'Farmers have right to protest but none can take law into hands'
Darpan News Desk IANS, 24 Nov, 2021 11:56 AM
New Delhi, Nov 24 (IANS) Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana on Wednesday said the farmers have democratic right to protest but no one can be allowed to take law into his hands.
"The farmers' agitation has been going on for a long time. Since I have joined [as Commissioner], farmers have been allowed to protest at Jantar Mantar. The farmers have democratic right to protest but no one can be allowed to take law into their hands," the Commissioner said during an event at the Indian Women's Press Corps (IWPC) here.
Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had recently announced the repeal of three controversial farm laws after a year of protests. Thousands of farmers are still camping at Delhi's borders and several died from heat, cold and Covid.
Commissioner Asthana said that Delhi Police is committed to maintain law and order in the city.
Speaking on the cases registered against farmers for the January 26 violent protests, Asthana informed that some cases have been registered against the farmers. "We have investigated and some have been chargesheeted," he added.
Meanwhile, the union cabinet cleared 'The Farm Laws Repeal Bill, 2021' on Wednesday that will repeal the three contentious farm laws, as announced by the Prime Minister on November 19.
Hitting out at Navjot Singh Sidhu, the BJP on Monday said that Punjab Congress chief is creating unwarranted fears in the minds of farmers by suggesting that the Centre had plans to do away with the MSP system.
After literally turning a deaf ear to the farmers’ issues for over a year, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, November 19, 2021, in a dramatic move, announced the withdrawal of the three controversial farm laws, which were at the heart of the farmers’ protests across the country.
Earlier, Dhesi sent a letter, signed by over 100 British MPs and Lords, to Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the ongoing farmers' protests, asking him to raise this matter with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi when they next liaise.
The Chief Minister told the media here that for more than a year since the Central government had brought three agriculture laws for the benefit of farmers, especially small and marginal ones, unfortunately, some farmer unions had been protesting on the Delhi borders.
While the Centre's announcement to repeal three farm laws is seen as a political decision with eye on forthcoming assembly polls in five states, the BJP claims that it has nothing to do with elections as the party has won many states after laws were passed by the Parliament.
On January 12 this year, the Supreme Court had stayed the implementation of the three farm laws after scores of farmers from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh pitched their tents on various Delhi borders in protest against the three laws.
