Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday vowed to fight the Centre’s farm laws constitutionally and legally, asserting that he will do whatever it takes to protect the farmer’s rights.
Addressing the media in Chandigarh and earlier at Khatkar Kalan, where he sat on dharna in protest against the new laws, Captain Amarinder said he will be consulting lawyers to work out the legal course of action for challenging these laws in the Supreme Court. Agitation and legal recourse will have to be undertaken simultaneously to fight these new laws and force the Union Government to rethink its decision, he said.
Asserting that he does not want Punjab’s youth and farmers to take to arms to fight for their right to live, the Chief Minister warned that these new laws will endanger the security of the border state of Punjab, as Pakistan’s ISI was always on the lookout for opportunities to foment trouble.
Punjab has lost 35000 lives to terrorism in senseless violence in the past and with the unrest among the farmers spreading to other states, the entire nation would be exposed to the ISI threat, Captain Amarinder said, adding that Pakbacked forces will try to feed on the angst in India.
Pointing out that 150 terrorists had been nabbed in Punjab in recent months with huge caches of arms and ammunition, the Chief Minister said he will not let anyone disturb the state’s peaceful atmosphere, which the new legislation had the potential to do.
AICC general secretary in-charge of Punjab affairs, Harish Rawat, who was accompanying the Chief Minister, announced a signature campaign beginning 2nd October to collect 2 crore signatures of farmers against the new Farm Laws. These will be submitted to the President of India on 14 November to coincide with Jawaharlal Nehru’s birth anniversary, he said.
He added that Kisan Sammelans would also be organised to take the fight to its logical conclusion. He took a dig at the Akalis, saying they had remained silent for a long time and were now coming to take credit for the fight for farmer’s rights.
PPCC President Sunil Jakhar said the battle would be a long-drawn one but Captain Amarinder Singh would protect the interests of the farmers in the same way as he had done earlier to save the state’s river waters.