Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday condoled the death of a farmer in firing at the Khanauri border and said history will certainly demand an account of farmers' killings from the BJP.
In a post on X, the former Congress chief said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's arrogance took 700 lives of the farmers last time and it has again become the enemy of the farmers. "The news of death of young farmer Subhkaran Singh in firing on Khanauri border is heartbreaking. My condolences are with his family.
"Last time, Modi's arrogance took the sacrifice of more than 700 farmers, now it has again become the enemy of their lives," Gandhi said in a post in Hindi. "One day history will definitely demand an account of the 'killing of farmers' from the BJP which is hiding behind the friendly media," he also said, using the hashtag "#FarmerLivesMatter".
A farmer was killed and a few others injured on the Punjab-Haryana border as the protesters resumed their 'Delhi Chalo' agitation, with the Haryana Police firing tear gas shells to thwart attempts to breach barricades at Shambhu and Khanauri.
Farmer leaders had rejected a proposal made by the government in the fourth round of talks between the two sides to break the deadlock and announced that thousands of Punjab farmers camping at these two border points would resume their agitation on Wednesday morning. Earlier in the day, Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda, who is among the three Union ministers engaging with the farmer leaders, called for further talks and appealed to the protesters to maintain peace.
Farmer leader Baldev Singh Sirsa identified the victim as Subhkaran Singh (21), who died at Khanauri on the Sangrur-Jind border. Singh was a resident of Baloke village in Punjab's Bathinda district, he said. The farmers claimed that Haryana Police personnel fired rubber bullets besides tear gas shells.
To press the Centre to accept their demands, including a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) for crops and farm debt waiver, the farmers are camping at the border points since February 13 along with their tractor-trolleys, mini-vans and pickup trucks.
