Rahul Gandhi accuses PM of being insensitive for not paying compensation to kin of deceased farmers
New Delhi, Dec 3: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of being "insensitive, arrogant and cowardly" in not paying compensation to families of the farmers who died during their agitation against the Centre's farm laws and said he would present a list of such farmers in Parliament.
Addressing a press conference here, he questioned the government's intent behind not granting compensation to the kin of the deceased farmers and slammed it for claiming that there is "no record" of the farmers who died.
The former Congress president alleged that Modi was responsible for these deaths and claimed that the prime minister himself had accepted his mistake of bringing the farm laws and apologised. Gandhi asked why he does not have the dignity and humanity to pay compensation to the kin of the farmers.
Gandhi said even though the Congress government in Punjab was not responsible for the deaths of these farmers during the agitation, it still paid Rs 5 lakh compensation to the families of 403 deceased farmers in the state and provided jobs to 152 of their relatives.
He also claimed that he has a list of all the 700-odd farmers who lost their lives during the agitation against the farm laws and will table this list in Parliament on Monday.
"You yourself apologised and you are saying nobody died. This is not the way the prime minister of India should be behaving. This is a very unpleasant, immoral and cowardly way to behave," he told reporters.
Noting that he did not understand what is the big issue in the government paying these people compensation, he said, "You are so insensitive that you don't understand the pain of these families."
He said the prime minister himself has said that he has made a mistake and has apologised to the nation. "As a result of that mistake 700 people have died. Now, you are lying about their names, Why? Why don't you have the decency to give them what is their due? The Government of India should pay the compensation and help these families," he demanded.
The former Congress chief said they are facing an environment where there is huge joblessness and the government has not let them work for one year and now it is taking away their livelihood. "And now you are saying to them you don't exist."
"They should be given compensation for humanity's sake, but they don't want to give it. Humanity is not there. If the prime minister thinks about those families, about their children, about their education and healthcare, he would have done this in one minute. But the prime minister is only thinking about his own image and position," Gandhi alleged.
In addition to the list of 403 deceased farmers in Punjab, he said, the Congress has a list of 100 farmers from outside Punjab who died during the farm laws agitation and another list of about 200 deceased farmers has been compiled based on public records. The party later released a list of about 500 farmers who died during the agitation.
Asked about the remaining demands of the farmers following the repeal of the farm laws, Gandhi said, "I don't think the government will accept farmers' demands" and asserted that "its intention is not right".
In a tweet later, he said, "Modi ji only has the numbers of his industrialist friends. We have the names and numbers of the farmers who died during the agitation."
"If you really want to apologise, then call these families, share their grief and provide compensation. The Congress government in Punjab did this out of humanity, even when it was not at fault," he said using hashtags "Farmers and HumanityFirst".
"When the PM apologised for making anti-agriculture law, then he should tell in Parliament how he will repent? When will the minister involved in the Lakhimpur incident be sacked? How much compensation will be given to the farmers who died and when? When will false cases against the protesters be taken back? When will there be a law on MSP? Without all this the apology is incomplete," he said in another tweet in Hindi, using hashtag "#FarmLaws".
The Congress leader also said that the Punjab government is not responsible for the deaths of the farmers but paid them compensation because it understands that they are going through a difficult time.
"We have also given 152 of them jobs, we intend to give bulk of them jobs. So, we have already acted on it. Frankly it is not our responsibility, it is the prime minister's personal mistake which he has accepted. So why doesn't he have the dignity to turn around and say 'I will compensate'. What is the problem? It is not a big amount for the Government of India. It is the same with Covid, millions of people have died of Covid. You don't report them as Covid deaths. You report them as something else," he alleged.
He claimed that while official figures in Gujarat say 10,000 COVID-19 deaths, Congress workers have found after visiting every village in the state that over three lakh people have actually died.
The bill to repeal the three contentious farm laws was passed by Parliament on Monday.
Farmers had been demanding that the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; Farmers' (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 be rolled back.
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha, which has been spearheading the protest against the farm laws, last month had written an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking immediate resumption of talks with the government over their six demands, including a law guaranteeing of MSP for all farmers.
My interaction with members of the Press about the farmers’ crisis. https://t.co/9kfvhCNxER
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) December 3, 2021
मोदी जी के पास सिर्फ़ अपने उद्योगपति मित्रों के नंबर हैं।
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) December 3, 2021
हमारे पास शहीद किसानों के नाम व नंबर हैं।
अगर सच में माफ़ी माँगनी है तो इन परिवारों को फ़ोन करो, उनका दुख सुनो व मुआवज़ा दो।
पंजाब की कांग्रेस सरकार ने बिना गलती, इंसानियत के नाते ऐसा किया। #Farmers #HumanityFirst pic.twitter.com/NwPU26E794
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
