Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (UBT) on Thursday launched a blistering attack on the Mahayuti government following reports of a debt-ridden farmer from Maharashtra allegedly selling his kidney in Cambodia to repay moneylenders.
The party mouthpiece 'Saamana' editorial, titled "The Disgrace of the Soil", described the incident not just as a crime, but as a "stain on the conscience of a state that calls itself progressive".
The editorial highlighted the harrowing case of Roshan Sadashiv Kude, a farmer from Chandrapur in the Vidarbha region. After suffering total crop failure on his four-acre plot and losing his cattle to disease, Kude fell into a debt trap. Despite selling half his land, his tractor, and household belongings, he remained unable to meet the extortionate daily interest demands of Rs 10,000 imposed by local moneylenders.
The editorial noted with horror that it was the moneylender who allegedly "advised" and facilitated the farmer's journey to Cambodia to sell his organ. "In the land of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, where farmers should be protected, they are being auctioned piece by piece in foreign lands," claimed the editorial.
The Thackeray camp has accused the state administration of being "intoxicated by power" while ignoring the rural crisis. It pointed out that while the government is busy with "event management" and announcing pre-election schemes (Government Resolutions), the agricultural backbone of the state is collapsing. "The Deputy Chief Minister speaks of 'New Maharashtra,' but in this 'New Maharashtra,' a farmer has to cross international borders to sell his kidney to keep his family alive. The "administrative dacoity" regarding municipal looting has now extended to the very bodies of the poor," it alleged.
The editorial slammed the police administration, saying that had it taken the action against the four money lenders, who have now been under arrest, in time, the farmer's life could not have been devastated. At the national level, farmers are reeling under a debt burden of a whopping Rs 12 lakh crore, of which farmers from Maharashtra are bearing the burden of Rs eight lakh crore. It is so ironic that the Centre, which writes off the debt of industries, is not giving much-needed relief to farmers by providing a crop loan waiver, which is forcing the farmers to commit suicide.
According to the editorial, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had given a promise of crop loan waiver before the state Assembly elections, but now he has forgotten it after assuming power.
The Thackeray camp has demanded an immediate and "merciless" action against the moneylenders and the international syndicate involved in the kidney racket.
It has called for a high-level probe into the international organ trafficking links between Maharashtra and Cambodia, a debt waiver and an immediate audit of private moneylending practices in Vidarbha and Marathwada. The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena has demanded the resignation of the Agriculture Minister over this failure of the state's safety net.
(With inputs from IANS)
