Roofless 76 Days on the Road — The Massive Farmers’ Protest in India
It’s the new year and farmers of India are on the road for 76 days now. Their demand? They don’t want the new farm laws which will potentially destroy their and the country’s future.
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“Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan” — it’s a very popular phrase in India, meaning, “Hail the soldier, Hail the farmer”. But sadly, in recent times, the farmers of India are suffering like never before. The Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India report 2019 by the National Crime Records Bureau suggests that at least 10,281 persons involved in the farm sector committed suicide in 2019. The number was 10,348 back in 2018. Farmer suicides accounted for 7.4 per cent of the total suicides of India in 2019. Every day, almost 28 farmers commit suicide in India. Debt, environment, low produce prices, poor irrigation, increased cost of cultivation, private money lenders and crop failures are the key reasons behind these suicides. But, instead of giving relief to the farmers, the new farm laws fueled the agitation of the farmers all over India. Most media channels of India allegedly tried to suppress the news of a new farm bill for months. But as soon as the bills were passed in the parliament, protests broke all over the nation.
Back On 5 June 2020, when the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, 2020 was promulgated by the Union Cabinet. Several farmer organizations from Punjab and Haryana started to protest against these ordinances soon. ‘Bhartiya Kisan Union’ asked permission from the Haryana government to rally against the new ordinances. But on 10th September 2020, the BJP (Bhartiya Janata Party) led Haryana government declined the request in the view of the Coronavirus pandemic. But still, over 100 farmers protested on the roads with their tractors with the slogan “Kisan Bachao, Mandi Bachao”, meaning, “save the farmers, save the markets”.
The Haryana government allowed the ‘Kishan Bachao’ rally after farmers blocked NH-22, but they had to face lathicharge. Now the question is, what does their slogan “save the farmers, save the markets” means?
The “Mandi” system:
Back when India got its independence, the farmers did not have any way to easily sell their crops in the market. They were under the mercy of money-lenders, traders and distributors who used to exploit the farmers. Farmers were perpetually in debt which they couldn’t escape.
To solve this problem, the government established an Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC). Since agricultural marketing is a state subject, APMC is operating under the state government that has Yards/Mandis in the market area. The Mandis regulate the notified agricultural produce and livestock. To sell in APMC, traders needed a license to buy/sell agricultural produce. So, this way the government had control over the traders and it minimized their exploitation of the farmers. Also, farmers had to be paid a Minimum Support Price (MSP) in these Mandis. According to experts, the green revolution of India happened during the 1960s because of these APMC markets.
The APMC market system has flaws for sure. The market committee had too much power over giving license to the traders. Also, the cartelization of traders made the situation worse. But still, the farmers get the MSP in the APMC markets.
The new amendments:
Now, the Modi government claimed to revolutionize the farming sector with the new ordinances. They claimed that the new ordinances will make “One Nation, One Market” and give the farmers the freedom to sell their agricultural produces anywhere in the nation they want. To make selling outside APMC markets more attractive, the government made buying/selling outside APMC markets tax-free through their ordinances. Also, there is no guarantee of MSP if a farmer sells outside APMC markets. Also, outside APMC markets, no purchase is regulated and farmers could be exploited there.
A report by the Times of India [1] pointed out the key provisions of the new agricultural bill. “The Act on Agri market allows farmers to sell their produce outside APMC ‘Mandis’ to whoever they want” [1]. According to a report by Jagranjosh [2], “As per the amendment, the imposition of any stock limit on agricultural produce will be based on price rise and can only be imposed if there’s — a 100% increase in the retail price of horticultural produce and 50% increase in the retail price of non-perishable agricultural food items.” Also, the amendments “seeks to remove commodities like cereals, pulses, oilseeds, edible oils, onion and potatoes from the list of essential commodities [1].
Why are the farmers angry?
According to the farmers, because there is no tax outside the APMC markets, corporations will primarily buy from the farmers for a price that is much higher than that of APMC Mandis. Soon after the whole Mandi system is abolished, the corporates will control the whole market and the prices too. The unregulated market will have no rules and farmers will be exploited. Also, because there are lesser restrictions on storing agricultural produces, the corporates will control the prices of basically every food item. The farmers are alleging the whole farming sector will be corporatized with these provisions which will lead to more exploitations of the farmers.
What happened next?
Instead of the several protests in Haryana and Punjab, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, and the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, was introduced in Lok Sabha on 14 September 2020 and they were passed in Lok Sabha on 17 September 2020. On 20 September 2020, the bills were passed in Rajya Sabha and those received Presidential Assent on 24 September 2020. Also, the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020, was introduced in Lok Sabha on 14 September 2020 and it was passed in Lok Sabha on 15 September 2020. On 22 September 2020, the bill was passed in Rajya Sabha and it received Presidential Assent on 26 September 2020. These are the three main acts with the ordinances discussed previously, that the farmers are protesting. Protests broke out all over India after these bills were passed.
What do the farmers demand?
- The farmers want the government to repeal three laws- Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.
- The farmers demand that the government make MSP a legal guarantee.
- The farmers want the government to make changes in the Electricity (amendment) Bill, 2020.
- The farmers want to keep themselves out of the Delhi anti-pollution ordinance invoked in October 2020, which imposed heavy fines for stubble burning.
The protests:
Over 400 farmer organizations all over India started to protest against these new laws. But their demands did not reach the government because very few media channels covered their stories. On November 26, 2020, the farmers on Haryana and Punjab announced an indefinite strike with their slogan “Delhi Chalo”, meaning “March to Delhi”. According to a report of The Guardian [3], “More than 300,000 farmers head to capital for ‘decisive battle’ with government”. The response from the government and the media was really shocking and puts a big question mark on the democracy and freedom of speech in India. According to the same report by the Guardian [3], “Police had used tear gas and water cannons against the marching farmers and ripped up highways to stop tractors and protesters moving forward.” Over 500 farmers got arrested in Tamilnadu and Karnataka and farmers of Hariyana [6]. Punjab and Uttar Pradesh also met several restrictions. Section 144 was imposed in Pipli, Hariyana to stop the farmers’ rally [4]. Apparently, over 100 farm-union members of Punjab and Hariyana were arrested too [5]. Even, on 27 November 2020, Delhi police asked AAP government of Delhi to let them use 9 stadiums as temporary jails to keep the detained farmers [7].
Thankfully Delhi is run by the AAP government, not by the BJP government, so they denied the request. If Delhi was run by the BJP government, we might have had stadiums filled with detained farmers instead of these massive protests. In Uttar Pradesh, where BJP is in power, farmers weren’t even allowed to gather for protests.
But in the end, the dedication of the protesting farmers paid off and a large number of farmers reached the borders of Delhi. But then they had to face the sold-out Indian media. Most media channels tried to defame the farmers and labelled them as “Pakistani”, “Khalistani” etc.
The farmers were stopped from reaching Delhi by heavier barricades and more restrictions. So, on several national highways, the farmers set up camps and started protesting. Hundreds of thousands of farmers are living on the roads, in the freezing cold of December and January, so that the government hears their voice. The protesting farmers took their ration for several months with them and that is what they are surviving on. Several NGOs are supporting the farmers and there is sufficient supply of food and other commodities for the protesters now. Most of the protesting farmers claim that they are ready to stay there for an indefinite time until the three new laws are taken back and MSP is applied to all sales of agricultural produces. On February 10, 2020, the farmers completed 76 days of living on the highway without a roof. At least 30 farmers have died in these protests.
As quoted by ANI, Bhartiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait stated, “ They (Central Government) want amendment in them (Farm Laws 2020) but we want these laws to be repealed. We don’t want changes. We will end our protest only when these laws are withdrawn. Like the government brought the three bills, they should also bring a bill on the MSP.” [2]
What now?
After several days of protest, the government finally agreed to talk with the farmers. But even after several rounds of talks, the government refused to fulfil the demands of the farmers.
Finally, on 30 December 2020, two demands of the farmers were fulfilled by the government after a day-long conversation with the leaders of the farmer unions. The third and fourth demand, for subsidized power and action over stubble burning, were fulfilled by the government. Another meeting is to be held on 4 Jan 2021 and the government will discuss the first two demands of the farmers in detail with the leaders of the farmer unions.
The defence minister said, “I appeal to farmers to at least wait for two years, give a chance to the farm years as an experiment and see the results” [8], but the farmers are still standing their ground.
On January 26, the republic day of India, the farmers organized a phenomenally huge tractor-march in Delhi. But despite most of the rallies being peaceful with the participation of lakhs of tractors on the roads, violence took place in some places. Some farmers marched into Red Fort in Delhi and hoisted their flags there. Videos of a person mistreating the national flag of India was also viral on social media.
The government and the Delhi police (controlled by central government) took strong action against the farmers. In different borders of Delhi, the police dug holes in the road, put heavy barricades and spiky-wires on them. Not only that, Delhi police cemented nails on the road, blocking any entrance or exit to or from the protest site. Even water tanks of Delhi Water Board weren’t allowed to go inside the protest site. Electricity and internet were cut off, leaving the protesters in complete darkness.
Just when people started to lose hope, Rihanna tweeted the news on internet shutdown in Singhu border, saying, “why aren’t we talking about this?! #FarmersProtest”. Following this, several other personalities like Amanda Cerny, Mia Khalifa, Greta Thunberg and several others also tweeted about this and paid solidarity to the protesting farmers.
Following this incident, a ton of Indian celebrities like Sachin Tendulkar, Lata Mangeshkar and Virat Kohli tweeted pieces of stuff like, “India’s sovereignty cannot be compromised. External forces can be spectators but not participants. Indians know India and should decide for India. Let’s remain united as a nation. #IndiaTogether #IndiaAgainstPropaganda”.
The government also stated foreigners showing interest in this as “Foreign Destructive Ideology”. With that, the battle of words between the government and the protesters and supporters of the protesters are going on.
Conclusion
This farmers’ protest in India showed us the real face of Indian media as well as the government. Several social media posts and propaganda were spread by the government to reduce the agitations of the farmers but failed. Independent media played a significant role in spreading the voice of the farmers to the common people. Not only the farmers, but common citizens are also protesting against these laws as they affect each and everyone in the long run. This a story that is sad and motivating at the same time. This is a story the world needs to know.
References
[1] TIMESOFINDIA.COM. (2020, December 8). What are new farm laws and and why farmers are protesting. The Times of India. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/what-are-new-farm-laws-and-and-why-farmers-are-protesting/articleshow/79609234.cms
[2] Javaid, A. (2020, December 31). Farm Laws 2020 Explained: Everything you need to know about the new agriculture reforms in India. Jagranjosh.Com. https://www.jagranjosh.com/general-knowledge/farm-bills-indian-farm-reforms-2020-1606901455-1#:%7E:text=1%2D%20Background%3A%20On%205%20June%202020%2C%20the%20Farmers’,promulgated%20by%20the%20Union%20Cabinet
[3] Ellis-Petersen, H. (2020, December 1). Indian farmers march on Delhi in protest against agriculture laws. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/30/indian-farmers-march-on-delhi-in-protest-against-agriculture-laws
[4] Express News Service. (2020, September 10). Haryana farmers’ rally today, Section 144 imposed in Pipli. The Indian Express. https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chandigarh/haryana-farmers-rally-today-section-144-imposed-in-pipli-6590187/#:%7E:text=A%20day%20ahead%20of%20a,of%20more%20than%20four%20people.&text=They%20said%20that%20efforts%20were,symbolic%20protests%20in%20their%20districts
[5] Upadhyay, S. (2020, November 25). Midnight Detention Of Over 100 Farmers: Punjab & Haryana High Court Issues Notice To Haryana Govt. Live Law. https://www.livelaw.in/news-updates/midnight-detention-of-over-100-farmers-punjab-haryana-high-court-issues-notice-to-haryana-govt-166401?infinitescroll=1
[6] Janardhanan, A. (2016, September 7). Cauvery protests: Over 500 court arrest over Tamil Nadu, DMK backs farmers. The Indian Express. https://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/cauvery-protests-over-500-court-arrest-over-tamil-nadu-dmk-backs-farmers/
[7] P. (2020, November 27). Farmers’ protest: Delhi Police seeks AAP govt’s nod to use 9 stadiums as temporary jails. The Economic Times. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/farmers-protest-delhi-police-seeks-aap-govts-nod-to-use-9-stadiums-as-temporary-jails/articleshow/79440759.cms
[8] Haq, Z. (2020, December 31). Farm laws stir: Breakthrough as govt accepts two demands of farmers. Hindustan Times. https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/farm-laws-stir-breakthrough-as-govt-accepts-two-demands-of-farmers/story-SfTtFZ6G12lWsaXbBpBP1J.html
