Chandigarh, February 02:
Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh has called an all-party meeting on Tuesday to discuss the farmers’ agitation against agricultural laws in the light of the recent developments in the national capital.
The meeting is expected to take place at Punjab Bhawan in Chandigarh.
The chief minister tweeted late on Monday that the Punjab government has arranged a team of 70 lawyers for farmers who have been booked by the police after Republic Day violence.
“Punjab Government has already arranged a team of 70 lawyers in Delhi to ensure quick legal recourse to farmers booked by the Delhi police. I will personally take up the issue of missing farmers with MHA & ensure these persons reach home safely. For assistance call 112,” Singh said on Twitter.
Announcing the all-party meeting on January 31, Singh had said that “all political parties must come together in this time of crisis”.
Sukhbir Singh Badal has formed a three-member committee to represent Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) at the all-party meeting. The committee includes Prem Singh Chandumajra, Maheshinder Singh Grewal, and Daljit Singh Cheema, according to a party press release.
“Farmers are out on the streets putting their lives at stake. Lakhs of farmers have lost their lives and the Centre is not talking about it, not doing justice. If farmers can sit for days in the open and protest in this bitter cold, can the Prime Minister not go there and meet them. Can his ministers not visit the farmers, talk to them and make a decision?” Badal said on Monday.
“The farmers of this nation do not want these laws. Not one farmer organisation has come in support of these laws,” he asserted.
Farmers have been protesting at different borders of the national capital since November 26, 2020, against the farm legislations – Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.
