A peculiar situation is unfolding at the borders of Delhi, where the national highways stands jammed and life has come to a standstill. Since last eight weeks, many groups including farmer organisations, Communist parties, social activists, and others, have been protesting against the agriculture laws passed by the Parliament in September 2020. While the government has repeatedly iterated that it would like to discuss the bills with the protestors but the suggestion has been stonewalled with demand for blanket repeal of laws.
The Supreme Court of India has stayed the implementation of the three agriculture laws, and has formed a four-member committee to resolve the stalemate. The government is already holding talks with the protestors and, so far, nine rounds of talks have taken place. The protesters now say that they do not accept the apex court appointed committee and want no less than a repeal of the laws. What stands out is the unwillingness of the protesting groups to find a solution. They seem surprisingly intent to continue the deadlock and precipitate a state of anarchy. It also seems, strangely, that the protestors are happy with the existing agriculture set up and want no change to it. This brings to question the locus standi of protestors. Are these protests for farms or farmers at all?
1. Many participants of this agitation are professional activists who have been regularly seen sloganeering against the current central government on different issues ranging from demonetisation, GST, Surgical Strike, 370, Ram Temple and so on so forth.
2. In their charter of demands, repeal of agriculture laws is only one of the issues. The other issues have nothing to do with farms or farmers. One major issue is to release of Naxal activists and rioters.
3. Posters and photos of Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Varavara Rao and others, with Naxalite and Islamist terror links have appeared at the agitation site. Many of these are not known as activists working for the farmers cause.
4. Many participants in the stir are from Punjab. These are rich farmers involve in the business of aadhat. Aadhatis are the middlemen in the mandis who buy the crops from the small farmers at low prices and sell at high prices. In 1991, the economic reforms were announced by the Rao government. Since then we have seen many reforms in different sectors. All the reforms were opposed by those who were beneficiaries of the old system. The current agitation is also an example of this. It is not a farmers’ protest but an aadhahti agitation who don’t want a liberal regime in the farming sector.
5. The convenor of the All India Kisan Sangharsh Co-ordination Committee (AIKSCC) was Sardar VM Singh who has a declared property in crores. He had contested two Lok Sabha elections on Congress ticket. However, he was removed from the post of convenor when he offered to have talks with the government.
6. Most farmers and farm unions of the country have supported these laws and released statements that the laws are in favour of the farmers of India.
7. Evidences point that this agitation received funds from many radical organisations that demand Khalistan and are banned in India, such as Sikhs for Justice. Pro-Pakistan and pro-Khalistan slogans were raised by the protesters and the agitation was hijacked by people with nefarious agenda. The Government of India has also said this on record in the Supreme Court.
8. The facilities available at the protest site mock the life of an average Indian farmer who struggles to make the ends meet. Gyms, foot massage parlours, and pizza stalls at the protest site are antithetical to the real life of a farmer. It becomes clear that these winter campers don’t represent an average Indian farmer.
9. The government is ready to talk and the Supreme Court has intervened and formed a committee, yet the protesters refuse to remove tents from the protest site. On the one hand, the protesters are talking with government representatives and on the other they have announced that they will move toward Delhi on 26 January in tractors. The objective seems to be to create anarchy and panic on a day of celebration and national unity. The forces behind this protest had done something similar last year during the visit of US President, and instigated riots in North-East Delhi.
10. Most farmers’ bodies are frontal organisations of different Communist parties and work behind the façade of neutrality and rights of farmers. The All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee is a confederation of Leftist supported farmers groups like of All India Kisan Sabha and All India Kisan Mazdoor Sabha etc. This is not a surprise therefore that Communist flags are aplenty at the protest sites.
11. This is a protest backed by opportunistic opposition parties to defame the current central government. The Arvind Kejriwal led AAP government, which could not feed the poor migrants for five days during the pandemic, is now sending their leaders to perform sewadari at the farmers’ protest.
12. A member of the court-appointed committee, Bhupendra Singh Mann, has recused himself from the talks saying that he cannot compromise the interest of Punjab and farmers. This group of protestors had first approached the Supreme Court against the government and now when the court has formed a panel, they have pressured the member to leave the committee.
Those who believe in the politics of anarchy will never want a solution to any problem. On the other hand, several experts and international organisations have praised these laws. Even the IMF has said that the three agriculture laws passed by the Indian government have the potential to achieve a leap in reforms. Without doubt, these farm laws are stepping stones to modernise India’s agriculture sector and should have been brought in long back. It is the entrenched beneficiaries of the old ways now stand in the way of change.
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