The Year-Long Farmers’ Movement In India Ends!

In a huge relief for the whole of India, the Government and the farming community the year-long Farmers’ Movement has come to an end today after the Joint Farmers Front leaders announced in Delhi that the Government had accepted all their demands that prominently included the promulgation of a law guarantying Minimum Support Prices (MSP) for their crops and the withdrawal of all charges against the agitating farmers. The leaders described this as a historic victory against an arrogant government further saying that their peaceful movement was unprecedented in India as well as in the world. The farmers would start leaving the Delhi borders from the 11^th of this month, after the state funeral tomorrow of the CDS Gen. Bipin Rawat who died in a tragic chopper crash yesterday, with a victory march to their respective home states, they added. The leaders also said that the Joint Farmers Front which was formed with the constituents of all farm unions across the country to steer the movement would be kept active to monitor the steps taken by the government in the coming weeks and there will a review meeting on 15^th January 2022 for this purpose.

 

Most of the farmers of the country, the food-givers, fought for the repeal of the three Farm Laws and a guaranteed MSP, and after more than 11 rounds of talks with the Government of India the Prime Minister had to bow down to their demands announcing the repeal of the laws on November 19, 2021, with the ongoing winter session of the Parliament having already effected the same without any debate as the opposition political parties have been fighting too on behalf of the farmers for the same objective. The farmers spent days and nights on the grounds bordering the capital of Delhi for more than a year defying the challenges of all the four seasons and the pandemic. In the process they lost around 750 farmers languishing and perishing in the camps. There have been various protest demonstrations, road-rail blockades, protest and tractor marches throughout the year. The final historic victory proves that the food-givers of any country cannot be ignored for long and cannot be left unhappy and agitating—be it for the ‘roti’ or for the elections or for whatever.

 

We extend our hearty welcome for their decision and stand with them, as always, for the future. Now, the ball is in the Government’s court and it’d be interesting to watch what follows next. The Government knows fully well that they cannot go back on their promises and can never afford one more movement by the community upon whom the economy of the country depends to a large extent. The Government must take all the steps now to reduce and then eliminate fully the trust deficit that has been building up in the hearts of the farmers against the government thanks to various dubious actions taken by the latter during the period to derail the movement. It is good time now to go for the much-needed agricultural reforms in a positive and proactive frame of mind taking all stakeholders on board.

Prime Minister Speaks: And Then The Three Farm Laws To Be Repealed!

In a totally unexpected development, the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi in an address to the nation early morning today has, on the occasion of Guru Nanak Birth anniversary called Guru Purab or Prakash Parv (a holy festival observed by the Sikhs on the birth/demise anniversaries of the their Saints/Gurus), announced the Government’s decision to repeal the three controversial Farm Laws the constitutional formalities of which are going to be completed in the winter session of the Indian Parliament starting from 29^th November 2021. The Prime Minister, though, stoutly defended the Farm Laws saying that these reforms were brought in favor of the farmers, particularly the small and marginal farmers; however, he admitted that the laws could not convince sections of the farmers and dissatisfied cultivators cannot be left behind. Narendra Modi added that perhaps the government’s ‘dedication’ to uplift the cultivators of the country was not enough. The Prime Minister also promised to revamp and strengthen the Minimum Support Prices (MSP) of crops mechanism by appointing a committee of state representatives, farmers, agricultural experts and economists, and this step was also to be decided in the Parliament session.

 

The Farmers’ Movement has been going on for nearly a year with thousands of them camping in the outskirts of capital Delhi and suffering through all four seasons, many of them perishing in the camps. They have been observing various programs of highway blockades; rail blockades; Delhi marches during one of which on the Republic Day of 26^th January this year there was a burst of unprecedented, arguably unintended, violence in the capital; marches to the Parliament; Bharat Bandhs; and so on. Around 11 rounds of talks with the Modi government failed to resolve the issue and the government allegedly tried to repress the movement in various ways like trying to win over factions to support the laws or taking tough measures in the areas of the camps and so on. The trust-deficit of the farmers in the Government of India has worsened so much that even now, at this welcome announcement, the top leadership of the farmers says that the movement will continue till the last nail on the cancelation of the three laws gets hammered in during the Parliament as promised.

 

Be it for the forthcoming assembly elections in five states including the crucial states of the definitive (for General Elections) Uttar Pradesh and Punjab where the BJP is still a minor player even after the Amarinder Singh defection from the Congress, or be it the final realization of the Prime Minister about the intrinsic fears lurking in the provisions of the laws this huge announcement is indeed very welcome—basically because no nation can survive for long keeping the food-givers unhappy and agitating; for the farmers it comes as the final victory; the success of democratic movements; and for the BJP a favorable factor to seal the assembly elections. As has been hailed all around the decision is indeed a political ‘masterstroke’ on the eve of the assembly elections early next year, suddenly taking away the main vote plank from the opposition political parties, particularly for the Congress tactics in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. The opposition has largely welcomed the step calling it a victory for the farmers and that it marks the end of the ruling party’s ‘arrogance’.

 

Agrarian reforms have always been a contentious issue in most of the nations of the world, particularly India where agriculture is still the mainstay of the country’s economy. Attempts at reforming the farming sector have been going on since the British period and the post-independence era in India where many of the reforms proved to be big blunders while some of these seemed to have benefited the farmers. Most of the nations of the world have been following a capitalist form of agriculture with a regular mechanism of giving subsidies to help the land-holding phenomena of farming survive, and the concept of ‘cooperative farming’ in the most inclusive sense still remains a dream.

 

The Prime Minister while stoutly defending the three Farm Laws failed to mention the fact that many of the top Indian economists and agriculturists were bitterly divided over the issue—the main fear being the big capitalists taking over farming putting the farmers at their mercy for the MSPs or guaranteed prices and ending the land ownership cultivation of the small and marginal farmers. Yet, inequalities in the farming community continue to exist with some of them being affluent enjoying the benefits of technology while most of the small and marginal farmers continue to struggle at a subsistence level. Therefore, truly convincing and inclusive reforms are always welcome.

 

In any case, we heartily welcome this big announcement by the Prime Minister largely for the fact that one of the longest ever agitations, particularly by the food-givers, is finally going to end. Debates must go on for reforms and one of the main allegations of the opposition parties and other experts and leaders had been the fact that there was no debate before passing these crucial Farm Laws in Parliament. The target or the task is extremely difficult no doubt, because in a democracy it is well-nigh impossible to satisfy all stakeholders with a particular policy; however as we have said the efforts must be intensified democratically taking all into consideration.

Indian Farmers’ Crisis: Two Months And The Republic Day Aftermath!

Perhaps the Indian agitating farmers, protesting for more than 60 days, made two strategic mistakes at two crucial junctures. First when the Supreme Court of India stayed the Farm Laws till further orders and constituted a panel to carry forward the discussion. The farmers rejected this saying that all the four members of the panel were in support of the three Farm Laws, and that they wanted to talk with the Government only and wanted solutions through this. Perhaps, they could have perceived the stay on the implementation of the laws as a moral victory, and felt the opportunity in this, because the opinions of the panelists were not going to be the final say with the Supreme Court observing.

 

Second when the Government of India proposed what they had termed as the best offer: willing to stay the three laws for a period 18 months and carrying on the process of discussion, looking for required amendments of some provisions and so on. The farmers rejected this too saying that they would not stop at anything short of a repeal of the laws and a legislation to guarantee Minimum Support Prices. Perhaps, they could have reasoned that one and half years was quite a long time, and that the interim period was full of opportunities at finally arriving at the laws they would not object to.

 

The sole factor responsible for the stalemate has been the ever-growing trust deficit between the farmers and the government. The farmers did not want to put trust on the government due to many reasons, and they were also apprehensive of losing the momentum of the painstakingly built-up movement once they agreed to the proposals or rather falling into the trap supposedly set by the government.

 

The BJP-led National Democratic Government at the centre has always been used to more of cracking down on democratic movement than respecting the same over the last few years. The methods used to crack a movement are familiar to many, and in trying to crack the Farmers’ Movement most of the ‘time-tested’ methods are used: that the laws passed by the Parliament will be very beneficial for the farmers; that the agitation represented only two states of India and the rest of the farmers are always in support of the laws; that parallel farm unions are meeting the government to urge them usher in the reforms; that the opposition political parties are misleading the farmers; that terrorist elements have infiltrated the agitation and the enemy nation beyond the border is trying to take advantage of this to create disturbances; and that finally after a successful crack, labelling all agitators as anti-nationals or traitors or terrorists.   

 

What happened in the national capital on the 72^nd Republic Day, 26^th January 2021, in the wake of a tractor rally by the agitating farmers that was granted permission to enter Delhi after the Supreme Court refused to interfere, was a blot in the entire history of independent India. The utter chaos, the sporadic violence unfolding across the streets, the breach of the historical Red Fort and the injuries suffered by the policemen were unprecedented and must be condemned by all. Insult to the national flag cannot be condoned under any circumstances either. However, another chaotic drama unfolded immediately afterwards with the crosscurrents of photos/videos in the social media and on the television screens: one group saying the farmers had insulted the national tricolor and were actually terrorists while the other group alleging the opposite saying that the peaceful agitating farmers were not part of the violent acts, and that it was a conspiracy of the national ruling party to break the movement.

 

Well, the government, enjoying the support of a brute but abundantly clear majority, achieved what was required to put the agitation to an end irrespective of the contrasting narratives in circulation. FIRs and lookout notices were pressed in for most of the farmer leaders, and more forces, the police and paramilitary, were posted at all of the three protest sites bordering the national capital Delhi which are Ghazipur, Singhu and Tikri. The Yogi Government of Uttar Pradesh issued an ultimatum to the farmers at Ghazipur, ordering them to vacate immediately, and the forces even staged a flag march there in the dead of the night of 27-28^th January, 2021. Water and electricity supplies were cut off. Similar moves were also noticed at the Singhu border which has been the epicenter of the movement since the last two months.

 

The two-month-old farmers’ movement seemed doomed and actually cracked open with several Unions withdrawing from the protests and hundreds of farmers returning to their villages. But then, everything changed which essentially meant that the government’s perception about the ‘movement’ was wrong. One front-running leader of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), Rakesh Tikait, surrounded by security forces and deserted by many farmers during the same night of January 27-28^th at Ghazipur, cried out conspiracy and became tearfully emotional. He declared an indefinite fast, and said he would drink water only from his village.

 

His interview given to the media went viral instantly. And, his brother-leader in Uttar Pradesh along with thousands of farmers expressed shock, anger and sadness. They started garnering support immediately and started sending enforcements of farmers carrying the essentials including drinking water. Thus supported, Rakesh Tikait defied the Yogi government ultimatum with more and more farmers rejoining, even the returning farmers coming back. The plan of the Yogi government could never be carried out even as water and electricity supplies were restored the next day.

 

One more shocking event of mob violence happened at Singhu border on 29^th January which made the ‘conspiracy’ angle much more plausible. A group of more than 200 people, claiming to be locals and wanting farmers to end stir in view of they insulting the national tricolor, carrying the national tricolor were allowed to cross at least three heavy barricades and to come face to face with the agitating farmers, calling the latter names in the most horrific way. The mob started pelting stones at the farmers ransacking their tents and belongings as the police looked on. Only when the situation got out of control with some the mob swinging swords the police cracked down, and at least two of them were seriously injured. Fortunately, this time the policemen were not attacked by the ‘farmers’.

 

The Farmers’ Movement, instead of getting cracked open, has got a second lease of life, perhaps even stronger than before. The cultivators are the providers of food and they constitute the bane of the Indian economy. In the long run all stakeholders have everything to lose only if they try to divide or alienate them or calling them ‘traitors’, or ‘terrorists’ or ‘anti-nationals’. Good sense seems to have prevailed over the Government with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for the first time, reaching out to the farmers saying that the ‘best offer’ still holds and that resolution must be reached through dialogue only. The concerns of the farmers must be put at rest first, reforms can come after that. 

Indian Farmers’ Crisis: Bharat Bandh Tomorrow!

It is extremely ironical that the only Indian sector largely unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic should get embroiled in a seemingly endless crisis. The Farmers’ agitation, some people detest calling it that, has entered the 12^th day with the farmers still camping in the Delhi-Haryana border, braving the unusually cold winter this time and blocking most of the highways leading to the capital. Three rounds of talks with the Government of India have failed to yield solutions that the farmers wanted, and the fourth round of talks has been scheduled on December 9. With the Union Agriculture minister still adhering to the government line of argument that the reforms as promised by the Farm Laws would be beneficial for the farmers in the long run, the distressed and tired farmers want a repeal of the laws, and demand an answer of ‘yes or no’ to that. Therefore, despite the government’s promise of presenting a set of concrete proposals on the 9^ththe farmers are going ahead with their plan of observing a Bharat Bandh in protest tomorrow, the 8^th of December 2020.

 

Nobody would deny the fact that reforms are urgently needed in the agricultural sector with the Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMC) becoming obsolete and a growing burden for both the farmers and the government, and the continuing exploitation of the farmers by the APMC-centric middlemen and of course, the money lenders nobody is talking about whom, but it has been a fact of life that the stranglehold of the moneylenders drives scores of small and marginal farmers to suicides every year.

 

Except for the states of Punjab and Haryana the APMCs do not play a significant role in many other states where the state governments had either dismantled these or allowed the farmers the option to sell to the private traders too. So, it is not surprising that only 6% of Indian farmers actually sell through the APMCs or that only 25% of the total farming transactions are done in APMCs. Further, the system of Minimum Support Price (MSP) is applicable to only 23 commodities, and this system is largely responsible for overproduction in food grains leading to tremendous wastage in the warehouses, and also it cannot stop the mechanism of distress selling by farmers during hard times. Most of the states had already delinked the sale of vegetables and fruits from the APMC mandis long back.

 

So yes. Reforms are indeed needed. The earlier governments also wanted to either change or abolish the APMCs. But the almost covert, majority-based and rushed way the government of India pushed the Farm Laws and passed these in Parliament could hardly be justified, and in fact, this high-handedness had led to the creation of fears, uncertainty and unrest in the farmers across the country. In terms of policies and reforms the Indian agricultural sector, still the bane of the economy, has a legacy since the pre-independence period, and therefore, to have an ideal system of farming with easy and profitable market access to the cultivators free of the sucking middlemen and the traps of the money lenders, a chain of storage facilities, appropriate mechanism to encourage commercial crops and so on, one needs a long process of deliberations, brainstorming, constitution of panel of experts, submission of reports etc. taking all political parties and all stakeholders on board.

 

So, it seems that the rushing through of the laws at this pandemic times was just a means to help out the corporates to generate more funds/business for them in the still-prospering agriculture sector which in turn can help the government garner more revenues. And, instead of a well-thought-out process of deliberations directly bringing in the corporates to deal in agricultural produce is bound to create apprehension and doubts, genuine or unfounded.

 

It has become a catch-22 situation as the impatient farmers cannot possibly agree for nothing less than the scrapping of the laws and the government too cannot possibly agree to a repeal since the laws were pushed through so urgently. However, we can only hope that good practical sense would prevail over the rulers to consider at least a stay on the implementation so that a proper mechanism sets in to carry out the much-needed reforms.  They should also desist from making allegations of vested interests or even terrorists joining the farmers’ bandwagon to give a bad name to the agitation, as has been their wont in recent years.

The farmers who are the annadatas (food providers) for all of us should not be allowed to suffer like this, and if they are made desperate only our country and economy would suffer even more. It is extremely critical to have all the farmers on board, rich or small or marginal, with meaningful laws suited to their issues, problems and concerns. All experts/intellectuals/politicians should shed their ideological bias and prejudice, and help the government resolve the crisis in overwhelming favour of our farmers.

Jal Satyagraha Ends? Khandwa Farmers Claim Partial Victory!

The watery ordeal of the Khandwa farmers was supposed to have finally ended on the 17^th day today after the government of Madhya Pradesh agreed to their basic demands. The state Chief Minister assured the traumatized farmers that the water level of the Omkareshwar Dam will be lowered from 196 to 189 meters and the affected farmers would be given ‘land for land’ compensation.

Media attention, though belated, finally brought the issue into national or even international focus and the authorities were forced to bow down to the demands.

But the farmers who stood in neck deep water for 17 days claimed only a partial victory as they felt that delaying tactics would be applied considering their present weary condition and therefore as per some reports they refused to come out of the water. They said that with the increased water level of the dam to 196 meters the expanding reservoirs had already submerged many low lying areas, and they actually wanted to see if water receded after the government assurance. They would come out only if the water where they continued to stand actually receded. 

For the moment let us welcome at least the partial victory that the farmers have managed out of the floundering system of the largest democracy of the world. And thank God there are no casualties except for some extremely sore, shriveled and bruised feet of the suffering agitators. The price for a ‘partial’ democratic victory? Meantime another watery movement is going on still in the adjacent Indira Sagar dam where the agitating farmers demand the level of the dam be reduced from 262 to 260 meters.

Farmers toil hard to feed the whole nation. Their interests must be protected.

Farmers Agitate Immersed In Neck Deep Water! Jal Satyagraha In Khandwa!

Fifty one farmers including old women had been staying immersed in neck deep water for the last fifteen days. Crabs and fishes were biting them and the limbs of many of them, particularly the old ladies, were deteriorating fast. They could not call it a day because they wanted their demands met first. The farmers had been protesting against what they considered wrong moves by the government. They say it is Jal Satyagraha (Water Movement for truth)-their final struggle even if it means death.

Even the media did not pay them attention for ten days, busy as usual covering the insane politicking going on all around. The state government finally thought of examining their demands and meeting them only on the 13^th day. A group of observers from the Central Government is likely to visit the agitating farmers today.

The agitating farmers were from the Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh, a central state of India. They cultivated in the low-lying areas surrounding the Omkareshwar dam over the river Narmada. Since the river was flowing above the danger mark the government of Madhya Pradesh decided to open all the gates of the dam and to increase the height of the dam. The farmers protested that their low lying lands and villages would be submerged by the decision and that the decision had to be taken after first extending compensation and rehabilitation facilities to them. They claimed that a huge chunk of land had already been submerged and demanded the height of the dam to be reduced from 196 to 189 meters. Activists of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save Narmada Movement) that had been going on for decades joined in the protest. A ruling by the Supreme Court of India that says villagers must be rehabilitated at least six months before such moves are implemented was also quoted. 

Desperate needs mostly require desperate measures. With the state government not listening the farmers had no other option but to undertake a movement in a drastic and eye catching manner. Therefore, they decided to immerse themselves continuously in neck deep water to attract attention and ultimately to safeguard their subsistence cultivation to survive. Unfortunately even the desperate measures took a desperately long enough time to get noticed.

Such a scenario is only befitting the current degeneration that threatens to set in over the country’s political, social and economic existence. Political parties or leaders are busy exchanging charges or allegations or blackmail between themselves with nobody interested in a solution; the Indian Parliament, the supreme constitutional body of a democracy, gets stalled continuously leading to a washout of a full session; the pretentious fight against corruption only adding to the chaos and the poor masses who understands no economics and less politics getting ignored totally.

A mass watery grave is good enough to waken India’s leaders? Who knows!