Expressing grave concern over the tragic suicides of debt-ridden farmers in Punjab, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) senior leader and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Punjab Assembly Harpal Singh Cheema said that the people were fed up with the policies of Captain Amarinder Singh-led state government, which were causing inconvenience and devastating their homes. He said that the Captain government was not just a government of lies but also a government of negligence. On Thursday, Harpal Singh Cheema visited the residence of the farmer father-son, who committed suicide in Dasuya five days ago and expressed his condolences to the bereaved family members. The deceased father-son in their suicide note had blamed Captain and his false promises of loan waiver as the reason for the extreme step.Responding to this tragic incident, Cheema said Captain Amarinder's false promises was leading to deaths in the state and this does not seem to affect Captain. "Captain Amarinder had promised in his manifesto that he would waive off all the farm loans and relieve them of their debt. But four years have passed, not a single rupee has been waived off. Waiting for this relief farmers are now committing suicide in despair, said Cheema. He said that the incident of Dasuya was not a singular incident of this sort as two days ago, a farmer in Tarn Taran committed suicide because of indebtedness, just a year prior his son had committed suicide because of the same reason.
Cheema said that continuous reports were surfacing of farmers committing suicide because of the excessive debt burden on them. He said that these farmers had voted for the Captain government because they had made a big promise of loan waiver but sadly did not deliver. Highlighting some figures related to the deaths of the farmers, Cheema said that between June 24 to September 1 last year, more than 65 farmers had committed suicide because of indebtedness. "The state of farmers in Punjab is grave but this does not seem to affect Captain Amarinder, '' he added. Cheema said that frequent farmer suicides show that Captain Amarinder Singh government had betrayed the farmers of Punjab.He said it shows that the pro-farmer stance being taken by the Captain government was nothing but a facade. Further lashing out at Captain Amarinder Singh, Cheema said that how many more deaths does the state have to see before Captain responds to this crisis. "How many more wives need to lose their husband? How many more children need to be orphaned? How many more families need to be ruined before you take notice of the situation and fulfil the promises that you made?," questioned Cheema.He said that Captain Amarinder has become a modern day 'Nero' who do not mind seeing the state burn whilst sitting in his plush farm house. "Captain Sahab, you have got blood on your hands and no gimmicks can absolve you of your sins," added Cheema. He said that in the upcoming budget session, the Aam Aadmi Party would be the voice of these grieving farmers. Cheema said that the Aam Aadmi Party would raise the issue of farmer suicides and loan waiver in the budget session and would fight for the rights of the farmers. "We will not let Captain Amarinder just sit by and ruin the state and lives of the people, we will rise up and fight," he added.