The Shiv Sena on Tuesday attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over its silence on Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut’s tweet calling farmers protesting the farm bills passed by the government as “terrorists”. The Sena, in an editorial in Saamana, said, “Farmers fighting for their rights are ‘terrorists’, if anyone is saying this then it is dishonesty. But the political parties that glide like a snake when an actress speaks are now silent on the insult of the farmers.”
It added that farmers are being called “dishonest” and “terrorists”, but what recourse is left for them then to commit suicide. In a veiled attack on Ranaut, the editorial said, “Farmers are terrorists, Mumbai is Pakistan and the civic body is Babar’s army et cetera,. Leave other accusations but the ruling BJP should at least remove their face mask over the insult of the farmers. This was our only expectation.”
It also asked if the bills brought by the Modi government were “revolutionary and historical” why was coercion and the majority used to get the Bills approved. The editorial added the bills have led to “peaceful” protests by farmers in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
“In Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, farmers have come out on the streets to protest against the farm bills. They have blocked roads at many places. When all this was going on in moderation and peace, what symptoms would it be to term them terrorists?” it said.
Further attacking the BJP, the editorial added, “Farmers have been lathi-charged and have cases registered against them. This is extreme. Even Babur’s army did not do this much oppression. But the people who have made this country ‘Sujalaam, Suflaam’, have been termed terrorists by a pro-BJP actress. If the protesting farmers are terrorists, then the government approved a new agricultural bill for all the terrorists?”
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