Tag: Rattan Lal Kataria

  • Singhu lynching: SKM cannot escape responsibility for what happened at site: Union Minister Kataria

    By PTI

    CHANDIGARH: Strongly condemning the gruesome killing of a man at the Singhu border, senior BJP leader and former Union minister Rattan Lal Kataria on Saturday said the Samyukt Kisan Morcha cannot escape from the responsibility for what happened at their protest site.

    “The way one used to hear about barbaric crime and killings carried out by the Taliban, in similar fashion Lakhbir Singh was done to death,” Kataria, the MP from Ambala, said.

    “The responsibility of any incident happening at the protest site (of farmers) lies with the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM). They cannot escape from the responsibility for what has happened at their protest site,” he said.

    Lakhbir Singh, a 36-year-old Dalit farm labourer, was lynched on Friday allegedly by a group of Nihangs who accused him of desecrating a Sikh holy book.

    His body was found tied to an overturned police barricade at the Singhu border protest site, with the left hand chopped off and multiple wounds caused by sharp-edged weapons.

    Kataria said the Haryana Police faced resistance and great difficulty in reaching the incident site on Friday.

    “What were the farmer union leaders doing?” he asked.

    In a statement, the SKM had on Friday said that “both the parties to the incident”, the Nihang group and the victim, had no relation with the Morcha.

    The peaceful and democratic movement of the farmers is opposed to violence in any form, the SKM statement had said.

    The BJP leader said no matter how big a mistake a person may have committed, the law of the land does not give anyone the right to kill.

    “There are no words enough to condemn this gruesome killing, in which a group of Nihangs inflicted injuries on Lakhbir Singh and later tied up his body with a metal barricade,” he said.

    Kataria said last year, a Punjab policeman’s hand was chopped off with a sword and his six colleagues injured in an attack allegedly by a group of Nihangs at a village market in Patiala when the accused were asked to produce curfew passes.

    The policeman’s hand was later reattached after a surgery at the PGIMER in Chandigarh.

    Haryana Agriculture Minister J P Dalal also condemned the incident, saying “there is no place for such incidents in a civilised society”.

    Hitting out at the barbaric incident, Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda said, “There should be a thorough investigation into the entire incident and those guilty should be punished.”

    He said the government should also hold dialogue with the protesting farmers and resolve the issue at the earliest.

  • Singhu lynching: SKM cannot escape responsibility for what happened at site, says Union Minister Kataria

    By PTI

    CHANDIGARH: Strongly condemning the gruesome killing of a man at the Singhu border, senior BJP leader and former Union minister Rattan Lal Kataria on Saturday said the Samyukt Kisan Morcha cannot escape from the responsibility for what happened at their protest site.

    “The way one used to hear about barbaric crime and killings carried out by the Taliban, in similar fashion Lakhbir Singh was done to death,” Kataria, the MP from Ambala, said.

    “The responsibility of any incident happening at the protest site (of farmers) lies with the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM). They cannot escape from the responsibility for what has happened at their protest site,” he said.

    Lakhbir Singh, a 36-year-old Dalit farm labourer, was lynched on Friday allegedly by a group of Nihangs who accused him of desecrating a Sikh holy book.

    His body was found tied to an overturned police barricade at the Singhu border protest site, with the left hand chopped off and multiple wounds caused by sharp-edged weapons.

    Kataria said the Haryana Police faced resistance and great difficulty in reaching the incident site on Friday.

    “What were the farmer union leaders doing?” he asked.

    In a statement, the SKM had on Friday said that “both the parties to the incident”, the Nihang group and the victim, had no relation with the Morcha.

    The peaceful and democratic movement of the farmers is opposed to violence in any form, the SKM statement had said.

    The BJP leader said no matter how big a mistake a person may have committed, the law of the land does not give anyone the right to kill.

    “There are no words enough to condemn this gruesome killing, in which a group of Nihangs inflicted injuries on Lakhbir Singh and later tied up his body with a metal barricade,” he said.

    Kataria said last year, a Punjab policeman’s hand was chopped off with a sword and his six colleagues injured in an attack allegedly by a group of Nihangs at a village market in Patiala when the accused were asked to produce curfew passes.

    The policeman’s hand was later reattached after a surgery at the PGIMER in Chandigarh.

    Haryana Agriculture Minister J P Dalal also condemned the incident, saying “there is no place for such incidents in a civilised society”.

    Hitting out at the barbaric incident, Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda said, “There should be a thorough investigation into the entire incident and those guilty should be punished.”

    He said the government should also hold dialogue with the protesting farmers and resolve the issue at the earliest.

  • ‘Near home’ COVID vaccination centres will benefit 14 crore senior citizens: Centre

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: ‘Near to home’ vaccination centres will benefit around 14 crore senior citizens and 2.2 crore differently-abled people, said Union Minister of state for Social Justice and Empowerment Rattan Lal Kataria on Friday.

    This ministry had earlier flagged the problems faced by persons with disabilities in testing, treatment and vaccination to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is committed to the cause of weaker sections of society and other vulnerable groups, said Kataria.

    The ministry has launched a helpline number to provide psychological support to people belonging to the transgender community. Counselling is available for transgender persons who are facing stress owing to the pandemic.

    The ministry has also announced a one-time subsistence allowance of Rs 1,500 for transgender persons who are adversely affected by the lockdown. The financial assistance, as an interim relief measure, was also extended last year to around 7,000 transgender people.

    Kataria said the ministry had urged state governments to spread awareness among the transgender community in vernacular languages.

  • Union minister RL Kataria skips Ambala event following protest by farmers

    By PTI
    AMBALA: Union minister Rattan Lal Kataria skipped one of his scheduled events at Ambala city following a protest by farmers on the site.

    However, the minister of state for jal shakti and social justice and empowerment attended two other public programmes where a large number of police force was deployed.

    Kataria, who is the BJP MP from Ambala, was scheduled to attend a function at the shop of a tea trader located in an old grain market along with BJP MLA from Ambala city Aseem Goel.

    A group of farmers agitating against the Centre’s new farm laws gathered there and started protesting before the minister was to arrive there.

    “The Centre is not rolling back the farm laws. When the government is not listening to our voice, what option are we left with,” a farmer protesting at the site told reporters when asked why they did not allow the minister to carry on with his event.

    When asked why he skipped the programme, Kataria told reporters at another event, “I tried to request them (those protesting), but they were not listening.”

    Later, Kataria and the local MLA attended two public programmes at Balmiki colony and Jain Sabha where police was deployed in strength.

    In December also Kataria had faced protests from a group of farmers protesting against the Centre’s farm laws when they showed black flags to him in Jandli village adjoining Ambala city.