'Withdraw appeal from SC against Sikh farmers of Gujarat', Bajwa asks Modi

Sunday, 29/09/2013

http://www.punjabnewsline.com/punjab/withdraw-appeal-from-sc-against-sikh-farmers-of-gujarat-bajwa-asks-modi/87554

NEW DELHI/CHANDIGARH: On the day when BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate and Gujarat Chief Minister Narender Modi was holding rally to project his secular credentials, Partap Singh Bajwa President of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) raked the issue of discrimination and injustice done to members of Sikh community in Gujarat. He accused Modi of dividing the citizens of nation on religious and geographical lines.

In a letter flashed to Modi before he arrived to address the Delhi rally, Bajwa appealed Modi to withdraw the Appeal filed in Supreme Court by his government against the Gujarat High Courts unanimous decision given in favour of Sikh farmers facing displacement from their land holdings. He  reminded   Modi the hapless state of Gujarat Sikh farmers in the Kutch district who were asked to go back to Punjab after they were declared non-agriculturists on account of flawed interpretation of the Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Land (Vidarbha Region and Kutch Area) Act 1958 by your government officials.

Bajwa said that the official letter issued by the office of the District Collector of Kutch on 22nd of October 2010 instructing the Tehsildars to freeze the Agricultural accounts of all the farmers who in their opinion are “Prima Facie” outsiders from the State of Gujarat is by its very intent and nature Discriminatory and Arbitrary.

Bajwa wrote, “It is imperative that the historical context is kept in mind while addressing this issue that has the potential of fragmenting our country on narrow and parochial lines. Post the 1965 war with Pakistan, Respected Former Prime Minister Late Sh. Lal Bahadur Shashtri invited farmers from the undivided Punjab to come and settle in the District of Kutch in Gujarat hoping that the Sikh Farmers would make the land cultivable and help in guarding the country’s border”.

Bajwa further stated that in pursuance of his invitation more than one thousand families from the State of Punjab and Haryana migrated to the Kutch District in Gujarat. After migrating to Gujarat, these families purchased land from the locals of the District and duly complied with all the requisite legal requirements such as payment of stamp duty, etc as a result of which these farmers became Lawful owners of their respective land. Even the revenue records of your State Government shows the farmers to be the lawful owners of the land in question. The current situation being that these farmers are Residents, Ration cardholders and voters of the State of Gujarat.

PPCC President told Modi that as a consequence of the draconian order issued by your State government, the agricultural accounts of all such farmers stand frozen. After the issuance of this Direction by your Government, the farmers petitioned the High Court of Gujarat which by way of a Special 3 Judges Bench has set aside the order of the Collector of Kutch and has categorically stated that the Gujarat Government cannot freeze the Agricultural accounts of such farmers and that the Act so relied upon by your Government does not contemplate any such situation where such farmers can be deprived of their ownership over the Land.

Bajwa said that Instead of accepting the well reasoned, fair and just judgment of the High Court of Gujarat, your Government, which is driven by a motivated agenda, had filed an Appeal in the Supreme Court of India against the Judgment of the High Court.

Furthermore the decision of the Gujarat Government to deprive the Sikh farmers of the ownership over their Land is contrary to the long advocated demand of your party that seeks the abolition of Article 370 of the Constitution that accords special status to the State of Jammu and Kashmir and wants the adoption of a Uniform Civil Code, Bajwa stated.

He asserted that this practice of double speak by your Government and Party reeks of opportunism and demonstrates that on one hand your Government intends to deprive the Sikh Farmers from Punjab and Haryana of their land in Gujarat on the ground that they are outsiders from the State of Gujarat and on the other hand your Party advocates for the adoption of a uniform civil code for all citizens and the abolition of Article 370 of the Constitution.

Bajwa said that in these compelling facts and circumstances of this issue it is necessary that your State Government acknowledges that such decisions of dividing citizens of India along geographical and religious lines would pose a serious challenge to the solidarity and unity of our country and will result in vitiating the atmosphere of harmony. He asked Modi to withdraw the appeal against the Judgment of the High Court of Gujarat which is currently pending in the Supreme Court of India in the Larger interest of the country and not be driven by an agenda which is antithetical to the very the concept of India which stands for plurality and tolerance.

Among the senior leaders present were  Sunil Jakhar CLP Leader, Vijay Inder Singla MP, Laal Singh MLA, O.P. Soni, Tarlochan Singh, Charanjit Singh Channi, Gurpreet Singh Kangar Vice Presidents, PPCC, Ashwani Sekhri, Kuljit Singh Nagra Secretaries, AICC, Randeep Singh Nabha, Gurkirat Singh Kotli, Navtej Singh Cheema, Paraminder Singh Pinky, Surinder Dawar, Rakesh Pandey, Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, Ajit Inder Singh Mofar, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Balbir Singh Sidhu, Brahm Mohindra, Guriqbal Kaur, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi, Rana Gurjit Singh, Raj Kumar Verka MLAs, Fateh Jang Singh Bajwa, Gurchet Singh Bhullar, Sukhjit Singh Lohgarh, Raman Bhalla, Aman Arora, Raja Balbir Sodhi, Lalli Majithia, Pawan Dewan, Jagjit Singh, Malti Thapar, Gurwinder Singh Mamanke, Rajinder Deepa, Gurmail Singh Pehalwan, Harinder Singh Bhambri, Joginder Singh Chheena, Mai Roop Kaur, Surinder Pal Singh Sibia and others.