'Tukde-tukde' gang overtaking farmers protest, talks likely failed due to this, claims Ravi Shankar Prasad
Ravi Shankar Prasad claimed that a "sinister design" is involved. "It is possible that the negotiations (between the government and farmers' unions) failed due to them," he said.
There is "evidence" that the ongoing farmers' protest has been "overtaken" by the "tukde-tukde gang", Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad claimed on Friday.
The minister claimed that a "sinister design" is involved. "It is possible that the negotiations (between the government and farmers' unions) failed due to them," Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
He was responding to the presence of posters expressing solidarity with Sharjil Imam, Umar Khalid, Gautam Navlakha, and others at the farmers' protest sites on Thursday.
In January, replying to an RTI application, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs had said it has "no information" concerning the 'Tukde Tukde Gang'.
Earlier in the day, Union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar and Prakash Javadekar too made claims similar to Prasad's.
Union minister Prakash Javadekar said the government is ready to hold talks with the farmers and it has accepted many of their demands. "But when we held talks with them, they said they want people like Sharjil Imam to be released. I think instead of farmers' union, the protest has now gone into the hands of organisations who work to break the nation," Javadekar said.
Similarly, Agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar said MSP and APMC can be the issues of farmers, "but what is the point to raise such posters". "This is dangerous and farmers' unions should keep themselves away from this. This is just to divert and deviate the issues," Tomar said.
A day ago, another Union minister, Raosaheb Danve, claimed that China and Pakistan were behind the ongoing protests by farmers on the borders of Delhi.
"The agitation that is going on is not that of farmers. China and Pakistan have a hand behind this. Muslims in this country were incited first. What was said (to them)? That NRC is coming, CAA is coming and Muslims will have to leave this country in six months. Did a single Muslim leave? Those efforts didn't succeed and now farmers are being told that they will face losses. This is the conspiracy of other countries," PTI quoted Danve as saying in Maharashtra.
Meanwhile, addressing a press conference on the farmers' protest on Thursday, Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar urged the media to find out if there were other forces behind the farmers' protest.
"Media's eyes are sharp and we will leave to it to find out," Tomar said while responding to a question on this aspect.
Union minister Piyush Goyal, who was also present at the press conference, said, "The press has to explore and use your investigation skills to find out."
On the other hand, intelligence sources have said that a report has been sent to the central government, stating that "ultra-Left leaders and pro-Left-wing extremist" elements have "hijacked" the farmers' agitation.
The sources claimed that there are "credible intelligence inputs" to indicate that these elements are "planning to instigate" farmers to indulge in violence, arson, and damage to public property in the coming days.
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