Slamming the government and the BJP leadership, Meghalaya Governor Satya Pal Malik alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was “arrogant” when he met him to discuss the farmer protests and that he ended up having an argument with him.
The Governor was addressing a social function at Dadri in Haryana, where he said, “Main jab kisano ke mamle me Pradhan Mantri ji se milane gaya, to meri panch minute mein ladai ho gayi unse. Woh bahut ghamand mein the. Jab maine unse kaha, hamare 500 log mar gaye… to usne kaha, mere liye mare hain? (Maine) kaha aapke liye hi to mare the, jo aap raja bane huye ho… Mera jhagda ho gaya. Unhone kaha aab aap Amit Shah se mil lo. Main Amit Shah se mila… (When I went to meet the Prime Minister to discuss the farmer issue, I ended up fighting with him within five minutes. He was very arrogant. When I told him that 500 of our own (farmers) had died… he said, ‘Did they die for me?’ I told him yes, since you are the king. I ended up having an argument with him. He told me to meet Amit Shah and I did).”
Later when media persons in Dadri asked him about the government’s decision to repeal the farm laws and the farmer’s pending demands, he said, “What more could the PM have said other than what he said… We (farmers) should get decisions done in our favour. We should take their help to get legal guarantee for MSP instead of doing something that spoils everything.”
“Some issues are still pending. For instance, there are cases (against farmers)… the government needs to show honesty on that count and withdraw the cases. Similarly, legal MSP will have to be done,” he added.
Malik has attacked the Union government multiple times in the recent past over the farm laws. While speaking in Jaipur in November he had said the Centre will have to eventually concede to the farmers’ demands. He also said that every time he speaks on the farmers’ issue, he has an apprehension for a couple of weeks that he might get a call from Delhi.
Malik also said, “If the government thinks that this agitation has ended, it has not… The agitation has only been suspended. If injustice or atrocity is committed on farmers, then it will start again. I will be with them (farmers) whatever the situation.”
