Chandigarh: Under fire for making an insensitive comment on farmers suicide, Haryana Agriculture Minister OP Dhankar was forced to clarify his remarks. Claiming that he was quoted out of context, he has said that he never meant what he said. "All that I meant was that people of Haryana are fighters and don't commit suicide," he said.
He also claimed that his soundbyte was edited and was incorrectly being played by the media. Haryana Agriculture Minister OP Dhankar earlier said that those farmers who commit suicide are cowards. Dhankar went on to say that the Haryana government does not support such cowardly farmers who commit suicide.
Even as Central and state governments try to reach out to the affected farmers and help them out, the Haryana Agriculture Minister called those committing suicide "cowards". Dhankar had made it clear that Haryana government will not help families of those farmers and agricultural labourers who have committed suicide because the administration is not for cowards. "Suicide is an unlawful act according to Indian law. The person who commits suicide is running away from responsibility and leaves them to his wife and children. And such people are cowards," he had said.
He had also targeted the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi over the alleged suicide of Rajasthan farmer Gajendra Singh and alleged that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was doing politics over the tragic incident.
His comments were condemned by all opposition members alike. Congress took on Dhankar for his comments and accused the Bharatiya Janata Party government of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar of not being sympathetic towards the farming community. "A farmer is the most powerful food-giver of this nation; do not call him coward or criminal. Criminal's are those due to whom farmers are forced to commit suicide," Congress leader Randeep Surjewala said.
Haryana Congress chief Ashok Tanwar also said the recent spate of suicides by farmers was unfortunate and the state government's apathy was compounding the problem.
"We condemn such comments. Maybe minister doesn't know that provoking people is also unlawful. So if Haryana farmers are committing suicide and minister is calling it unlawful then they are as much to blame for provoking farmers," Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agarwal said.
Unseasonal rains and hailstorms in many states have ruined crops standing on several thousand acres of land leading to great distress and financial trouble for lakhs of farmers. Many farmers and agricultural labourers have committed suicide while others are burdened with huge loans that they are unable to pay due to crop loss.
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