Punjab Congress has urged Union Minister and Bathinda MP Harsimrat Badal to ensure justice to 50,000 displaced Sikh farming families of Gujarat, before embarking upon her mission to mitigate the woes of Punjab farmers.

Welcoming Harsimrat’s pledge to mitigate Punjabi farmers’ woes during her maiden visit to the holy city of Amritsar, Congress party has asked her “to take up the case of 50,000 aggrieved Sikh farming families being ousted from the Kutch region of Gujarat”.

The party reiterated its stand that the then Narendra Modi led Gujarat Government, taking cover of the obsolete Bombay Tenancy and lands Act, 1948, had frozen accounts of said 50,000 Sikh farmers in Kutch district. Although the Sikh farmers got relief from Ahmedabad High Court but the Gujarat government filed a SlP challenging reprieve order in the Supreme Court. These Sikh farmers who had been tilling their lands for the last 50 years, are now running from pillar to post for justice.

“The eviction of Sikh farmers from Gujarat had also become a burning election issue, during just concluded lok Sabha polls. Keeping in mind the sensitivity of the issue, Modi during his rally at Jagraon on February 23 also made a public promise to rehabilitate the aggrieved Sikh farmers,” reminded party former MlA Sukhpal Khaira.

That was why the Congress party wanted Harsimrat to first take up the case of agitating Sikh farmers of Gujarat with the newly-elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi and ensure justice to them. “This would be a litmus test for Harsimrat Kaur and the SAD, whether they can convince the NDA government to resolve crisis being faced by the farmers,” he added.