Suspension of Opposition MPs in Rajya Sabha an attack on democracy, says Pinarayi Vijayan

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday slammed the suspensionof eight opposition MPs from the Rajya Sabha for protesting against the farm bills and said it was an attack on democracy.

In the last six years, over 60,000 farmers had committed suicide and in 2019 alone, 10,281 farmers had ended their lives in the country, Vijayan said in aFacebook Post. "Through the two bills, an attempt is being made by the central government to push the lives of farmers into eternal misery", he said. In the name of doing away with middlemen, the farmers will be forced to become slaves of corporate farming, pushing the country into destruction, the Chief Minister alleged.

Theattempts to stifle the voices being raised against this injustice,even in Parliament, is against all democratic values. The entire country needs to stand with farmers atthis juncture as their problems should be the country's priority, he said.

The MPs were suspended on Monday, a day after the Upper House witnessed unprecedented unruly scenes by protesting opposition members during passage of the two bills, described as the biggest reform in agriculture by the government. The Farmer's Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill 2020 have already been passed by the Lok Sabha and will now go to the President for his assent before they are notified as laws.

The Opposition, led by the Congress in the Rajya Sabha, had criticised the bills, saying they will not sign on the "death warrant" of farmers and demanded that they be sent to the Select Committee for scrutiny, while the ruling BJP had accused these parties of misleading the farmers.