Congress leader Rahul Gandhi spoke with a farmer injured during a clash with police, criticizing the Modi government's "dictatorial attitude" towards protesters.
The conversation, facilitated by Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Raja Warring, occurred Tuesday night after Warring's visit to a government hospital in Rajpura town, Patiala district.
In a Hindi post on his WhatsApp channel, Gandhi expressed solidarity with Gurmeet Singh, a former soldier, who suffered serious injuries during the farmers' protest march. Gandhi denounced the government's treatment of farmers, describing it as dictatorial.
Gandhi, a former Congress president, inquired about Singh's injuries, to which Singh reported wounds on his hands and near his eye. The conversation also touched upon the injuries sustained by other protestors during the police action.
He is a youth as well as a farmer instead of hailing him, this dictatorial attitude of the Modi government towards the country's protector and food provider is putting democracy to shame, Gandhi said.
The clashes between farmers and Haryana Police occurred at two border points between states as protestors attempted to march towards the national capital, facing tear gas and water cannons.
Farmer leaders accused the Centre of orchestrating the attack on protesters, claiming that 60 individuals were injured as police deployed tear gas shells at Punjab-Haryana border points.