Jagtar Singh

  Deep design   hits massive secular mobilisation based struggle of farmers that threatens Hindutva agenda Jagtar Singh Ground Zero   India is witnessing unprecedented churning in socio-political domain at the time when the Hindutva juggernaut remains unchallenged. The struggle by the farmers   for the repeal of three contentious farm laws that was triggered in Punjab   and is now acquiring pan-India character   has now strong multi-dimensional undercurrents. It is the biggest secular mobilisation that in the long run can upset the divisive Hindutva agenda which is the core philosophy of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party by providing the much needed platform. This has happened at the time when with almost every political party worth its name has utterly failed to confront this juggernaut that already has marginalized the second biggest religious formation in the country and the Sikhs are the third. This mobilisation has the potential to impact o...

    Farmers Struggle: Countdown begins  to transform India’s Colonial Democracy to People’s Democracy on January 26   Jagtar Singh Ground Zero   Chandigarh: The world would witness the first ever such mobilisation of farmers on tractors at the doorsteps of Delhi. This mobilisation would challenge all existing norms of political dynamics. Every tractor, especially in Punjab and Haryana, is heading to Delhi, such is the magnitude of this mobilisation. It is now immaterial whether the tractor parade is staged on the out ring road or some other areas. It is the unprecedented mobilisation of the farmers that in itself is important. It is a mobilisation that is commanded by the people themselves. The issue is both simple and complex. This mobilisation would decide as to which model of growth is the country to follow as the free market model has been proved to be anti-people. This model has produced crony capital and corrupted the ruling class to the core. It has becom...

  Modi government treads the risky path of Khalistan to confront farmers struggle for survival Jagtar Singh Ground Zero   Desperate to counter the farmers struggle that triggered in Punjab but has now acquired pan India dimension, the BJP government at the centre has brought out the risky weapon of Khalistan to counter it. Raking up this issue amounts to playing with fire. The Kisan Tractor Parade on the Republic Day on January 26 on outer ring road of Delhi would demonstrate the all-India character of this historic agitation that is now under global watch. This massive show of unity in diversity must be assessed in the backdrop of the consistent divisive agenda unleashed in the country by the Sangh Parivar of which the ruling BJP is the political wing and is aggressively implementing it. The government seems to have opted for a divisive tool to confront   a secular mass struggle. Ironically, the Khalistan narrative had earlier been recalled in the country wit...

  Supreme Court intervention fails to end deadlock between government, agitating farmers Jagtar Singh Ground Zero   What happened today in the Supreme Court in the context of the agitation by the farmers pressing for scrapping of the three contentious farm laws should be viewed in the backdrop of the affidavit submitted by the centre yesterday asserting that the demand for repeal was “neither justifiable nor acceptable”. The setting up of the 4-member committee by the apex court to hold talks with the farmers becomes meaningless in the context of this affidavit as the main demand is to junk the three laws. The farmer organisations hours later after the Supreme Court verdict rejected the panel. Moreover, the committee should have been set up having experts from both the sides to reformulate the reform framework in the farm sector and not thrust amended form of the same on the unwilling farmers. The status quo thus continues. The government has added a new factor o...

    Situation heads towards intensification of confrontation between Modi government and farmers   Jagtar Singh Ground Zero   The Narendra Modi government consistently continues to junk the demand of the agitation farmers to junk the three contentious farm laws that they perceive to be their death warrants. The ninth round of talks between the farmers and the government led by Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar today again ended in expected deadlock as both the sides continue to stick to their respective stands. The next round is slated for January 15. What is wrong in case the government withdraws these three laws that the farmers maintain are not in their benefit? The most affected are the farmers in Punjab and Haryana. Tomar made it clear while talking to the media after the meeting that the government was open to every demand except the repeal of the three laws. The matter ends there. These laws are not acceptable to the farmers for whose ben...

  Tributes to Kisan Martyrs only gain of today’s meeting, battle may now begin Jagtar Singh Ground Zero   The much-hyped meeting between the Narendra Modi government and the agitating farmers ended in stalemate today. The next round would be on January 8. The only gain is the tributes to the Kisans who have sacrificed their lives during the struggle beginning with the dharna on the borders of Delhi to demand the repeal of the three contentious laws that the farmers perceive to be threat to their very existence and way of life. That continues to be the main demand followed by legal guarantee to the minimum support price. The government was virtually made to join the tributes to the farmers as the leaders got up to observe 2-minute silence in their memory. At one level, the government has been forced to recognise the loss of life as sacrifice for the cause. So far the real issues are concerned, the government made it clear today again that the three   laws tha...

  Suspension of farm laws is the key as farmers intensify struggle for existence Jagtar Singh Ground Zero As the farmers organisations give the call for Tractor Parade in Delhi on Republic Day on January 26 to press for the revocation of the three contentious farm laws, it must be known to every section in the country and the media that these are the very people whose ancestors made sacrifices for the freedom of the country. The forefathers of the people who are now ruling the country were not part of that narrative. Not only that. Veer Savarkar, the author of Hindutva, had apologized from the Cellular Jail in Andamans. Facts can’t be changed. The government can avoid the showdown. This column on December 24 had proposed that the Narendra Modi government should offer suspension of the three contentious farm laws   as a way forward to take the negotiations towards the logical conclusion with the farmers protesting at the doors of the capital of world’s biggest democra...