DON'T WRITE PUNJAB OFF

CAPT. AMARINDER SINGH, the chief minister of Punjab, spoke to India Today Group Editorial Director RAJ CHENGAPPA on December 8, the day agitating farmers called for a Bharat Bandh to protest against the Centre’s new agriculture laws. Excerpts

- RAJ CHENGAPPA

Q. What is the big message agitating farmers have sent the Narendra Modi government by observing a Bharat bandh?

A. First and foremost, it is a display of unity among farmers everywhere, whether they are from the north, south, east or west. The message that they are sending to the Centre is that the agriculture laws the government has brought in are “anti-farmer” and need to be rescinded. These laws were created and brought in without taking any of the farmer lobbies or farming states into confidence.

Q. You met Union home minister Amit Shah last week and asked him to end the impasse between the Centre and the farmers quickly. Did he give you any assurances on that?

A. I met him to discuss two issues. The first was national security—there have been drones coming in from across the border on a daily basis and dropping weapons in Punjab, an important issue for me because we are a neighbour state to Pakistan. And I naturally also brought up the farm bills issue at the meeting. I said that the time has come for the government to make a decision. I feel that whatever can be done to ease these tensions should be done. If minimum support price (MSP—the rate at which the government buys crops from farmers in case they fail to sell them) is done away with, and the mandi system or the arthiya (commission agents) system is removed, then what will happen to their families and the future of their children? Almost 75 per cent of Punjabis are directly or indirectly connected to farming. How are the farmers who own less than five acres of land to survive? These are the poor people who are braving the cold to demand a resolution.