Reacting to Union minister Meenakshi Lekhi's remark, calling protesting farmers "hooligans", Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait said it is wrong to make such remarks against farmers.
Speaking about the alleged attack on a media person by farmers, Lekhi had said, "They are not farmers, they are hooligans... These are criminal acts. What happened on January 26 was also shameful criminals activities." She had also accused the opposition of promoting such criminal activities.
Farmers are 'anndatas' of the land, Tikait said in reacting to the Union minister's comment, adding, "Hooligans are the ones who have nothing. It is wrong to make such remarks for farmers. We are farmers, not hooligans," reports news agency ANI.
A group of 200 farmers reached Jantar Mantar on Thursday to protest against the Centre's three contentious farm laws amid the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament. They have got permission to protest till August 9 amid heavy security.
Meanwhile, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar made another appeal to the farmers to leave the path of agitation and come for talks.
Asked about the farmers' protest at Jantar Mantar, the minister said, "I want to tell through you (media) that farmers should leave the path of protest and come for dialogue. We are ready for talks if they come with issues in the bills...If they come with their proposal, we are ready to discuss."
Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at Delhi's borders for over seven months now in protest against the three laws.
Tomar asserted that the BJP-led government in the Centre is sensitive towards farmers, and added that in the last seven years, major steps have been taken in the agriculture sector, the benefits of which are reaching cultivators across the country. "The three farm bills are also a step in this direction. Farmers across the country have favoured the bills," he said.
—With PTI inputs
