Meghalaya Governor Backs Protesting Farmers; Urges Centre Not to Pressurize

Meghalaya Governor Satya Pal Malik granted complete backing to the farmers' movement against the farm regulations and warned the government against insulting the farmers, in what might otherwise be an inconvenience to the centre.

"The government must abandon its ignorance and consider the real requirements of the farmers. Centre should not condemn the farmers and the government is on the wrong track. Govt. should realize that the farmers will not pull back," Malik said at an event in Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh, on Sunday.

Malik, a Baghpat resident, also requested that the MSP (minimum support price) be guaranteed by the Centre. "I assume the farmers would concede if the government provides some form of legal assurance on MSP," he said.

He stated that he acted after learning of the attempt to detain Rakesh Tikait, an influential farmer leader at the frontline of the Delhi protests.Malik claimed to have presented the farmers' requests to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, urging them not to return the farmers back "blank."

"I asked both the Prime Minister and the Home Minister not to include coercion with regards to the farmers. The Sikh farmers will never forget the same, not even in hundreds of years to come," he said.

The Meghalaya Governor also said that Prime Minister Indira Gandhi conducted 'Mahamrityunjay Mantra Jaap' after Army jawans infiltrated the Golden Temple in Amritsar to apprehend Sikh militant leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale during 'Operation Blue Star' in 1984.

Indira Gandhi told former Congress leader Arun Nehru that the Sikh community would never forgive her for causing damage to the 'Akal Takht,' he added.