HOSHIARPUR, Punjab—Furious over farm laws enacted by BJP-led union government of India, farmers today evening attacked Punjab BJP president Ashwani Sharma on a toll plaza on Jalandhar-Pathankot highway near village Chollang of Hoshiarpur district.
The farmers were staging a dharna on the toll plaza. Sharma was coming back to Pathankot from Jalandhar after attending a meeting of the party that is beleaguered in the country over the anti-farmer laws. When his convoy reached the toll plaza, the agitating farmers’ anger burst on him and they attacked his convoy.
They damaged the SUV on which the BJP leader was riding. Its glasses were broken in the attack. The agitators also began to thrash Sharma, but his security guards and other Punjab Police personnel saved him. Thus, he had narrow escape in this attack, a result of the anti-farmer laws of the union government.
After rescuing him from the agitators, the cops took him to the office of company that charges the toll tax. He was sent back to Pathankot under tight security cover.
After this attack, the BJP leaders are feeling insecure in Punjab and some of them have sought security from the state government.
Actually, the Hindu right-wing party is facing severe wrath of the public over the contentious farm laws that its government enacted despite stiff resentment of the farmers.
Sharma along with former BJP minister Master Mohan Lal and Sujanpur MLA Dinesh Babbu also faced protests in village Pathankot when they are taking out a tractor rally in favour of the laws a week ago.
On October 2, BJP’s newly appointed national secretary Tarun Chugh reached out to the farmers at village Harchha Chhina near Amritsar along with party’s Sikh face Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina to explain “benefits” of the laws, termed as draconian laws by the farmers. They too faced protest there. The farmers agitating against the laws did not allow them to use the road to return.
Reacting on these incidents, Chugh said, “Youth Congress’ rank and file is behind these attacks. However, these attacks cannot us prevent us from favouring the laws which are pro-farmers. We will not stop telling the benefits of these laws to the farmers and we will visit villages for this purpose in the coming days”.
A farmer activist said, “This is nothing but the resentment of the farmers against these bills. Instead of backing the cause of the farmers of their own state, Punjab BJP leaders are playing in hands of their high command”.
