In a shocking video, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Hakam Singh Anjana is heard referring to farmers as “thieves” and a “dishonest community, scoundrels and fit to be beaten with shoes”.
"Farmers are the dishonest community. Farmers are thief and scoundrel. Farmers are bastard, they should be beaten with shoes."
~ Hakam Singh Anjana BJP leader Madhya Pradesh #JumleYaadAayenge pic.twitter.com/wNAKNxcnIZ— Md Asif Khan (@imMAK02) May 26, 2018
Criticising the farmers for being a “dishonest lot”, Anjana said, “The state government is offering Rs 800 per quintal of garlic and the farmers are resorting to theft as those who did not sow this crop have also registered themselves with the mandis.”
“Traders are earning Rs 2 on this while the farmers are getting Rs 6 per kg,” he added.
He went on to say that the farmers “need to be beaten with shoes as it serves them right”.
Anjana’s anti-farmer tirade comes ahead of a statewide agitation by farmers on June 1. They have been demanding 1.5 times income to input cost and waiver of farm loans.
The BJP leader was answering as to why the farmers were unhappy in Madhya Pradesh. Anjana can be heard praising state Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and lashing out at the farmers.
Madhya Pradesh has recently witnessed protests by farmers after garlic prices plummeted to Rs 1 a kg. The state is the second largest producer of garlic after Rajasthan whose mandis have recently seen a glut leading to the crashing of prices.
In MP, Chief Minister Chouhan’s policies have caused a lot of heartburn to farmers in the recent past. In June 2017, six farmers from Neemuch and Mandsaur had died during a violent protest as police opened fire on them.
Anjana was criticised by many on social media for his vitriolic outburst against the farmers.