Jamaat Condemns Police Crackdown On Protesting Farmers

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Farmers enter Delhi, allowed to protest at Burari

India Tomorrow

NEW DELHIā€”Condemning the police crackdown on protesting farmers in bordering states of Delhi, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) has called on the Central government to accept the demands of the farmers and repeal the three farm laws passed recently.

In a statement on Saturday, JIH Vice President Prof Salim Engineer pointed out that the use of water-canons, lathi-charge, throwing teargas and erecting barricades to prevent them from reaching the National Capital to press for their legitimate demands was unwarranted.

He advised the government to listen to farmers and respect their right to protest against the farms laws that they consider anti-farmer.

Referring to the Delhi Police seeking permission of the Delhi government to convert nine sport stadia into makeshift jails to detain the protesting farmers, the JIH leader said that this approach would further alienate the farming community and give credence to the impression that government did not care about the welfare of the farmers and was not willing to negotiate or discuss their grievances.

Stating that the Jamaat had earlier objected to the recently passed Acts related to the agriculture sector, Prof Saleem said that the Jamaat considered these acts as anti-farmer and against the spirit of Indian Constitution.

Pointing out that ā€œthese Acts would oppress the farmers and strengthen the corporatesā€, he said that the Jamaat had demanded to repeal these Acts. ā€œThe government should have taken farmers into confidence before passing these Acts. The Government should respect the citizen’s right to peaceful protest, talk to leaders, listen to their demands, and make necessary amendments in these actsā€, he said.

ā€œThe repressive measures to silence the voice of dissent would worsen the situation and weaken our democracy. It would tarnish the image of India. The protesters also need to be vigilant about the anti-movement elements who may conspire to make these protest violentā€, the Jamaat leader said.

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