AAP Leaders met Farmers in Bijnor
To express solidarity with Punjabi farmers
who were facing eviction in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, a delegation of Aam
Aadmi Party
(AAP) interacted with affected families and
promised to highlight the issue.
Harpal Singh Cheema
Punjab assembly leader of opposition (LoP)
Harpal Singh Cheema told TOI that the farmers in Terai region were apprehensive
that despite assurances, their land records had been changed, depriving them of
their right to sell or lease out land.
“We met farmers in Nagina in Bijnor in Uttar
Pradesh and Bazpur in Uttarakhand. BJP is trying to favour corporates by
usurping the land of farmers. The land is Bajpur even has industrial units and
the smaller ones belong to people originally from Punjab,” he said.
“The general sentiment among farmers is that injustice is being done to them. Farmers shifted there when others were reluctant to take up farming. They showed us marks of snake bites to prove how they struggled to contribute to the development of the areas back then. But now the state governments want to take over their land,” added Cheema.
AAP leaders claimed that statements being made
by politicians rang hollow as farmers were up in arms against the move. “We
will also support any agitation launched by the landowners. I will prepare a
report on the ground situation and send it to the Prime Minister and chief
ministers,” said Cheema.
AAP MLA Kultar Singh Sandhwan
AAP MLA Kultar Singh Sandhwan who is also a part of the delegation, added the matter would be raised in Parliament through the party’s MP, Bhagwant Mann.
The chunks of land in question were allotted to
the farmers by the kings of the times, adding that during the land
consolidation in 1952, the farmers were registered as owners of the lands.
However, in 1963, the farmers were declared as tillers as per the law. These
farmers had been tilling these lands ever since.
Taking cognisance of reports of attempts by the
Uttar Pradesh government to displace more than 30,000 Sikh farmers by taking
over their arable land, Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh last week
said he will take up the issue with his UP counterpart, Yogi Adityanath, and
Union home minister Amit Shah.
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