Farmers' protest: Opposition leaders target Centre over death of youth in Punjab

Sangrur (Punjab) [India], February 22 : Opposition leaders criticized the Centre for the death of a youth at the Khanauri Border crossing in Sangrur district, Punjab, during the ongoing farmers' protests.
Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann said that he was saddened by the death of a young farmer on the Punjab-Haryana border and asserted that stringent action would be taken against those responsible for it.
"The news of the death of 21-year-old Shubhakaran was received today during the incident at Khanuri border. It is very sad that the youth of my state is no longer in this world. I want to ask the central government why the farmer of Punjab cannot go to the capital of his own country? We express our heartfelt sympathy to the family of Shubhakaran in this hour of sorrow. We assure to help the family financially and socially in all aspects. After the post-mortem, appropriate action will be taken against the responsible officials," he said.
Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party chief, Arvind Kejriwal asked that was it for this day that we fought for independence?
"The death of Punjab's young man Shubhakaran is very sad. Was it for this day that we fought for independence, that one day the governments elected by us in our own country will martyr our own sons like the British? We are completely with Shubhakaran and will ensure strict punishment to his murderers," Kejriwal said in a post on X.
Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa demanded that an FIR should be registered against the Home Minister of Haryana.
"A 23-year-old from Bathinda district was shot during police firing, there is a video of it and I have seen it. Unfortunately, all these protesters were in Punjab territory, and none of them didn't do anything wrong but the kind of action Haryana forces are taking on the peaceful protesters is condemnable. I want to say to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann Ji, you should stand with farmers. I also demand that an FIR should be registered against the Home Minister of Haryana Anil Vij in Punjab police station as the police firing is happening and he is the Home Minister, it's his moral responsibility," Bajwa told ANI.
In a post on X, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah condemned the death of the youth protestor.
"I condemn the tragic murder of farmer during the protest who was shot by the police in the BJP ruled Haryana. Such acts of violence against individuals exercising their right to protest are unacceptable and demand immediate and thorough investigation to ensure justice is served," he said.
"Shooting down protestors are common under the BJP. The murder of farmers under @BSYBJP's tenure is still fresh in our memory. The entire nation is seeking #JusticeForFarmers. Every Indian respects 'Anna and Annadata', and they will teach BJP a great lesson for murdering the farmers," Siddaramaiah added.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav called the centre to make decisions to eliminate the problems of farmers.
"Farmers are protesting, they are demanding law on MSP but BJP people were advertising Bharat Ratna. At least now, after giving Bharat Ratna to Dr MS Swaminathan and Chaudhary Charan Singh, they (Centre) need to make decisions to eliminate problems of farmers," he said.
State BJP president Sunil Jakhar said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday that it was "most unfortunate" that the negotiations between the farmers and the central government had "not fructified". The fourth round of talks between the farmer union leaders and central government ministers ended on Monday with the leaders rejecting the government's offers.
"With Bhagwant Mann himself -of all the people-acting as the lawyer for the farmers, these negotiations were destined to fail - because CM Mann had every thing to gain from the failure of these talks. Not only would he now be able to show central govt in bad light but also redirect those farmers also to Delhi who had initially wanted to march to Chandigarh. And sure enough, he has succeeded in this mission by jeopardising the sincere efforts of both the farmers and the central ministerial team to arrive at a solution," Jakhar said in his post.