Gurugram: Haryana agriculture minister J.P. Dalal has riled up farmer outfits, khap panchayats and opposition leaders in the state with comments on farmer leaders, their wives, daughters and daughters-in-law, and is facing calls for an apology and his resignation.
The farmer leaders targeted by Dalal had led a year-long agitation on the borders of Delhi in 2020-2021 against three controversial farms laws brought in by the Modi government, which finally had to be repealed.
While addressing a public meeting in his Loharu constituency Sunday, Dalal, who is from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), advised the public to beware of farmer leaders who “instigate for an agitation for their selfish ends”.
“They used to keep sitting idle here. I know all of them. Now, if I speak, they will say I speak badly about them. Their own wives don’t listen to them and they claim to be farmers’ saviours. I know them all. Some of them have three criminal cases against them and some have five. Someone’s daughter-in-law has eloped, and some one’s daughter. And they claim to be your leaders,” Dalal said.
“You also know all about them. They say I can’t resist speaking out. Why? Have I taken any undue benefit from anyone? Why shouldn’t I speak?” he added, asking people to identify who was with them and who was “taking benefit by fooling people”.
Dalal shared a video of his speech on his Meta account Monday, which has now gone viral on social media and led to demands for an apology as well as his dismissal from the BJP-Jannayak Janta Party state cabinet.
ThePrint tried to reach Dalal with queries over the phone but he did not respond.
Sanjay Sharma, spokesperson of the Haryana BJP, said that Dalal’s words were not for common farmers but for certain “self-styled” farmer leaders.
“These so-called farmer leaders don’t even do farming. But their entire livelihood runs on farmers’ agitations. This is the reason they keep instigating farmers. The minister was just warning farmers against such self-styled leaders,” Sharma told ThePrint.
The Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) Thursday held a demonstration in Karnal and submitted a memorandum addressed to Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar demanding the dismissal of Dalal from the cabinet. ThePrint has a copy of the document.
The memorandum says, “J.P. Dalal, a minister in your cabinet, uttered such hateful and indecent remarks on agitating farmers during a speech at Loharu which could not be justified in any manner. No one can justify remarks on bahus and betis (daughters-in-law and daughters). We don’t even feel comfortable reproducing the language used by the minister in this memorandum”.
“A sense of resentment prevails among people against Dalal’s utterance and your government is being criticised everywhere because of this. We have been forced to hold a protest at Karnal today. Through this memorandum, we demand Dalal’s dismissal from the cabinet and stern action against him,” it adds.
Speaking to ThePrint after the demonstration, Rattan Mann, district president of the BKU that is headed at the national level by Naresh Tikait, said that through the memorandum, his outfit had threatened to launch an agitation if prompt action was not taken against the minister.
The Sanyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), the umbrella organisation that led the year-long farmers’ agitation, also demanded Dalal’s dismissal from the Haryana cabinet.
In a statement Thursday, the organisation strongly condemned the minister’s remarks. “J.P. Dalal’s utterances not only degrade the activists of the farmers’ movement but more than that, his remarks demean the dignity of women as a whole,” it stated.
In a post on X Tuesday, Congress leader and former Haryana minister Kiran Choudhry, who represents the Tosham assembly seat, described the minister’s statement as highly shameful and unbecoming of a political leader.
Speaking to ThePrint Thursday, Choudhry said it doesn’t behove a political leader to comment on women family members of farmer leaders, or anyone else for that matter.
She alleged that Dalal was used to making controversial statements and had made insensitive remarks over farmers’ deaths even during the Delhi protests.
The Phogat Khap Panchayat held a meeting over Dalal’s comments in Charkhi Dadri and condemned his statement.
Speaking to ThePrint Thursday, Balwant Phogat, president of the panchayat, said the khap had demanded an apology from Dalal.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi and CM Khattar should think about what kind of people they have selected to be MLAs and ministers in their government. We will wait for a week, and if the minister doesn’t apologise or if the CM doesn’t take action against him, we will call a meeting of Sarva Khap Panchayat on this issue,” said Phogat.
Also Read: Modi govt’s farm laws misadventure will hurt urbanisation
Dalal draws flak
Prahlad Singh Bharukhera, state president of another farmers’ organisation, the Rashtriya Kisan Manch, told ThePrint that the minister’s comments showed his frustration as the “people were against the BJP-JJP government”.
“The people of Haryana are fed up with the BJP-JJP government and have decided to root them out in the coming elections. This is the reason its leaders are frustrated,” Bharukhera said. He too demanded Dalal’s dismissal.
Former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda asserted that people holding posts of responsibility must exercise care while speaking and maintain decorum in language.
“Our rich Indian and Haryanvi culture expects us to treat everyone’s sisters and daughters with respect. But the way Dalal has made derogatory comments about women to vent out political frustrations is unimaginable and unacceptable,” Hooda told ThePrint Thursday.
He alleged that while farmers had been agitating for over three years for their legitimate demands, instead of listening to them, BJP-JJP leaders were using derogatory language to insult them. Hooda demanded an apology from Dalal.
Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader Abhay Singh Chautala also came down heavily on Dalal for his comments. Sharing Dalal’s speech video on X, he described it as the BJP’s “anti-farmer and anti-women face”.
“When the BJP brought black laws, cane-charged the farmers, farmer organisations made the BJP government (at the Centre) come to its knees. Now, BJP leaders are again insulting farmers. The farmers will teach them a lesson during elections,” Chautala wrote in Hindi.
कृषि मंत्री का बयान बहुत शर्मनाक है। ये BJP का असली किसान विरोधी व महिला विरोधी चेहरा है
जब BJP काले कानून लाई, किसानों पर लाठी चलाई तब किसान संगठनों ने BJPके घुटने टिका दिए थे। फिर भी ये किसान नेताओं व संगठनों का अपमान करने से बाज़ नही आ रहे
चुनावों में किसान इनका हिसाब करेंगे pic.twitter.com/VLPPoSYCqi
— Abhay Singh Chautala (@AbhaySChautala) November 28, 2023
The Dhankar Khap Panchayat also demanded a public apology from Dalal at its meeting in Jhajjar Wednesday.
“J.P. Dalal is an elected representative and is sitting in the position of a minister. A person occupying such a post using derogatory language for the wives and daughters of others isn’t acceptable to the khaps. I have spoken to the representatives of the Kadian Khap and the Gulia Khap, both from Jhajjar district, and they too have expressed a deep sense of anger over Dalal’s remarks,” Yudhbir Singh Dhankar, president of the Dhankar Khap, said while speaking to ThePrint Thursday.
“We demand a public apology from him, else we will call a meeting of the Sarva Khap Panchayat to decide our future course of action,” he added.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
Also Read: Why the farmers’ movement is no longer what the Modi govt thinks it is