Sukhbir Badal: SAD was not told what is in Centre’s farm ordinances

Farm outfits have been unrelenting in registering their opposition to these ordinances despite the ongoing pandemic.

Earlier, SAD had been defending ordinances strongly, saying that these will have no bearing on existing procurement policy and that Minimum Support Price (MSP) regime for farm produce would continue.

Before the one-day Punjab Vidhan Sabha session on August 28, Sukhbir Badal had also released a correspondence to him by Union Minister of Agriculture, Farmers’ Welfare and Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Narendra Singh Tomar which read: “There is no change in the present policy of purchase of agriculture produce through MSP through state agencies.”

In a ten minute and 20 seconds video released by the SAD on September 3 titled “Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh is misleading farmers on Agriculture Reform Ordinances”, SAD patriarch Parkash Singh Badal was also seen and heard defending the ordinances saying that “Union agriculture minister has also given a statement that it could never happen that MSP regime could end.” Senior Badal referred to the letter by Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar to Sukhbir while making the assertion that SAD was the only party which championed the cause of the farmers and would continue to do so.

On Tuesday, a release by SAD quoting Sukhbir said: “SAD is essentially an organisation of farmers. Every Akali is a farmer and every farmer is an Akali at heart. The party has always championed the cause of the farmers and has made supreme sacrifices to safeguard their interests. That legacy can not and will not be compromised or diluted, no matter what price we have to pay.”

It added that his speech, Sukhbir said that the government erred grievously in not taking stake holders – farmers and their organisations – on board. “Stating that the SAD was not consulted before the Ordinances were framed, Badal said ever since the Ordinances were issued, we have been asking the government not to press with it and not to bring this bill. But our voice was not heeded to,” said the party release.

“Punjab and Haryana have built best marketing infrastructure from their own resources. We will be the worst affected if the assured marketing of farmers’ produce at MSP is endangered,” said Sukhbir. adding: “Farmers fear the Bills will lead to monopolisation by multinationals.”

‘Restore Punjabi as official language of J&K’

Sukhbir Badal also urged that Punjabi be restored as an official language in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir.

Ferozepur MP said the Jammu and Kashmir Official Languages Bill, 2020 had left out Punjabi while framing the official languages of the union territory. Terming this as “unfortunate”, he said “Punjabi was a language of communication for a sizeable number of people of Jammu and Kashmir since the time of the Khalsa Raj….It was strange that while Punjabi had been discriminated in this manner, English had been included as an official language.”

Stating that “Punjabi was spoken historically in Jammu and Kashmir and erstwhile Punjab since several hundred years”, he said: “Punjabi was even recognised as an official language in the constitution of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir….even former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdulla, who was fluent in Punjabi, would ratify this statement”.

Dr Abdulla concurred immediately saying Punjabi was widely spoken by the people of the state.