Gujarat Chief Minister Mr. Narendra Modi today assured his Punjab counterpart Mr. Parkash Singh Badal that no Punjabi or Sikh farmer from Kutch region would be displaced from Gujarat at any cost. An assurance to this effect was given by the Gujarat Chief Minister to Mr. Badal, who came here especially to participate in the inaugural session of the three day ‘Vibrant Gujarat Global Agriculture Summit- 2013’, in a specially convened Panchayat meeting of the Punjabi farmers from Kutch region in the presence of Chief Minister, this evening. Mr. Modi further said that in 1973 a Congress government of Gujarat had issued a circular that if any agriculturist from outside would purchase agricultural land in that state, he would be declared a non-agriculturist adding that the crisis faced by Punjabi farmers was totally based on this circular issued by the Congress government. However he bemoaned that some people were trying to malign the image of Gujarat Government by spreading canards that his government has adopted a discriminatory attitude towards the Sikh farmers from Punjab tilling land in Kutch.
The Gujarat Chief Minister assured Mr. Badal that although the issue was sub-judice but his government was committed to safeguard the interests of Sikh farmers in Kutch region adding that there was no question of their eviction from Gujarat. Lauding the role played by Punjabis in socio-economic development of Gujarat, Mr. Modi said that nearly 50,000 Sikhs had lived peacefully in Gujarat since centuries thereby intermingling with other communities and playing a proactive role in state’s development. He cautioned that any officer of Gujarat government compelling the farmers to leave the state should understand clearly that in such case he would have to leave Gujarat. Modi apprised the Chief Minister that out of 784 families settled in Kutch 245 belonged to Punjab, 88 from Gujarat and 451 from other states like Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. He reiterated his stand that the Gujarat Government would protect their rights to live peacefully and earn their livelihood with dignity.