When farmers fight for rights, how could nation progress? Mamata

Kolkata: As the ongoing farmers agitation in Haryana and Punjab rages high as the police use aggressive measures to control the protesters, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wondered how the country could progress when farmers, who are fighting for their basic rights, gets attacked. Her statement comes following police using tear gas shells at farmers at the Haryana-Punjab border, Asian News International reported.

Banerjee posted on X, "How can our country progress when the farmers are attacked with tear gas shells for fighting for their basic rights? I strongly condemn the brutal assault on our farmers by the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party)."

The Trinamool Congress chief condemned the Union government and criticised the BJP for its failure to support farmers and labourers. She said that this has exposed the BJP-pushed illusion of 'Viksit Bharat".

She continued on her X post, "The Central Govt. 's failure to support farmers and labourers, coupled with futile PR stunts, exposes the illusion of 'Viksit Bharat.' Instead of suppressing their protest, BJP must focus on humbling their inflated egos, power-hungry ambitions, and inadequate governance that has harmed our nation."

She expressed her solidarity with the farmers' cause and said that they sustain all, even the "high and mighty". "Remember, it's these farmers who sustain us all, including the high and mighty. Let's stand in solidarity with our farmers against the government's brutality," she said.

The farmers' protests have reached violence in some areas after protesters attempted to break multi-layered barricades using their tractors and hand weapons. Haryana Police detained many of them during their march to Delhi on Tuesday.