Extending support to farmers’ protest across the country, CPI (M) leader Muhammad YousufTarigami Saturday said Jammu and Kashmir being an agricultural region would suffer immensely due to the new farm bills introduced by the BJP government at New Delhi.
A statement of CPI (M) issued here said that while addressing a party convention in Kulgam, he said the CPI (M) condemns the “malicious campaign” launched by Prime Minister NarendraModi-led government against the farmers.
“We back the farmers’ demand to scrap the three pro-corporate farm laws rammed through undemocratically by the BJP government in the Parliament in September 2020. We also demand repeal of the Electricity Amendment Bill 2020, which will greatly hike power tariffs not only for the farmers but for all rural and urban consumers in the country,” he said.
Tarigami said agriculture was the backbone of Jammu and Kashmir’s economy and these new farm bills would hurt the interests of the farmers in the region like in rest of the country. “Around 70 percent of the population in J&K gets livelihood directly or indirectly from agriculture and allied sectors and such bills will have a direct impact on them,” he said. “Whatever is being witnessed in Punjab, Haryana and Delhi these days is similar to a government waging war against its own people and its own farmers.”
Targami said the “repression” of the BJP government was unprecedented, but the “resistance” of the peasantry was incredible.
“It is a gift of the Modi government to the farmers, who are providing food security to the nation,” he said. “J&K farmers are also in solidarity with the protesting kisans and we stand in solidarity with them and with their genuine demands.” On the ongoing District Development Council (DDC) polls in J&K, he appealed people to come out and vote against the “divisive” and “communal” politics of the BJP.
“Abstaining from voting will harm the interests of people of J&K as history and experience sufficiently demonstrates that neither voting nor the boycott changed the political course of Kashmir,” Tarigami said. “However, the boycott of elections virtually leads to disempowerment of people which is the reason that the political parties in J&K decided to participate in these polls though announced abruptly.”