The Shiv Sena on Tuesday attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over its silence on Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut’s tweet calling farmers protesting the farm bills passed by the government as “terrorists”. The Sena, in an editorial in Saamana, said that the political party that “glided like snakes” to what the actress said are now silent on the “insult” to farmers.
After the bills were passed by the Rajya Sabha amid din on Sunday, Prime minister Narendra Modi, in a series of tweets, reassured the farmers that the MSP and the government procurement of farmers’ produce will continue. Ranaut picked up one of PM’s tweets, described the protesters as “the same terrorists who indulged in bloodshed even though no countryman lost citizenship due to CAA”.
The actor later clarified that she did not call farmers terrorists and dared anybody to prove it. On Monday, the actor tweeted, “Like Lord Krishna has Narayani Army, similarly Pappu has his Champu army that knows only to fight on the basis of rumours. This is my original tweet, if somebody can prove that I called farmers terrorists then I will apologize and leave Twitter forever.”
Without naming Ranaut, the editorial said, “Farmers fighting for their rights are ‘terrorists’, if anyone is saying this then it is dishonesty. But the political parties that glide like a snake when an actress speaks are now silent on the insult of the farmers.”
It added that farmers are being called “dishonest” and “terrorists”, but what recourse is left for them then to commit suicide. In a veiled attack on Ranaut, the editorial said, “Farmers are terrorists, Mumbai is Pakistan and the civic body is Babar’s army et cetera,. Leave other accusations but the ruling BJP should at least remove their face mask over the insult of the farmers. This was our only expectation.”
It also asked if the bills brought by the Modi government were “revolutionary and historical” why was coercion and the majority used to get the Bills approved. The editorial added the bills have led to “peaceful” protests by farmers in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
“In Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, farmers have come out on the streets to protest against the farm bills. They have blocked roads at many places. When all this was going on in moderation and peace, what symptoms would it be to term them terrorists?” it said.
Further attacking the BJP, the editorial added, “Farmers have been lathi-charged and have cases registered against them. This is extreme. Even Babur’s army did not do this much oppression. But the people who have made this country ‘Sujalaam, Suflaam’, have been termed terrorists by a pro-BJP actress. If the protesting farmers are terrorists, then the government approved a new agricultural bill for all the terrorists?”
The Shiv Sena took different stands in both Houses of the Parliament. When the bills were introduced in Lok Sabha, Sena MP “welcomed” it. Later, when it was tabled in Rajya Sabha, Sena took a critical view of the bills. Sena MP Sanjay Raut said that the party has taken a “neutral” stand on the bills.
However, it raised questions on the bills in the editorial. “We never say that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the enemy of the farmers. The new bill has two sides. The government ended the brokership in APMC and enabled the farmers to sell their produce even outside the markets but who would buy them? This is the controversy. Big industrialists are now investing in the grocery business. This means that there is a possibility that farmers will now be caught in the new slavery of corporate companies.
“Farming has also been approved to be done in a contractual manner but the scheme has flopped in the US and Europe. Farmers fear that they will not get the lowest support price. The government says this will not happen. It is all rumoured,” Shiv Sena said. If MSP will continue, why has a Union minister resigned over the farm bills and why has the farmers come to the streets to protest against the bills,” it said.
