Even as he described farmers’ Republic Day tractor rally as a testimony to the celebration of the Indian Republic and its Constitutional ethos, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday appealed to the farmers to ensure that the rally event remains peaceful, just as their anti-farm laws protests have been so far.
Capt Amarinder also urged the Centre once again to heed the “troubled voice” of the farming community in the true spirit of the Indian Republic.
“Peace has been the hallmark of your (farmers’) democratic protests all these months, and should remain integral to your agitation in the days ahead, including the R-Day Tractor Rally into the national capital,” said the CM, in his Republic Day eve message.
“The sight of your (farmers’) tractors on Delhi roads tomorrow will underline the fact that the ethos of the Indian Constitution and the essence of our Republic is inalienable and uncompromisable,” he said. The CM said farmers’ arduous battle for survival “will always remind us of this truth, and it will always help us remember (lest we forget), that the principles on which stands the edifice of the India we know, and our forefathers strove to build, cannot be destroyed or demolished on the whims of a few”.
Lamenting that the federal structure on which India’s polity is founded is facing one of its biggest threats under the present Indian regime, the CM said the brazen manner in which the three farm laws were pushed through, without debate or discussion, cannot, and should not be accepted in the world’s largest democracy.
The Centre had absolutely no power to legislate on a state subject, which Agriculture is, and the implementation of the farm legislations violate every principle of our Constitution and the federal structure it stands for, he added.
The CM said their collective fight, in which his government was standing shoulder to shoulder with the farmers, was aimed at protecting the federal core of the Indian Constitution.
Recalling the contribution of Punjab’s farmers to India’s self-reliance and progress, the CM said they did not toil with their sweat and blood to see a nation whose Constitutional ideals of justice, liberty, equality and dignity, were being systemically trampled over the past six years, most notably over the past two months of their struggle.
“The voice of the farmers, and in fact every section of our populace, is being subjugated, and we have to ensure that their voice is not only heard but also heeded,” he asserted, adding that the celebration of the Indian Republic would not be complete without the acknowledgement of this contribution of Punjab and its farmers to India’s progress.