For Punjab farmers, SYL an issue that politicians raise to milk in elections

The farmers who hit the streets on Monday against the SC decision, however, shared a different sentiment, with most of them stating that the matter was political in nature, with farmers just being used as pawns in the middle.

Vikas Shoren, from Rakhigarhi village of Hisar, said, “When Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal comes to Haryana, he calls himself Haryana’s son. He tells us that he will provide SYL water to the farmers facing water scarcity. Bhagwant Mann, his counterpart in Punjab, on the other hand says that he will not give a drop of water to us. Kejriwal, too, talks differently when he visits Punjab. These politicians are just playing mind games with the voters for their own benefits. SYL is one issue which sells. Hence, they rake it up before every election.”

He added, “We do need water and hence are in favour of construction of the SYL. We are in touch with farmers in Punjab. We talk to them in a cordial manner over this subject. They too understand our need for water in a few districts.”

Jagdish Phoolan, from Phoolan village of Fatehabad district of Haryana, added, “My land is located on the border of Punjab and Haryana. Mansa district of Punjab is close to us. We meet farmers from Punjab daily, we have no issues with them . But our politicians have. They are trying to create a stressful environment for everyone. After the farmers’ agitation in Delhi against the three Dentral laws, we have started understanding politics and governments better. This is all politics for garnering votes by politicians of both the states.”

The sentiments were echoed on the other side of the border in Punjab as well even as members of the Kirti Kisan Union held protests against the Central government in Moga, Faridkot, Muktsar, Jalalabad, Bathinda, Sangrur, Pataran, Samana, Patiala, Ajnala, Tarn Taran, Nawanshahr, Gurdaspur, Phillaur and Sultanpur Lodhi districts of Punjab.

Rajinder Singh Deep Singh Wala, general secretary of KKU said, “We do not have even a drop of water to spare in Punjab. The KKU will not allow the construction of the Sutlej Yamna Link Canal. We will launch an agitation on lines of what we did in Delhi if need be.”

He added, “We do talk to our Haryana counterparts in an extremely cordial manner. We have asked them to convince us about their right on Punjab’s water. This is politics and nothing else. Have you ever seen an agitation take place in Haryana over the SYL issue? The politicians are instigating people. The AAP’s stand keeps changing. Kejriwal says something in Haryana, while Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann says something entirely different. ”

Raminder Singh Patiala, who is the press secretary of KKU, said, “Such political instigations will never be able to create a rift between Punjab and Haryana farmers. The politicians want us to have differences. We farmers do realise that Punjab is grappling with a water scarcity of its own. Therefore, we cannot spare even a drop of water to Haryana.”

Bhupinder Singh Longowal, the youth wing leader of KKU, said, “In Sangrur, we protested for 17 days just to seek canal water for 75 villages. How can we spare water for Haryana when we do not have enough water for our own farmers. The canal has to pass through Patiala district but water in that canal will affect the whole of Punjab, a state where the groundwater has been depleting every year.”

Meanwhile, the KKU members also demanded cancellation of the case registered against Newsclick journalists under the stringent UAPA. The union described the allegations made in the FIR an attempt to defame the historic farmers’ movement. President of the union, Nirbhai Singh Dhudike, said, “We are ready to talk with Haryana farmers over the SYL issue. According to me, division of river waters should be based on riparian principle.”