Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh tore into his Haryana counterpart Manohar Lal Khattar on Saturday, criticising him for brute police crackdown on farmers headed to Delhi three days ago. Mincing no words, he also said he will not answer his calls because of the way he acted, adding that farmers’ concerns are genuine and the Centre needs to address them.

“Who are you stop to them? Punjab is not stopping its farmers, Delhi is not stopping them. It is their right to protest. Why are you unleashing cops on them, tear gassing them, using water cannons on them?,” a furious Capt Amarinder lashed out at Khattar in an interview. “You thrashed them for speaking their mind. This is dishonest behaviour. I will not answer his call even if he calls me ten times now,” he remained steadfast in his stance. The Punjab CM who himself had handled 60-days agitation in his state till the farmers decided to move to Delhi, rubbished charges leveled by Khattar that he is the “conspirator” behind thousands of angry farmers’ marching towards Delhi. “He is a completely dishonest man. Can the CM of a state lead an agitation? He is making these irresponsible statements,” Capt Amarinder said. “My sympathy is with my farmer..I will never let a law and order situation build up. I am sitting in a border state. What happened (in Haryana) was not break down of law and order but spontaneous reaction to government bills,” the Punjab CM emphasized.

Responding to Khattar’s denial that Haryana farmers are part of the agitation, he said, “If he has to fire his gun on my shoulders, I don’t care. Everyone knows what is the reality, everyone knows it is the spontaneous reaction of Punjab farmers who work very hard in their fields. 40 to 50 thousand farmers from Haryana are part of the agitation.” Haryana cops unleashed brutal force on farmers at Singhu border even as the latter braved water cannons in freezing temperatures.  The state government and police have been heavily criticised for its brutish handling of what started as a peaceful protest while Khattar defended saying they acted with “great restraint”. “Haryana farmers have stayed away from the protest. Punjab farmers are agitating and they are being led by office bearers of Punjab CMO. Punjab CM has been fanning this,” Khattar had stated.

 Capt Amarinder also assured that he was willing to work in tandem with the Centre provided the farmers’ are assuaged. “I spoke to the Home Minister. I asked him to call an early meeting instead of the fixed date of December 3. It is important to resolve this matter from security point of view. We are a border state. I know what Pakistan is up to.”