Today marks one year of the farmers’ strike and protest against the new farm laws. The farmers’ protest against the three farm laws succeeded, with the Modi Government deciding to repeal the laws. But the Kisan protest will continue for other necessary demands.
The “Anna Hazare Moment” in Indian politics came and went many years ago. Anna Hazare’s movement was the catalyst for the decline and fall of the UPA II government. This movement brought the issue of corruption to the fore and paved the way for a leader like Narendra Modi. The process of uniting under the slogan “India Against Corruption” brought the elites of the left and right together on one platform.
Financial scandals followed — 2G scandal, Coal Block Allocation, Commonwealth — all of these were fueled by intense mass protests. “Na khaunga, na khane dunga (I won’t eat, I won’t let anyone eat),” became the slogan of millions of excited Indians.
Manmohan Singh’s government was blown away by the storm. The same reflection is seen around the peasant movement of the country. If the battle in 2011 was between the Anna movement and the Manmohan Singh government, then today’s battle is between the opposition forces and Narendra Modi. And the peasants of the country are leading that fight.
That fight taught me to keep an eye on the ruler, to throw fearless questions. That fight has raised its finger with pride, wanted an answer. Winter has come down in Delhi at night with farmers sitting day and night awkwardly with blankets, two or four thick clothes.
The farmers are still protesting but a look at the news channels, and you’d think everything was resolved. #FarmersProtest #FarmerLivesMatters https://t.co/0gSGZRG9VT
— Youth Ki Awaaz (@YouthKiAwaaz) April 19, 2021
For a year and a half, they have continued the tradition against the injustice that the Modi government started by forcibly passing the three agriculture bills in parliament, which were detrimental to the interests of the farmers. They protested against him. The death of hundreds of farmers did not break their morale.
The Gerua camp has been consistently defeated in its use of the usual tricks, force and tactics. On the other hand, the sharp and conscious questioning of the protesting peasants has thwarted all their conspiracies. Surely this collective rivalry will be remembered as an example in the pages of history.
In stark contrast and equal proportions, the role of the Modi government will be written in deep stigma. Their arrogance and stupidity in the face of the peasant movement have broken all records.
Signs Of Cruelty
Modi’s forces failed to evaluate the peasant movement on one issue. They did not understand the power of farmers protesting. The Modi government does not have the capacity to understand the morale of the peasants, their resolute mentality towards the movement and their fervent desire for self-sacrifice.
Their ego and self-conceit, pride and self-confidence are at such a level that they cannot imagine the farmers having the same self-confidence, refusing to bow down to their power.
The government should have listened to the agitating farmers without seeing them as “opponents”. This is not a battle of victory and defeat. It is a test of democratic mentality. In the last 7 years, the drivers of the Modi government have failed the test. Pure absolutism has become the religion of the Modi government.
When the movement started, these farmers were called “terrorists”. They were the “rich farmers of Punjab”, the “landlords”. The BJP’s social media managers showed AC machines, Mercedes and BMW cars coming to the farmers’ camp and claimed that Punjabi families came to the Delhi border in tractors for picnics. Many went one step further and said that Khalistanis were sending money from Canada.
Modi saw that the farmers’ movement could not be broken even with the rich national landlord. On the contrary, the sharecroppers and marginal farmers of the country sided with the rich farmers of Punjab and Haryana.
When party leaders and ministers called the country’s food donors insulting words, Modiji himself mocked the peasants by calling them “agitators”. Not only that, his government has from the very beginning carried out sabotage repression, both openly and secretly, on peaceful farmer processions and protest rallies.
At first, in Delhi-bound farmers’ processions, baton charges, inhumane use of water cannons in extreme cold, etc., were used. The government dug trenches 10 feet deep and 5 feet wide horizontally by employing government personnel on major national and state roads.
In addition to this, the four borders of Delhi were blocked with barbed wire, behind heavy concrete, eight to 10 rows of iron cage welded walls. Even in the front streets, many deadly needles were buried with iron rods so that the farmers could not move forward. Another cruelty was disconnecting drinking water.
The latest addition is the killing of eight farmers in Lakhimpur. The government thought it would break up the assembly out of fear. But no, it did not break. It was a point of no return. It is the Modi government that has brought the peasant movement to that stage.
Has the country ever seen such a strong conviction to win in the pages of Indian history? The peasantry is a wonderful, calm sea, a strange calm that consolidates all the heat inside. The police, who had earlier charged them with brutal beatings, had eaten with them on the streets with a smile. A new grammar of civilisation has been born on the streets in the spirit of the non-violent peasant struggle.
Why Did PM Modi Decide To Retreat?
Needless to say, the 56-inch-chested Modi has not witnessed such an apology in the last 7 years. There is no doubt that it is a great surprise for the people of the country to see such a retreat. The government was in the image of Ranang Dehi from the very beginning in the face of the agrarian movement.
Explanations for why Modi had to step down for the first time in 7 years have started in various quarters. Newspapers report that the effects of Hindutva-based nationalism have waned, as evidenced by Modi’s retreat. When such a situation arises in politics, i.e. the main ideology of a party becomes dull, it becomes very difficult to repair it.
Despite playing the card of Hindutva in the West Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, the BJP could not take advantage. Likewise, in the recent by-elections in Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh, Hindutva-based propaganda did not work. As a result, at the beginning of 2022, the biggest challenge for the BJP is to win in Uttar Pradesh.
Critics say that the people are turning away from the Modi government, as evidenced by the Uttar Pradesh panchayat polls just 6 months ago. Out of 3,000 seats in rural Uttar Pradesh, Modi’s party has somehow got close to 1,000 seats.
So he bowed his head and apologised to the people and announced the repeal of three agricultural laws. This is the medicine of vote politics. The political tactic of retreat. Who doesn’t know that a ruling party retreats only when it realises that the ground under its feet is shifting?
History Of Farmers’ Protest In West Bengal
The people of Bengal know what happens once the soil under the feet starts moving. Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, the former CM of West Bengal, also set an example by retreating from Singur.
According to political circles, his retreat was the last nail in the coffin of the Left Front. He drowned, forcibly acquiring land without the consent of the people of Singur. The same is true of Modi. He also drowned with bringing three reform laws in agriculture without long talks.
Indian’s Understand The Truth
The people of this country know that not all are Ratnakar Balmiki. Modi is not. Conscious leaders of the Porkhawa peasant movement, accustomed to Modi’s drama of repealing agricultural laws, have made it clear that they will not withdraw from the movement unless the three agricultural laws are repealed in the two chambers of parliament.
The demand is not just the repeal of the new agricultural law. Where is the guarantee of Minimum Support Price (MSP)? What will happen to the new electricity bill?
Four lakh farmers have died by suicide. It was not because of the new agricultural law. It was for not getting adequate prices for their crops. According to the recommendations of the Swaminathan Committee, farmers will not survive if they do not get MSP for their crops. Indian agriculture will die in accidents.
So the movement will continue. Farmers are reluctant and have minimal confidence in the PM’s words. Some people say this is the beginning of the end of Modi.
In addition to dying in the corona-infected world of 2020, India is also seeing an amazing picture of living, wanting to live. The picture will be even brighter in 2024.
Sure, across that picture, there are tractors and ploughs. Spontaneous movements, shoulder to shoulder. Barricade. Fighting. Rebellion. Waves of disobedience rose from side to side. Eternal. Historical.
They will win, “Kisan Bharat” will return after winning.