Ludhiana, May 28 –
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal today demanded the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government withdraw the notification to acquire 24,000 acres of land adjoining the city immediately or be ready to face a ‘morcha’ aimed at securing the rights of the aggrieved farmers.
The SAD president also asserted once his party formed the government in 2027 it would ensure that all government jobs were reserved for Punjabis only. “Right now 50 per cent of all government jobs are being given to outsiders by the AAP government”. He also announced that the next SAD government would not allow outsiders to buy land in the State. “Punjab will be for Punjabis only”, he asserted.
Addressing a massive dharna “Jang Punjab Bachaun Di” in front of the GLADA office here which was attended by SAD workers and farmers alike, the SAD President made it clear that the party would not allow the AAP government to acquire even one inch of land. Sukhbir Badal said adding “we will not allow the AAP conspiracy to rob our farmers of their lands simply to fill the partys coffers to succeed”. Mr Sukhbir Badal also made it clear that the SAD would take its agitation to other cities also where farmers were being unfairly ousted from their fertile lands”.
Asserting that the SAD had always safeguarded the interests of Punjabis against outsiders, Mr Badal said “ we will not let the AAP central leadership led by Arvind Kejriwal and his lieutenants Manish Sisodia and Satyendra Jain to operationalise this scam. He said Change of Land Use (CLU) certificates were being offered at Rs 1 crore an acre to keep any chosen area out of the 24,000 acre acquisition. “This makes it clear that chief minister Bhagwant Mann has surrendered completely to the AAP central leadership and is now even ready to snatch the precious fertile land of farmers to remain in his chair”.
Farmer representative Sukhpal Singh, who thanked the SAD president for taking a stand in favour of the victim farmers, said “the AAP government is indulging in a fraud in the name of development. Private colonies close to land identified for acquisition are yet to be developed. If we succumb to the government’s pressure we will be forced to sell any property given to us under the land pooling scheme at distress rates as the area might take decades to develop. This will spell doom for our future generations”. Amidst slogans of Kisan – Mazdoor – Dukaandar Ekta Zindabad the farmers expressed their resolve not to let their land be acquired.
SAD youth leader Jaskaran Singh Ayali Kalan also raised an important point by highlighting how the notification under which land was being acquired made it clear that the entire parcel of land would be acquired. “This means those who do not opt for the land pooling scheme will also face acquisition of their lands”, he asserted while ripping through the government claim that the entire process was voluntary.
Senior SAD leader Balwinder Singh Bhundar appealed to Punjabis to unite to thwart the evil conspiracy from succeeding. Senior leader Ranjit Singh Dhillon said like in the case of the Ludhiana City Scam the SAD cadre was ready to initiate a continuous dharna to secure the right of the farmers.
Senior leaders who addressed the dharna included Leaders included Dr Daljit Singh Cheema, Maheshinder Singh Grewal, Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, SR Kler, Gurcharan Singh Grewal, Parupkar Singh Ghumman, Kamal Chaitley, Bhupinder Singh Bhinda and Bobby Garcha.
