Chandigarh: In what may pave the way for a fresh confrontation with the farmers protesting against the contentious farm laws, the Centre has written to Captain Amarinder Singh-led government demanding action on the findings of an investigation done by the Border Security Force (BSF) team that migrant bonded labourers from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh were being employed in the farms of Punjab and administered drugs to extract long hours of work.
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in a letter sent to Punjab Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan and Director General of Police (DGP) Dinkar Gupta said the BSF personnel apprehended 58 such labourers from the state’s border districts.
Directing the state government “to look into the matter and take appropriate measures to address this serious problem”, the MHA in the letter sent on March 17 also asked that it be informed on priority with regard to the action taken in the matter.
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The Centre’s letter, however, drew sharp flak from the NDA’s former ally Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU).
Former SAD MP Professor Prem Singh Chandumajra while reacting to the same said “such letters from the Home Ministry will also send a wrong signal across the country and create an atmosphere of confrontation”.
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Jagmohan Singh, the general secretary of BKU (Dakaunda), hit out at the ruling dispensation at the Centre alleging it was attempting to malign the farmers’ image.
Questioning the timing of the letter, he accused the Centre of “playing yet another communal card” and urged the MHA to withdraw the letter.