SAD(A) leaders to visit Kutch after Narendra Modi's decision to evict 800 Sikh families

PHAGWARA: SAD(A) leaders would visit Kutch in Gujarat on August 8 to assess the situation there in the wake of Chief Minister Narendra Modi's decision to evict 800 families of farmers, mostly Sikhs, by invoking Bombay- Vidharbha Tenancy Act.

Jaskaran Singh Kahan Singhwala, chief of Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) farmers' wing, said he and other party leaders would meet the affected farmers as well as Kutch Deputy Commissioner and submit memorandum addressed to the Gujarat Governor.

"We will submit report to party president Simranjit Singh Mann who will make it public within fortnight," Singhwala, also SAD(A) general secretary, said.

He also criticised Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal for not addressing the issue properly.

"If Badal has an iota of concern for farmers, he should bring out an ordinance banning buying or owning of land in Punjab by residents of those states, including Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, where Punjabis cannot buy or own land," he said.

National Commission for Minorities member Ajaib Singh had on August 3 appealed to the Punjab Chief Minister to intervene with his Gujarat counterpart on behalf of Sikh farmers who are facing eviction from Kutch district after having resettled there.