav Chadha on Monday compared Haryana Chief Minister ML Khattar to British General Reginald Dyer, a day after the state police fired teargas shells on a group of farmers protesting the Centre’s new farm laws.

    Haryana Police on Sunday evening fired teargas canisters to thwart a march of a group of agitating farmers towards Delhi at Masani barrage in Rewari district.

    “I was reminded of April 13, 1919, when General Dyer ordered opening fire on innocent group of people who had congregated at Jallianwala Bagh,” Chadha said.

    “Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar is ordering the use of tear gas, open firing and lathicharge on our farmer brothers who are only fighting for their rights. I believe his actions can only be compared to those of the ruthless General Dyer,” Chadha said, referring to the officer held responsible for the massacre.

    He further claimed that the governments of BJP-ruled states are treating farmers like the “enemy of the state”.

    “The shocking visuals of our farmer brothers being attacked with teargas and water cannons made it appear as if this was an India-Pakistan war,” Chadha said.

    Talking about the ongoing farmers’ movement, where each meeting between the farm unions and the Centre is reaching a stalemate, Chadha said the farmers have been fighting for their rights at Singhu and Tikri borders for 40 days now.

    “More than 50 of our farmer brothers have died, have given the supreme sacrifice, while fighting for their rights for more than a month. I appeal to the Narendra Modi government to not make this a battle of prestige or ego,” he said.