Taking legal advice on challenging agri Acts in SC: Punjab CM

CHANDIGARH/KHATKAR KALAN: Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh on Monday said the state will fight the Centre’s "malicious" new Agriculture Acts constitutionally and legally, asserting that he will do whatever it takes to protect the farmers from the "nefarious designs" of the Government of India.
Addressing the media in Chandigarh and earlier at Khatkar Kalan, where he sat on dharna in protest against the new legislations, Amarinder said he will be consulting with lawyers to work out the legal course of action for challenging the unconstitutional laws in the Supreme Court.Agitation and legal recourse will have to be undertaken simultaneously to fight these new laws and force the Union Government to rethink its decision, he said.
Asserting that he does not want Punjab’s youth and farmers to take to arms to fight for their right to live, the chief minister warned that these new laws will endanger the security of the border state of Punjab, as Pakistan’s ISI was always on the lookout for opportunities to foment trouble.
Punjab has lost 35,000 lives to terrorism in senseless violence in the past and with the unrest among the farmers spreading to other states, the entire nation would be exposed to the ISI threat, Amarinder said, adding that Pak-backed forces will try to feed on the angst in India. Pointing out that 150 terrorists had been nabbed in Punjab in recent months with huge caches of arms and ammunition, the chief minister said he will not let anyone disturb the state’s peaceful atmosphere, which the new legislations had the potential to do.
AICC general secretary in charge of Punjab affairs, Harish Rawat, who was accompanying the chief minister, announced a signature campaign beginning October 2 to collect 2 crore signatures of farmers against the new Farm Laws. These will be submitted to the President of India on November 14 to coincide with Jawaharlal Nehru’s birth anniversary, he said, adding that Kisan Sammelans would also be organized to take the fight to its logical conclusion.