Defending the reforms in the agriculture sector, the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has once again extended a positive and friendly gesture to the agitating farmers saying they have been misled by some vested interest.
While offering to allay all sorts of apprehensions of the agitating farmers, PM ticked off the Opposition for inciting the farmers, asking it not to mislead them, especially when they too were supporters of the same reforms only a few years ago. Replying to the debate on the President’s address in the Rajya Sabha on Monday, the Prime Minister yet again reiterated that the government was ready to make changes in the farm reform legislations and that there was no move to discontinue the procurement of farm produce under the Minimum Support Price mechanism.
The PM criticised certain domestic and foreign groups for inciting the farmers, for fanning discontent and disinformation against well-meaning government initiatives and generally fomenting unrest in the country. He had a special mention for some freelancer-activists who have been too eager to creep in wherever, whenever there was an opportunity to wade into a protest, desperate for relevance as they were.
In a half-mocking tone, he said for the anti-India elements, the acronym FDI had now come to mean Foreign Destructive Ideology. He warned such elements that the government was committed to uphold national integrity and honour and, in this context, recalled the huge contribution and commitment of the Sikh community to nation-building. It was a conciliatory speech, aimed at reaching out to the farmers, who have pitched their tents at the borders leading into the national capital for over two months, demanding the repeal of the farm reforms.
The PM also appealed to the protesting farmers to return home leaving all doubts, since the reforms posed no threat to their livelihoods but were only meant to better the lot of small and medium farmers. The farmers should show some rationale by not blindly insisting for repeal of the farm laws but come forth in negotiation with specific provisions of the laws that they apprehend to be detrimental to their interests. They should be receptive to the olive branch offered by the Prime Minister and see the reasoning
