ML Khattar said they will work to make a new law to make protesters who destroy property pay up (File)
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar met his party colleague and Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday to discuss the way ahead amid the protest by farmers against three new farm laws. The Chief Minister in a statement after the meeting said they will work to make a new law to make protesters who destroy property pay up.
The BJP government in Haryana - one of the states seeing the biggest protest by farmers - will try to bring the law in the upcoming session of the legislative assembly, Mr Khattar said.
Mr Khattar's comments have drawn sharp criticism on social media with people asking who would pay for damages on highways dug up to stop protesting farmers from marching towards Delhi.
Farmers especially from Haryana and neighbouring Punjab have dug in along the Delhi border for over two months, demanding the government to withdraw the three laws that they say threaten minimum price guarantee and would open the door to corporate control of the farm sector.
The protest has seen intermittent clash with the police, damaging public and private property in its wake. A tractor rally by farmers on January 26 had also turned violent in Delhi.
"Some people are agitating just for the sake of protest against the farm laws, which reflects their vested political intent," Mr Khattar said today, news agency PTI reported.
Mr Khattar repeated the centre's offer to discuss the laws clause by clause.
"If through a positive dialogue, any amendment in these laws is required, then the government will always be ready for it," the Chief Minister said.
The farmers are adamant that they will not accept anything less than a repeal of the laws. They also want a law that guarantees the Minimum Support Price (MSP).
The government, which says the laws will benefit farmers by removing middlemen and enable them to sell crops anywhere in the country, has blamed the opposition for the protests, saying they are inciting farmers.