❈ ❈ ❈

Farmers’ Struggle Offers a Lesson in Resilience

T.K. Rajalakshmi

They have been branded leftists and separatists and called all sorts of names. They have been mocked at, accused of being misled by political parties, stopped at various points on the road to prevent them from moving towards Delhi, harassed and ridiculed for being leaderless, and termed reckless for taking on the government’s might. Their unity has been questioned and attempts have been made to break it repeatedly, by the government and a section of the media. But the small and medium Indian farmers have shown a kind of resilience unprecedented in recent history. “We are not going anywhere,” says a farmer at the Singhu border, one of the main protest sites on National Highway One which links Delhi and Punjab, determined to stay put. At the other protest sites—Tikri and Palwal on the Delhi-Haryana border, Shahjahanpur on the Haryana-Rajasthan border, and Ghazipur and Chilla on the Uttar Pradesh-Delhi border—more and more farmers pour in to join the protesters in solidarity every day. Everywhere one heard the common refrain: repeal the three farm laws, withdraw the Electricity (Amendment) Bill, and give a legal framework for minimum support price (MSP) and procurement.

Even the dipping temperatures have not diminished their resolve. At Singhu, every day farmers’ leaders jointly take stock of all the developments to decide the future course of action, including sending responses to the government. There is no confusion despite efforts by a section of the media to portray the farmers as obdurate and the government as generous, considerate and willing to listen to their demands. Some media have particularly focussed on farmers’ “vehicles” and the langars or community kitchens with stocks of food in a bid to paint the protests as being done by big landed farmers to safeguard their own interests. They has also been showing “success stories” of farmers stating how they benefited by selling their produce outside the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) mandis.

But some of this propaganda seems to have backfired. For instance, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Minister of Electronics and Information Technology, tweeted about how under the Common Services Centre Scheme (CSCS), an initiative of his Ministry to offer e-governance services in rural areas, cauliflower growers had received good prices. He specifically tweeted about a farmer having sold cauliflower for Rs.10 a kg using the digital platform when the local mandi offered just Re.1 a kg.

However, Naresh Kumar, the farmer from Alipur village in Uttar Pradesh’s Shamli district about whom the Minister tweeted, said that the CSCS people had come to his village and procured five quintals of cauliflower at Rs.10 a kg, but he still had 500 quintals of the produce left. “They don’t even pick up their phone when I call,” he said in a video he shared with the media.

Youth participation

A striking feature of the protest is the participation of youths. From organising medical camps to working in community kitchens, helping distribute fruits, making an inventory of daily requirements and so on, they are everywhere. In order to counter the negative image given out by the media some of them even took the initiative of launching a newsletter called Trolley Times, a bi-weekly in Hindi and Gurmukhi priced at Rs.5, which details the challenges faced by farmers and documents the stories of protesters and features the media reportage of the protests from across the world. An IT platform, Kisan Ekta Morcha, they have launched has more than one lakh followers on Facebook and an even larger number on Twitter and YouTube.

Book stalls at the Ghazipur, Singhu and Tikri protest sites are another aspect that gain attention. At Singhu, a trolley owner has displayed books, including John Reed’s iconic Ten Days that Shook the World, a saga of the Russian Revolution as seen through the author’s eyes. Said Sukhvinder Singh from Manuka village, Hanumangarh, Punjab, who is also a short film-maker: “Farmers are not illiterate. There are some who have read all the big philosophers and can hold forth on the French Revolution.” He complained that the Haryana Police were harassing farmers from Rajasthan who were moving from Tikri to the Shahjahanpur border.

A deep sense of hurt prevails among the protesters in the manner in which the government and the media have projected them. Said Ram Singh, the sarpanch of Jhabua village in Rewari district, Haryana: “When Sardars and Jats were fighting at Kargil, they lauded us. Today they call us separatists.” At Singhu, youngsters held up posters which said, “We are not terrorists and druggies but farmers.”

Musical expressions also bring them together. Songs of struggle and unity and those that celebrate the spirit of the youth posted on YouTube with titles such as “Jawaani Zindabad” and “Ailaan” (Declaration) by Kanwar Grewal or Delhi ke Bhulekhe (the false beliefs of Delhi) by Satta Vairowalia have become hugely popular. The videos are interspersed with advice to protesters to stay on course and to protest peacefully.

Said a young engineer at the protest site at the Ghazipur border: “Our parents are farmers and we see how hard they work. This is a matter of life and death for them.” His friend Rajan Jawala, a farmer leader in his early twenties from Shamli district, shares the video showing a farmer from his village destroying his cauliflower crop as it would not sell for even Re.1. All what the farmers demand are guaranteed procurement at prices that cover the cost of production and allow them to eke a livelihood free of debt and insecurity.

The level of organisation at the protest sites is telling; there are no signs of littering or garbage of any kind. There are few toilets but the neighbouring settlements which include the humblest of dhaba owners and roadside eateries have offered the protesters their modest facilities for accommodation and rest.

The gurudwaras of Delhi have been helping organise community kitchens and there is no shortage of food for anyone. A volunteer told Frontline that this kind of work was regular. During the pandemic-induced lockdown, when lakhs of people in the unorganised sectors were rendered jobless overnight, the gurudwaras had stepped in to feed them. He said this was part of sewa or welfare which they were obliged to do as part of their religious calling.

Policemen at Singhu and Ghazipur were also seen partaking in the langars. At Ghazipur, women from nearby colonies volunteered to help with chopping vegetables at the kitchen. Some of them, including a few elderly women, were from Trilokpuri, an area that was affected during the 1984 riots against Sikhs.

Some cynics pointed to things like SUVs owned by farmers, a stray counter or two offering foot massages, or protesters eating pizzas, to hint that it was the rich farmers who were leading the protest. To such comments, Ranbir Singh from Mansa district, Punjab, retorts that “no one would like to sit under the open skies in the freezing cold unless compelled to”. At one of the media briefings, a farmer quipped that the protesters were not eating pizzas but pinnis (a sweet made of wheat, sugar, ghee and dry fruit).

“Even so, what’s wrong if we ate pizzas? We work hard therefore we eat,” said Vikram Yadav, a farmer protesting at the Shahjahanpur border. “The flour in the pizzas are made with the wheat that we produce. They say we have expensive phones. It is with our hard-earned money that we buy them.”

Several farmers’ organisations have mobilised the farmers. With the khaps (caste panchayats) of Haryana also backing the protests, the numbers at the Shajahanpur border are expected to swell. Amra Ram, former president of the AIKS who has led many farmers’ struggles in Rajasthan, is hopeful of the outcome. “There is no shortage of food. People are helping out in large numbers. We are eating foodstuff that we would normally not get at home,” he told Frontline.

Indefatigable spirit

The spirit of the farmers is indefatigable. Dharampal Seal, a septuagenarian, has seen many struggles in his life. Despite his age, he did not flinch one bit when a teargas shell came his way as the Haryana Police tied to push back the protesters at the Punjab-Haryana border. He used a flag stick to flick it aside. He said: “We have seen tougher times. The laws are not anything new. It is a culmination of the Dunkel negotiations that began in the 1990s to undermine our food self-sufficiency and food security by cutting down on agricultural subsidies. The then government of P. V. Narasimha Rao accepted those negotiations. Lakhs of farmers under the leadership of farmers’ and agricultural workers’ organisations protested in Delhi.”

He was referring to the Dunkel Agreement on tariffs and trade which was a predecessor to the World Trade Organisation. Ironically, the Bharatiya Janata Party, which was then in the opposition, joined hands with the Left and other parties to demand a Joint Parliamentary Committee to discuss the Dunkel proposals and its impact on agriculture.

The Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ugrahan), which has its presence all over Punjab, has mobilised the largest number of farmers and trolleys from that State. Its decision to celebrate Human Rights Day on December 10 by putting up posters of all those accused and put in jail under draconian Central laws drew unwanted attention and gave a handle to sections in the media and the government to defame the protests. Dharampal Seal said that the farmers had the right to celebrate Human Rights Day in any way they wanted to and no one had any business to call them anti-national. He said: “We also believe that students and intellectuals who are being harassed and are behind bars should be released. But our first demand today is the repeal of the farm laws. We are aware that for the fight to win, farmers’ issues will have to take precedence.”

Debunking the myth that the protest was being led by landlords, Dharampal Seal said: “Small farmers are here in large numbers because the stakes are the highest for them. They know that they stand to lose their land if the farm laws are implemented. The percentage of big landed farmers is minuscule all over the country, including in this protest.”

He points to Sukhbir Badal, the leader of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) which had walked out off the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in opposition to the farm laws. “He’s a big landlord. Even he knows that he stands to lose if the big corporates get a foothold through the land laws. His wife, Harsimrat Kaur, was a Minister in the Central government. She resigned. The SAD has opened a front against the BJP in Punjab,” Dharampal Seal said.

Some 40 per cent of the farmers in Punjab own between two and a half to five acres (one acre is 0.4 hectare) of land. Of the rest, more than half own only less than 20 acres; only a small percentage qualify to be labelled as big landlords. In the 12,700 villages of Punjab on an average only six to seven families own more than 20 acres.

Dharampal Seal said that agricultural workers had also joined in the protest. “If these private silos come up, the FCI [Food Corporation of India] will stop procuring. If the corporates come, they will have no use of our tractors or the palledaar who does loading and unloading work or spraying of pesticides. They will use helicopters to spray pesticides and mechanise all operations. This will affect the agricultural worker and all manual operations done by them,” he said. “There should be an MSP for all crops like bajra, soyabean, pulses and anyone procuring less than that should be prosecuted against,” he said.

The agriculture sector is still the largest employer in India today. When industry collapsed during the lockdown, agricultural operations continued. When industrial growth plummeted hitting the GDP hard, agricultural growth remained on an even keel. “Yet we don’t get the value for our produce. Take the example of milk. Verka takes out powder, ghee, cream and buttermilk of three kinds from the milk we sell it. We get Rs.25 per litre but the byproducts of that very milk are sold to consumers at a good profit,” he said. Verka is the Punjab State Cooperative Milk Producers’ Federation.

1959 Redux

Dharampal Seal recalled a similar protest in 1959 when the Congress’ Pratap Singh Kairon, the Chief Minister of unified Punjab, levied a “betterment tax” on farmers in lieu of irrigation and power facilities. The tax levied was to be used to finance the construction of the Bhakra Nangal project. The Congress-led government at the Centre too failed to assess the pulse of the people. There was widespread resentment among farmers.

The undivided Communist Party took the lead in giving a voice to that brewing resentment. Harkishen Singh Surjeet, who later became the general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), led that agitation under the aegis of the Kisan Sabha. The all India president of the Kisan Sabha then was A.K. Gopalan, one of the founder members of the CPI(M). All political parties joined the protest. Dharampal Seal recalled that even Congress members joined the protest without the party banner. He said: “Poorey kisano ka bhaanja tha…saari bibiyaan bhi thi…Akali bhi saath aaye (It was a movement led entirely by farmers including many women; the Akalis also joined us). Kairon, like the current BJP leadership, went on a propaganda drive, meeting farmers and convincing them of the benefits of the tax. But he did not succeed.

The protest was not without consequences. Three women were martyred, and seven or eight farmers died, while thousands of farmers courted arrest. But the farmers persisted and the Kairon government had to withdraw the tax. “There was no Jathebandi before that. The various units of the Bharatiya Kisan Union came up only in the 1980s. The AIKS was the oldest farmer organisation. It came up in 1936 in Lucknow. Many organisations believe that the AIKS’ presence is crucial to the famers’ protest,” said Dhrampal Seal, adding: “I am close to 70 and this is the first time I have seen such a big protest involving all sections of society. The peaceful protest has not given a single chance for the police to act against us. The Singhu rally is almost 13 kilometres long. The youths are managing it all. They are not getting deflated at all. It is an encouraging sign. If, say, a hundred are heading back to their villages, two hundred more join in.”

With the sowing season for wheat over, more and more farmers are expected to join the protest. With each passing day and as temperatures dip, the throng of farmers at the protest sites only seems to be growing. If the strategy of the government is to tire them out, it does not seem to be working, at least for now.

(Article courtesy: Frontline.)

❈ ❈ ❈

Editorial addition: Here are some more reports of how the farmers’ struggle is spreading across the country:

Bihar, 29 Dec 2020: Nearly 10,000 farmers in Bihar defied police oppression during a protest rally in Patna, Bihar on December 29, 2020 to assert their solidarity with Delhi farmers against the three laws forcibly passed by the central government.

The protest rally from the Gandhi maidan at 11 AM to the Raj Bangalow organised by the All India Kisan Sangharsh Samanvay Samiti (AIKSSS) was abruptly cut short by local police who barricaded the route at the Dak Bungalow. Farmers nonetheless attempted to protest; however the spot demonstration was also disrupted when police resorted to lathi-charge.

(Courtesy: Sabrangindia)

South India, Dec 29 / Jan 2: The past week, which marked the end of 2020, witnessed protest gatherings across South India that continued to strongly oppose the three central farm legislations and extended solidarity to the protesting farmers in Delhi.

Thanjavur witnessed a massive gathering of thousands of farmers from across Tamil Nadu on December 29. It was organised by 54 farmers’ associations under the umbrella body AIKSCC in solidarity with the farmers protesting in Delhi. Even though the police did not grant permission for a rally, the organisers were hellbent on registering their protest despite the rain.

On January 1, as a new year resolution directed by the AIKSSC, many people’s organisations mobilised in their neighbourhoods and took oath to save farmers, agriculture and India. The Democratic Youth Federation of India mobilised youngsters and students in almost all districts of the state and took oaths to ensure that agriculture is not sold off to big private players like Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani.

Opposition leader and DMK president MK Stalin on January 1 urged the Tamil Nadu government to take a cue from the Punjab and Kerala governments and adopt a resolution against the three Central farm legislations. He said the Assembly should be convened for the purpose.

In Bengaluru too, farmers organisations together with workers, Dalits and women’s groups organised a protest on Dec 29 at the state capital’s Maurya Circle. Speaking on the occasion, Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha Vice President G. T. Ramaswamy asked, “They claim that Southern states do not support the farmers’ struggle when delegations have already visited the Singhu border. How can the government claim we are lying?”

The state leader recently returned to Karnataka with a delegation of 30 people after visiting the Delhi border to oppose the three farm bills and the Electricity Bill 2020.

Like every other protest site, the Bengaluru protest point has stood with Delhi farmers since December 16, in their opposition to the anti-farm laws.

(Courtesy: Newsclick, Sabrangindia)

Farmers chart out January protest plans, 2 Jan 2021:

After a warm celebration to usher in the new year, farmers resolved to continue braving the biting cold to oppose the three anti-farmer laws of the Centre, by setting forward a new plan of action for January 2021.

January 1, 2021 also marked Day 37 of the nationwide farmers’ struggle. Many people answered the Samyukta Kisan Morcha’s (SKM) appeal to celebrate the New Year with farmers, especially at various Delhi borders. Protesters in thousands of locations across India took a pledge to participate and support the farmers’ movement.

The group, Delhi For Farmers, undertook protests in different parts of Delhi from 8 AM to late evening in support of farmers. People welcomed 2021 with great pomp at the Singhu border.

Farmers from Barnala reached the Tikri border by driving their tractor backwards. Ex-servicepersons extended solidarity to farmers at the Ghazipur border and ensured cooperation with farmers who celebrated the New Year by organising a massive cleaning drive. Similarly, a large number of Buddhist monks travelled to the protest point in support of farmers.

Further, the SKM declared a tentative plan for the new month subject to the proceedings of Centre-and-farmer-talks on January 4. The general schedule for the week will be confirmed during a press conference on January 2 at 12:30 PM at the Press Club, New Delhi.

Farmer leaders said that a tractor march will be observed along the Kundli Manesar Palwal (KMP) highway on January 6.

A Desh Jagruti Abhiyan will be observed for a fortnight from January 7 to January 20 wherein district-level dharnas, rallies, press conferences will be held across India.

Farmers have also announced Lohri/Sankarnati as Kisan Sankalp Diwas wherein people will burn copies of the three laws – the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance & Farm Services Act, the Farmer’s Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act.

Similarly, January 18 will be celebrated as Mahila Kisan Diwas to underline the role of women farmers.

January 23 will celebrate Azad Hind Kisan Diwas on Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s birth anniversary by protesting outside Governors’ official residence in all state capitals.

The SKM reiterated that ongoing agitations such as the boycott of Adani/Ambani products and services, toll-free movements in Punjab and Haryana and the demand that National Democratic Alliance (NDA) allies quit NDA and leave partnership with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will continue.

Acknowledging the Kerala Assembly’s unanimous resolution to demand accession of farmers’ demands from the Union government, the SKM thanked the state government for supporting farmers in their opposition to the three farm bills.

(Courtesy: Sabrangindia)

❈ ❈ ❈

Will Hold ‘Tractor Parade’ in Delhi on Republic Day If Demands Are Not Met: Farmer Unions to Govt

The protesting farmer unions on Saturday issued an “ultimatum” to the government ahead of the next round of talks and said that they will march into Delhi with a “tractor parade” on the Republic Day if their demands are not met.

Addressing a press conference, the union leaders said the time has come for “decisive” action as their demands for a repeal of the three agriculture laws and a legal guarantee for Minimum Support Price (MSP) have not yet been addressed by the government.

“The farmers’ movement delivered an ultimatum to the Union government and announced that farmers will march into Delhi on January 26,” Sankyukta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of around 40 protesting unions, said in a statement.

“They only have to issue in-principle statements that they will repeal the three laws, and promise a legal guarantee for MSP [or minimum support prices]. But if this is not done by January 26, we will surely enter Delhi peacefully, with our tractors, trolleys and farm vehicles, for our own kisan parade,” farmer leader Darshan Pal Singh, Punjab president for the Kisan Krantikari Union, said.

The next round of talks between the government and the protesting farmer unions is scheduled to be held on January 4. On Friday, the unions had announced that they would have to take firm steps if the meeting fails to resolve the deadlock.

“We intend to be peaceful and we told the government during previous talks that it has only two options – either repeal the three laws or use force to evict us (from Delhi border points). The time has come for decisive action here, and we have chosen January 26 as the Republic Day represents the supremacy of the people,” the union leaders said.

Asked about the route and timing for their planed ‘Kisan Parade’, Pal said the unions would announce it later.

The farmer leader said their plan for tractor-march on Kundli Manesar Palwal (KMP) highway on January 6 will remain unchanged and described it as a “rehearsal” for their “January 26 tractor parade”.

“If the government does not accede to our demands on January 4, we will hold a tractor rally on the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal expressway on January 6. That will be our rehearsal for Republic Day,” Darshan Pal said.

The movement has no plans to request permission from the police for their parade in Delhi. “Are we farmers not citizens of the Republic? We have every right to celebrate Republic Day without needing any police permission,” Pal said, speaking to The Hindu.

Swaraj India leader Yogendra Yadav said it is a “plain lie” that the government had accepted 50% of the farmers’ demands. “We have got nothing on paper yet,” he said.

“We were peaceful, are peaceful and will be peaceful, but will stay at Delhi borders until new farm laws are repealed,” another farmer leader said.

Farmers’ leaders said that in the last round of talks, the government agreed to two “minor” demands of the farmers’ movement and even these are yet to be secured in writing or legal form. The major demands of the protesting farmers remain unresolved, they asserted.

After the sixth round of formal negotiations on Wednesday, the government and farm unions reached some common ground to resolve the protesting farmers’ concerns over the rise in power tariff and penalties for stubble burning, but the two sides remained deadlocked over the main contentious issues of the repeal of three farm laws and a legal guarantee for MSP.

Farmer leader Gurnam Singh Choduni said, “In our last meeting, we posed a question to the government that will you buy 23 crops on MSP. They said ‘no’. Then why are you misinforming the people of the country?”

So far, over 50 farmers have been “martyred” during our agitation, union leader Ashok Dhawale claimed.

Slamming the government over the reported death of farmers during the agitation, the opposition parties asked it to abandon its “obstinate attitude” and agree to their demands.

“According to media reports, 57 farmers have lost their lives while scores are unwell. The government is showing gross insensitivity by not acceding to the demands of the protesting farmers,” Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra alleged.

The government should “abandon its obstinate attitude and withdraw the three black laws immediately”, Congress’ chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala tweeted.

Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav termed the death of a 57-year-old farmer, Mohar Singh, due to a heart attack while protesting at the Ghazipur border as “disturbing”.

In a Hindi tweet, he said, “On the first day of the new year itself, the news of the martyrdom of a farmer at the Ghazipur border is disturbing. The farmers are sacrificing their lives in the dense fog and cold, but the ruling party is sitting heartless. The ruthlessness seen in the BJP has never been seen so far.”

Meanwhile, a 75-year-old farmer protesting against the new agriculture laws allegedly died by suicide at the Uttar Pradesh-Delhi border in Ghazipur on Saturday morning, local police said.

Sardar Kashmir Singh, a native of Bilaspur in Uttar Pradesh’s Rampur district, hanged himself in a mobile toilet using a rope, they said.

Deputy Superintendent of Police of Indirapuram Anshu Jain told PTI that a suicide note written in Gurumukhi was found on him.

(Extract. Article courtesy: The Wire staff.)