Farmers Protest : Social Perspective of Struggle
Agrarian Movement: Social Perspectives of Struggle - Harinder Happy
At a time when the whole world was fighting with the corona pandemic, the Indian government, finding "opportunities in a disaster/ Aapda me avsar", passed three laws to hand over the most fertile land for agriculture to corporate hands. Attempts were made by the BJP government to prove that the entire agrarian crisis can be solved only by these laws, but on the contrary, farmers and workers are well aware that these laws instead of ending the multidimensional crisis in Indian agriculture, will deepen it. It became a nationwide movement after the police lathi charge in Pipli, Haryana and the Bharat Bandh on 25 September 2020. The agitating farmers' organizations of the country have been fighting a long battle in a coordinated manner across the country since 7th November 2020 when Samyukta Kisan Morcha - SKM was formed in Gurdwara Sri Rakabganj Sahib, Delhi. Ten months have passed since the movement has begun at Delhi borders. The Bharat Bandh of 27 September 2020 was a complete success. The BJP, the central government and the Godi media have left no stone unturned to defame the movement, but despite this, what is it that makes this movement historical and popular?
There are some social victories of this movement that are keeping the whole struggle in full swing. The biggest victory of the farmers is that the farmers and agriculture have once again been recognized as a matter of national importance. In the past, whenever farmers held dharnas/protests in Delhi or state capitals, they would find a place in a small corner of the newspaper or when farmers have committed suicide. But this movement has led to the debate on agriculture not only at the national level but also at the international level. This important issue, which has strayed from the mainstream, has now found its rightful place.
The government is accusing this movement of being a political movement. The farmers have proved that their struggle is political at the policy level, but not necessarily for electoral politics. The farmers have proved that the 'division of labour' is very important even in the constitutional system by not going to the committee constituted by the Supreme Court. Farmers do not say anywhere that they do not believe in the constitution, rather farmers believe that these laws are unconstitutional. These laws were made by the central government in the parliament and the central government should repeal them in the same way. Farmers' struggle is political but farmers have made it clear that this movement is political in form of struggle and they have identified their political enemies.
This peasant movement has exposed the faces of supporters and opponents of farmers and labourers. Many intellectuals and economists, who continued to call themselves pro-farmer, but by advocating these neo-liberal policies, showed their anti-farmer face in this movement. In contrast, many intellectuals and economists who were not in the mainstream but have now openly come out in support of the farmers. Some old bureaucrats justified the movement and supported the farmers.
This is the first time in the history of the country that such a massive mass movement has taken place against the top corporate houses of the country. The boycott of Ambani and Adani's petrol pumps, silos, shopping malls and other services and products by farmers in Punjab is a testament to the fact that farmers are now well aware of the collusion between the government and corporate loot or crony capitalism. It was the victory of the farmers that Adani had to close some of its bases in Punjab and these corporate houses had to advertise in all media including leading newspapers to not oppose them.
Through this movement, farmers have made positive use of it by establishing their agency. Every political party or leader was kept away from the movement. The farmer organizations themselves have taken the responsibility of such huge management. It was a big effort for the farmers to set up their own IT cell and fight the battle online. However, all this has happened because of mistrust in the system that farmers have lost faith in any political party and media of the country, which is not a good sign for democracy. It was repeatedly propagated by the government and the Bharatiya Janata Party that the farmers who reached the Delhi fronts were terrorists, Khalistanis, Maoists, but the farmers answered all these questions peacefully, without any violent action. All these questions were, directly and indirectly, attacking the farmers, for example, Thousands of ex-servicepersons of armed forces are also involved in this movement. Even today the heirs of thousands of farmers join the Indian Army and fight against terrorism. It is a shame to call them terrorists. During the lockdown, the country's GDP was declining in every sector, but the agriculture sector showed positive growth. Furthermore, if we want to understand the agrarian crisis, we don't need to be economists or sociologists, we just need to be human because apart from food there will hardly be any activity that connects human civilization and farmers. Workers and farmers are the biggest characters of this civilization, who take care of the crops like their own children.
It is being propagated that women should live within the confines of the home in a male-dominated society, but claiming the "place in the revolution" women farmers are emerging as a strong force in the movement. The support and participation of workers in the movement cannot be denied. However, the participation of the workers has not been so high because their economic and social condition is not worthy of it, but the workers have strongly supported the farmers, which is commendable.
The farmers in this movement had put all ideologies aside and called for talking only about "three agricultural laws and MSP", in which the SKM has been successful. The strength of this movement is that hundreds of farmer-labourer organizations are involved in it, but all have the same demand - "repealing three laws and make a law on MSP".
Kisan Morcha introduced the stories of old peasant movements in front of today's young generation. Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar, Bibi Gulab Kaur, Savitri Bai Phule and many regional personalities and mainstream ideas were brought to the fore of a new era. In the memories, the Kisan Morcha organized programs on Chacha Ajit Singh, Kartar Singh Sarabha, Dhanna Bhagat, leaders of the Ghadar movement, Nanjudaswamy, Vijay Singh Pathik etc.
The youth has shown full strength in this movement. Understanding their responsibility for service in the langar, medical service, social media, cleanliness, stage management etc., youth have worked hard and diligently. The youth also took action against the propaganda of the media and the government. For this, new creative steps were taken like Trolley Times, Karti Dharti, Tractor to Twitter, Kisan Ekta Morcha, Vehra, Nanak Hut, Ambedkar Library, Sanjhi Satth, Maa Dharti Ke Waris, while Aman Bali, Sandeep Singh, Asis Kaur, Randeep Sangatpura, Gurshamsir Singh, Amar Pandher emerged as independent journalists.
Remembering the sacrifice of the farmers and labourers who were martyred in this movement, due to the efforts of Sandhu, some youths have created a blog named Human Cost of Protest, which has all the information about the martyrs of this movement. The purpose of this blog is to remember their sacrifice. As the central government has clarified that it does not have any details of the martyr farmers, the information is being secured through this blog to provide social and financial assistance to their families.
The farmers are well aware that only the repeal of this law will not solve all the problems of the farmers, but still, with the enthusiasm and courage with which this battle is being fought, this victory of the farmers is also certain. The farmers understand that this movement will become the voice of the widespread protest of the farmers and will prove to be a milestone in the progress of the farmers. After this, the way will open for the farmers to get their rights, but if this movement fails then the exploitation of the farmers will increase and such a big movement will never arise.
The BJP has always spread communalism with a changed meaning of religion but farmers see religion as a "possession". Farmers also celebrate Gurpurab and Buddha Purnima on the borders of Delhi. They also perform Yagya and iftar parties. The day of Morcha begins with Gurbani as well as Hanuman Chalisa. The historical slogan of Western Uttar Pradesh 'Allah Hu Akbar - Har Har Mahadev' also appeared in the Muzaffarnagar Mahapanchayat which is a symbol of unity. This politics of the peasantry is a threat to the political parties, especially the Bharatiya Janata Party because the true meaning of religion and politics is being reminded by this farmers movement.
While the farmers have fought unitedly against the agricultural laws, they have also maintained unity on the issues of social justice. The SKM has been giving the message of unity through Ravidas Jayanti, Ambedkar Jayanti, Labor Day, Women's Day and mainly Kisan-Mazdoor Ekta Diwas. Wherever the farm labour organizations staged a sit-in, the farmers' organizations have strongly supported them. In the recent program of agricultural labourers in Patiala, farm unions members washed the utensils used by labourers in the event, which shows the class unity and caste unity.
BJP is completely scared of the unity of the people of Punjab and Haryana and keeps trying to divide this unity. Meena and the Gurjar community of Rajasthan have come together. Muslims and Jats have united to bridge the old gap in Muzaffarnagar.
The movement got further impetus with the participation of artists. Artists are taking a concrete and direct fight with the state by taking more symbolic steps. The songs before the movement revolved around social injustice, sexual violence and social instability. Due to this movement, they have also understood MSP, international imports, WTO etc.
The move of the farmers against the BJP in the Bengal elections was an important step. The farmers believed that BJP only understands the language of votes. Now if the demands of the farmers are not accepted, then the farmers of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh will oppose the BJP even more.
Apart from suspending agricultural laws for one and a half years by the government, it was also informally offered that they are ready to suspend for 3 years. Being suspended for 3 years means that these laws are useless because there are Lok Sabha elections in the next 3 years and the government will not make the mistake of bringing these laws at the time of elections. This means that the government has abandoned these laws and is withdrawing them. Govt does not want to show their defeat and therefore the government directly says that it is ready for talks if there is a proposal other than the word "Repeal" but the farmers say that they stand by their original demands.
Overall, it can be said that this movement is not a fruit hanging on a tree, which is in the process of going from raw to ripe and will ripen over time and fall one day. Rather this movement is like heating milk in a pot on low flame, the longer it is heated, the stronger its strength and taste will become.
Harinder Happy, Researcher
8470870970 (harenderhappy@yahoo.com)
Original article was published in Panjabi Tribune daily newspaper on 23rd october 2021 in Panjabi language.
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