Headlines
After criminal jibe on farmer suicides, Haryana minister retracts
Chandigarh, April 29
After terming farmers who
commit suicide as "cowards" and "criminals under law", a senior Haryana
minister retracted his statement on Wednesday and said that committing
suicide was a sign of "weakness" and the state's farmers were brave.
Agriculture
Minister O.P. Dhankar, who had courted controversy after he said on
Tuesday that farmers committing suicide were "criminals under the law",
on Wednesday changed his tone and said that farmers were a brave
community.
"The people of Haryana are brave. They don't commit
suicide. Committing suicide is a sign of weakness. Haryana is a land of
the brave. Here, suicides are condemned," he said.
However, he added that committing suicide was a crime under section 309 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Dhankar also said that his statement was being twisted by vested interests to play politics over the issue.
Dhankar,
who was earlier a Bharatiya Janata Party activist for farmers' rights,
and used to condemn the earlier UPA government for not doing much for
farmers which was leading to increasing suicides, had on Tuesday said
that the Haryana government could not support farmers who were
committing suicide.
He said that the farmers who were committing
suicide were running away from their responsibilities and leaving their
families and children with liabilities.