Anna launches attack on Modi's land bill, says 'PM misleading farmers'

Jalandhar: Unimpressed with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s contentions in Sunday’s ‘Man ki Baat’ programme, social activist Anna Hazare accused him of “misleading” farmers on land acquisition Bill.

Responding to Modi’s argument that the opposition parties were “misleading” farmers, 77-year-old anti-corruption activist said “Modi has been misleading the farmers himself over the Land Acquisition Bill.”

Hazare said Modi was watching others with “coloured glasses” and “this bill itself was misleading.”

The activist, who was in Jalandhar to attend a function, said the NDA government at the Centre was “misleading” people over the bill and the head of the government (Modi) has been leveling allegations on others for misleading the farmers."

“This bill is not going to help farmers, but the big corporates only,” he said.

If the Modi government’s intentions are so clear and it wants to help the farmers then why it did not oppose the land acquisition bill in 2013 presented by the UPA-2, he asked.

“I failed to understand why this party (BJP) had supported 2013 bill in Parliament and now why it has been opposing it,” he said.

Hazare said if the government wants to help the farmers then it should conduct a survey of the categories (A,B,C) of the land and the land which is not suitable for the agricultural purpose be acquired and not the cultivable land.

In the 2013 bill, there was provision of taking the consent of farmers, but in this bill, there is no such provision. How it will help farmers, he questioned.

“I wrote the letter to 25 opposition parties of the country to support me in my crusade to save farmers,” Anna said.

On Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s campaign against this Bill, he said, “She was just doing politics and it has nothing to do with the welfare of farmers.”

He also alleged that owing to raising “my voice against the Land Acquisition Bill I have started getting threats from Canada and Maharashtra, but I am not afraid of anything and I will fight for the farmers till my last breath.”

On the state of Punjab, Hazare said its people are dedicated for the service of humanity, but due to drug menace this dedication has been affected badly.

Later, Anna visited Ghuman, some 40 km away from Gurdaspur. The township is associated with journeys of a 13th century saint from Maharashtra, Namdev.

At Ghuman, he was felicitated by locals and also vowed to fight for cause of farmers and against land acquisition bill.

The social activist will be at Khatkar Kalan in Nawanshahr district of Punjab on Monday. Khakar Kalan is ancestral village of martyr Bhagat Singh.

Anna announced at Ghuman in Gurdaspur district that a three-month long campaign would start from this April to launch country wide ‘Jail Bharo Andolan’ to stop central government from going ahead with acquisition of farmers land.

Hazare was at Ghuman in connection with a programme to be organized by Baba Ramdev scheduled for first week of April.

He said he would organize forty rallies across the country to launch a strong protest to amend the proposed Land Bill. He also said that while the Land Acquisition Act enacted by the previous government in 2013 had a provision of taking consent of about eighty per cent of concerned farmers for land acquisition for private players, the present government had ignored this clause against which they will strongly launch their protest.

Anna also pointed out that the country’s agricultural land has not been mapped after independence which is a cause for serious annoyance to farmers.

He said they will demand for the classification of land into six categories to not transfer the prime agricultural land to industrialists.

Only waste land may be given to the industrialists and that too on the basis of lease, he added.

On his arrival, he was accorded a reception by Aam Aadmi Party leader Sucha Singh Chhotepur and others. He also paid obeisance at Gurudwara of Bhagat Baba Nam Dev and he was presented Siropa by the Gurudwara committee members.

Hazare said Baba Nam Dev was born in Ghuman and was a great saint.

PTI