Chandigarh, October 20, 2021 (PPI-OT):Deputy Chief Minister of Indian state of Punjab, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, has called the killing of a labourer at the Singhu border a possible conspiracy to defame the farmers’ agitation, citing a purported photograph of Indian Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar with a Nihang “leader”.
Former state Congress chief Sunil Jakhar also joined the controversy triggered by the appearance of the photograph on social media, alleging that Indian agencies could be involved in last week’s murder at a farmers’ protest site near the Delhi-Haryana border.
The group photo includes Narendra Singh Tomar and a man in blue robes of the Sikh order of the Nihangs. The Union minister has in the past met farmer protest leaders to negotiate a solution to the deadlock over controversial agri laws.
Without mentioning any name, Randhawa claimed that the same Nihang leader was “defending” the main accused in the killing. The Nihang group had accused the victim of desecrating a Sikh holy book.
“In view of the recent disclosures about one of the Nihang leaders having already been in touch with the Government of India, Minister for Agriculture N S Tomar in particular, the lynching incident has now taken an entirely different turn,” Randhawa alleged in a statement. “There appeared to be a deep-rooted conspiracy to defame the farmers’ stir,” he said.
Randhawa said Lakhbir Singh, the Dalit victim who belonged to Cheema Kalan village in Tarn Taran district, was very poor. “We need to find out who lured him to the Singhu border and who paid for his travel as he could not even afford his meals,” the Punjab deputy chief minister said.
Randhawa said he has instructed the local administration to find out under what circumstances the man was taken from his home to the Singhu border. “In view of the recent photographic evidence available, the Nihang leader will also need to explain in what capacity he had met Union Agriculture Minister NS Tomar and whether he was mandated to do so by the farmers’ organisations spearheading the campaign against the three black farm laws.”
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