One of the leading giants in space sciences, India could definitely boast a bit about its achievements. It was a proud moment for us when teenager Rifath Sharook created the world’s lightest satellite, weighing only 64 grams. Also, we have done quite a few other things to make us proud of our briskly increasing pace of development. For instance, the India-Russia deal on the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP).
At the same time, there are some negative aspects that we need to look at. Among recent things, it is common to open our daily newspaper and read about yet another farmer suicide. Madhya Pradesh, for instance, has some shameful statistics in this regard. In 2016, a farmer committed suicide in MP every eight hours.
Why are we not talking about this? We talk about Kashmir and Pakistan and China but are farmers not Indians? We need to acknowledge that the farmers of our nation are in agony.
The violence last year in Mandsaur shook us all. The protest was initially peaceful. However, as time elapsed, things took a turn for the worse. Farmers are apparently to be blamed for the violence. But are farmers alone responsible for what happened? Just imagine how restless we get if we do not receive our paycheck on the first day of every month. These farmers had gone through successive droughts in a state where a large proportion of agriculture is dependent on the rain. Our government failed to help the farmers. They had to sell their crops at much lower prices. This is what had led to the outburst of violence.
Rahul Gandhi tweeted, “In Bharatiya Janata Party’s new India, our farmers get bullets when they ask for their rights. This government is at war with the farmers of our country.” But his party had failed to help the farmers too. Farmers of our nation are not getting the help that could save their lives.
It is high time for us to decide how we will ensure the integrity of the nation. India is the second largest producer of agricultural products. We directly rely on the farmers for our food and yet, we fail to notice their plight. Can we imagine our lives without food? It is time we took a decisive step that gave the farmers the importance that they deserved. We need to do this before it’s too late.