Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh Friday lashed out at Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership for terming the protesting farmers as anti-nationals and especially targeted Haryana Agriculture Minister JP Dalal saying that he should be ‘hung upside down' (ennu putha tangna chahida) for saying that those who died at the Delhi borders during the ongoing agitation would have died anyway at home too.
Replying to the Governor's address in Vidhan Sabha, Amarinder said that farmers and farm workers of Punjab are not anti-nationals but “are as patriotic and nationalistic as those who gave their lives for the country in Galwan valley last year to protect India's integrity and sovereignty”.
Terming Dalal's remarks as “disgraceful,” Amarinder said, “This is absurd. This is the agriculture minister. The duty of the agriculture minister is to speak of farmers' welfare and their well-being and not undermine their hard work and sacrifice. I feel farmers should hang him upside down.”
He demanded an unconditional apology from Dalal for his “insensitive conduct”.
Earlier last month, Dalal, responding to a media query on over 200 farmers' deaths during the ongoing stir had said, “Had they been at their homes, they would have died there also. Out of one to two lakh, don't 200 people die in six months?”.
Hours later, Dalal said his statement had been twisted on the social media and “wrong meaning” was attributed to it. “If…
