It seems the tide is turning against the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Central government after it passed three contentious agri-reform bills in the just concluded truncated Monsoon Session of Parliament. On one side, farmers across the nation are up in arms over the bills, fearing they would soon become the ‘bonded labourers’ of the Ambanis and Adanis. On the other side, in a setback to the ruling BJP, its one of the oldest allies, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) first quit the government and then from the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in protest over the farm bills issue. After Telugu Desam and Shiv Sena, Akali Dal is the third major party to walk out of the BJP-led coalition in the last couple of years.
Farmers and their organisations worried these legislations will ‘destroy’ the agriculture sector in the country and will not ensure Minimum Support Price (MSP) on agricultural produce. Therefore, it is obvious that the farmers are on the warpath. Responding to the farmers’ organisations’ call, they on Friday blocked national highways, rail networks and staged protests and burnt the effigy of PM Modi at many places across the country.
The All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC), a coalition of dozens of peasants and workers groups, has given the call of ‘Pratirodh Diwas’ against the agri-bills passed by Parliament earlier this week.
According to reports, protesting farmers have blocked the Delhi-Amritsar highway, and huge traffic jams have also been reported from Ayodhya-Lucknow highway. Punjab and Haryana also witnessed total shutdown while farmers in Punjab started a three-day rail blockade against the bills, squatting on tracks at many places on September 24. The farmer outfits have also decided to call an indefinite rail blockade from October 1.
Speaking with Radiance Viewsweekly, Hannan Mollah, General Secretary, All India Kisan Sabha, said response to the Pratirodh Diwas call of AIKSCC against the Anti-Farmer Bills has been unprecedented.
Despite corona pandemic restrictions, repression and rain in many States, the participation in the protest action was overwhelming.
The Bandh called in Haryana and Punjab was total and widespread in Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka. Many leaders were arrested in these States. Many Districts of Rajasthan also witnessed massive protests and Bandh-like situation. In Bengal the National Highway was blocked at 92 places and State Highways were blocked at 89 places.
He said over 6 lakh farmers and toiling masses participated in the State alone. In Kerala dharna and protests were held in front of 250 Central Government offices and many places across the State.
In Bihar and Jharkhand farmers and workers came out on the streets in big numbers, roads were blocked across all districts and Rail Roko was also done. Odisha, Assam, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh witnessed spontaneous response from farmers and workers.
Effigies of PM Modi and the Bills were burnt at numerous places. The widespread nature of protests and massive response has exposed the concerted campaign of the BJP Government and corporate media that the protests were restricted only to a few pockets in Punjab and Haryana only. The bills aim at scrapping the Minimum Support Price (MSP) mechanism and abolish the Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMCs) which is undoubtedly going to render a big blow to the farmers.
Speaking with Radiance Viewsweekly, farmers said it is a clear warning to the “arrogant” Modi-led Government and the message is loud and clear to him.
Vijyandara Singh, farmer from Budha Khera village in Haryana’s Jind district, said “We want to warn the BJP, and the PM, the way you have tried to rob and deceive the poor farmers will also make you repent your bad deeds from the streets to the Parliament.”
“I own an 8 -acre piece of land (richest in terms of land in my village), have a debt of Rs 6 lakh to the Kisan Co-operative Bank and also owe Rs1 lakh to an arthiya (middleman),” Singh said.
“We don’t earn enough money to meet our end needs and have to take loans for everything, right from buying the seeds to children’s education and I strive for it as I don’t want my children to become farmers and suffer like me,” says Singh.
After harvesting his crops, Singh usually takes his produce to the mandi (Agricultural Produce Market Committee or APMC) which now the government wants to do away with this system.
Haryana and Punjab have set up nearly 7,000 APMC yards so that the farmers need not travel very long distances to sell their crops.
In APMC, Singh takes his harvested crop to an arthiya who verifies the crop and checks the moisture level, which cannot be more than 18% to sell to the government. Most of the farmers in Haryana and Punjab sow paddy crops that they sell to the government at the Minimum Support Price (MSP).
“I can still sell outside the APMC yard but no private mills or companies pay more than the MSP or even closer to that. MSP is the highest we get and in that as well, we cannot meet our end demands; that is why we always protest to increase the MSP,” Singh said and added that private mills never take crops at a good price.
Another farmer from Noah, Mewat, Ramzan Chaudhri pointed out that not a single demand of the farmers and their organisations was accommodated in these bills.
“These bills brought in by this government were not demanded by any peasant organisation or a political party but to facilitate profiteering by big players like Adani Wilmar, Ambani Reliance, Walmart, Birla, etc.,” he told Radiance. He also objected to contract farming, saying it would push the poor farmers at the mercy of corporate houses.
According to the 2015-2016 agricultural survey that around 80 per cent of farmers in India have less than 2 acres of land, those farmers cannot even carry their produce from their villages to other villages for selling.
Sensing the farmers’ ire on the passing of these bills, the government tried to explain its position by releasing advertisements in English to some selective newspapers.
However, mocking it, Dr Rafiq Azad, a functionary of Bhartiya Kisan Union from Mewat, told Radiance Viewsweekly: “They (govt) are trying to explain the MSP and the PDS system in India to the distressed farmers in English. Tell me, which farmer would read this newspaper and ad with his morning cup of cappuccino, and understand the MSP?”
“I want to question the Centre, out of 62 crore farmers and workers in the agricultural sector in India, who are the people who would read this ad in English?” Dr Azad asked.
Deen Mohammad Mamluka, another farmer from Mewat region, told Radiance that Modi is simply bringing corporates into our fields, after first undermining the MSP system and mandis.
The farmers of Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh are protesting against the bills as the government procurement infrastructure in these areas is very good, he added.
Extending all-out solidarity to the agitating farmers, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) asked the BJP Government to withdraw these anti-farmers and anti-people legislations forthwith.
Speaking with Radiance Viewsweekly, Engineer Mohammad Salim, Vice President of Jamaat, said the Jamaat slammed the government for its utter disregard for established Parliamentary procedures, federal principles, rights of States and farmers in the manner in which three anti-farmer ordinances are being pushed through without wide consultation. Even the division of vote was not allowed in the Rajya Sabha which poses grave danger to democracy and a clear pointer that the country is heading towards fascism.
Urging the President of India Ramnath Kovind, Engineer Salim said these bills might have been passed under international pressure or the WTO but it would result in exploitation of poor farmers and would undermine the food security which was already in a precarious state.
He said the government should listen to farmers and opposition’s demand of sending these bills to a select committee because this is a serious issue concerning the 70 per cent population that depends on the agricultural sector.
Farmers and workers unions are trying to build the broadest possible unity to resist with all its might the efforts of the BJP to facilitate corporate loot and profiteering at the expense of farmers.