Summary:
Pune, Oct 16 (PTI) Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday said the Union government should handle the ongoing agitation against new farm laws with sensitivity, keeping in mind that majority of protesters are from Punjab, a border state.
The country has paid the price of upsetting Punjab in the past, he said, referring to former prime minister Indira Gandhi"s assassination during Khalistan militancy.
Speaking to reporters at Pimpri near here, Pawar, who has handled defense and agriculture portfolios at the Centre, was replying to a question about the farmers" agitation on Delhi borders which has been going on for several months.
"I have been there (to the protest site) two-three times.
The Union government"s stand does not seem rational," he said.
Participants in the agitation are from many states including Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, but most of them are from Punjab, Pawar noted.