The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will dedicate the evening of January 13, Lohri, to the martyred farmers of the ongoing farmers’ movement. This was announced by senior AAP leader and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Punjab Legislative Assembly, Harpal Singh Cheema and party’s youth wing president Anmol Gagan Mann, during a press conference convened at the party headquarters here on Sunday. They said that today, the ‘annadatas’ of the country were agitating day and night in the severe cold against the centre’s anti-farmers agriculture black laws to save their existence.They said that more than 50 of our farmer brothers who fought in this movement were martyred and it was very sad that the bodies of martyrs were coming to Punjab everyday from the borders of Delhi. On one hand a Punjab farmer’s son was being martyred while fighting the enemy on the border of the country and on the other hand the farmers who were agitating democratically against the ruler of our own country were being martyred, they said.“Today, the ruler of our country has become blind, deaf and dumb, who was in favor of a handful of corporate houses, instead of accepting the rights and legitimate demands of the farmers. The Aam Aadmi Party volunteers would pay homage to the martyred farmers in every village, town, colony and street of Punjab on the eve of Lohri and copies of anti-farmers black laws brought by the central government would be burnt,” the leaders said.
They appealed to all the people of Punjab to be a part of the farmers' movement by celebrating the festival on this auspicious day.“This time in the fire of Lohri, copies of the central government’s black laws should be burnt. It has been a month and a half, since our farmers, brothers, sisters and elders have been fighting under the open sky in severe cold against the dictator Modi-led central government. But the Modi government and the BJP leaders are inflicting mental anguish on the farmers by making false statements and accusations,” they said.The AAP leaders said that it would have been better if the Modi government had listened to the happiness and sorrow of the entire nation and immediately repealed the black laws but was instead acting as a mediator between Ambani and Adani, and working for corporate houses. They said that the conceited Prime Minister of the country should immediately repeal these black laws and apologise to the families of the martyred farmers.The leaders said that the Aam Aadmi Party has been standing in favor of the farmers since day one. They said that this was not a time for politics and was a critical time that even the democratically elected Modi government was not listening to the voice of the people. They said that the right to protest contained in the constitution was also being taken away.