IYC protests against Lekhi for calling farmers 'mawalis', demands apology
Darpan News Desk IANS, 23 Jul, 2021 03:53 PM
New Delhi, July 23 (IANS) A day after Union Minister Meenakshi Lekhi described farmers as "mawalis", hundreds of Indian Youth Congress (IYC) activists on Friday staged a protest over the remark and demanded that she apologise to the farmers.
IYC workers under the leadership of their national president Srinivas BV staged a protest outside the residence of Lekhi in the national capital.
The IYC workers raised slogans against the Minister and also burned her effigy.
The protesting IYC activists were detained by the police.
The protest comes a day after Lekhi while addressing a press conference here called the protesting farmers 'mawalis' (ruffians).
However, Lekhi later claimed that her words were "twisted", but added that she withdraws her remarks if they have hurt anyone.
Speaking to the media, Srinivas condemned the remarks and said "This shows their poor thinking and mentality towards farmers of our country."
The IYC leader said that for the last eight months, the country's food producers have been fighting day and night on the borders of Delhi against the three black agricultural laws, leaving everything behind, but the BJP government of the capitalists is trying to prove them as 'mawalis'. However, the country's youth will not let the Modi government succeed in its conspiracy.
Srinivas added that farmers are not 'mawalis', they are the caretakers of this country, they are the food producers of the country.
"But the arrogance has become so dominant in the BJP that it is not missing any opportunity to insult the farmers. It is shameless of a BJP minister to call farmers 'mawalis'," he said.
He demanded that Lekhi go to the farmers sitting on the borders of Delhi and apologise to them, otherwise she should resign from her post, because the country will not tolerate the humiliation of its food producers.
IYC national media in-charge Rahul Rao said that when party colleagues came to protest against Lekhi's use of indecent language for farmers, they were detained by Delhi Police.
"Even if the government arrests us, we will continue to raise our voice against the humiliation of the food producers," he added.
Heartfelt messages and prayers pour in for former Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, 87, who had undergone a heart surgery, had agreed to advise Punjab Government on ways to cope with the economic and humanitarian crisis in the wake of the pandemic. He complained of chest pain on Sunday evening and was rushed to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi. (AIIMS)
Getting around Stanley Park since the pandemic struck is a new experience for Tom Green. Roads that weave through the urban forest in Vancouver have been closed to traffic, making space for residents to get fresh air at a physical distance.
The Punjab Police on Wednesday evening charged former state DGP Sumedh Singh Saini and six other police officials at Mohali in a 29-year-old case of alleged kidnapping, torture, and “stage-managed elimination” of Balwant Singh Multani, son of IAS officer Darshan Singh Multani. In the FIR filed, Palwinder Singh Multani, brother of the alleged victim, has named six other police officials, including DSP Baldev Singh Saini, Inspector Satvir Singh, SI Har Sahai Sharma, SI Jagir Singh, SI Anoop Singh and ASI Kuldip Singh.
British Columbia is unveiling a digital registration system for evacuees as the province prepares for the upcoming wildfire season while coping with physical distancing restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID-19. A statement from the Ministry of Public Safety says the new platform will allow communities to provide emergency support services, including evacuee self-registration and referrals.
Indians stranded abroad because of the coronavirus pandemic will be brought back home as of May 7th but it will be a gradual process. Aircraft and naval ships will be arranged for their travel, the government said in a statement, adding the service will be offered on "payment-basis". Only those asymptomatic will be allowed onboard.
Two terrorists and an associate have been killed in an encounter that began on Saturday morning in Awantipora, a city in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district. As of this writing, a search operation was still ongoing.
