The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today said the suicide of five distressed farmers in a single day had exposed the fraudulent farm loan waiver scheme of the Congress government and also revealed how “kurki’ (rejcovery) proceedings against marginal farmers were forcing farmers to take this extreme step.In a statement here, former minister Bikram Singh Majithia said the very fact that five farmers chose to end their lives after claims of the Congress government that its supposed loan waiver exercise was a success had thoroughly exposed the Congress party. He said according to facts more suicides were happening in districts like Bathinda (four farmers ended their lives) and Sangrur (one farmer committed suicide) where the fake loan waiver scheme was initiated by the Congress government. “These districts have also witnessed an increase in suicides in the last few months with total suicides in the little more than one year tenure of the Congress going up to 450”, he added. Mr Majithia said it had also come to light that the suicide rate was increasing because the State Cooperative department had started kurki proceedings to attach the land of small farmers who had accumulated small debts of Rs two to rs five lakh. “This is being done for the first time since 1986. Chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh admitted in the Vidhan Sabha that kurki proceedings had been discontinued against the peasantry since 1986. The Congress government also took a decision in its cabinet to ensure kurki does not take place. But the Cooperative department is openly resorting to recovery proceedings against small farmers driving them to commit suicide enmasse”, he added. Asking the Congress government as to what had happened to its pre-election slogan “Karja kurki Khatam Fasal di Poori Rakam “, the Akali leader said the slogan seemed to have been coined to befool the peasantry for petty vote bank politics. “The truth is that despite handing over signed affidavits in the name of then CM designate Capt Amarinder Singh to waive off all loans from nationalised and cooperative banks as well as private money lenders amounting to Rs 90,000 crore, nothing had been done to implement this promise. The entire farming community feels cheated and deceived”. Stating that the SAD was with the distressed peasantry, Mr Majithia said the party would not let any government agency execute kurki proceedings against any farmer. He said the party would also stand by Dalits and khet mazdoor facing kurki proceedings because the government had failed to come to their aid and waive off their debts.