As Modi govt refuses to junk the 3 farm laws ignoring the protests on Delhi borders, situation heads towards confrontation

 

 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 benefit are these are claimed to have been introduced.

It may be mentioned that Punjab followed by neighbouring Haryana are the pioneers in the farm sector that is now the backbone of the Indian economy which continues to face contraction due to the factors that also include the man-made like the demonetisation.

The agitation had first been sparked in Punjab that has made the country food sovereign and as such, they are the right people in the country to pass judgment on these laws. They are the people who are going to be directly affected. The only regions where some system is operational in the farm sector are Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh so far as the minimum support price for wheat and paddy is concerned. These are the only regions where the mandi system is adequately developed.

The farmers in the regions that are still to witness modernisation of the farm sector should not carry equal weight so far as the assessment of these laws are concerned. The Modi government has not till date educated the people in the country on the gains made by Bihar where whatever existed in the mandi system was scrapped way back in 2006. Paddy from Bihar is brought to the mandis in Punjab, such is the state of affairs. It is virtually the Bihar model that the Modi government want to replicate at the national level while allowing the corporates to hoard. The entire superstructure that the present government is trying to create through these laws is not just anti-farmer but also anti-people.

The tractor parade taken out by the farmers around Delhi participated by thousands of tractors seems to have not impressed the Modi government. The main showdown would be on  Republic Day on January 26 when these tractors in thousands would head to Janpath in New Delhi after the celebrations.

The issue is why the government should continue to stick to its position while lakhs of people -men, women and children- are braving cruel weather at the borders of Delhi. This betrays total apathy by the people in power to the very people who elected them. This is colonial arrogance that should have no place in participatory democracy where the wish of the people is supposed to be supreme.

In the perception of these lakhs of protesters, these three farm laws are their death warrants.

In Punjab, the sentiment has moved a step up. The common refrain is that the fight now is for maintaining the honour and dignity. The world is witnessing the biggest and consistently peaceful struggle on the borders of Delhi.

The Supreme Court would take up this issue on January 11 but the farmers are clear. No decision of the Supreme Court can impact their struggle in case it does not amount to repeal. The government seems to be waiting for the apex court decision on several petitions on the issue. However, the farmers who are protesting are not the petitioners. The issues involved are more than being just legal.

But then the stakes are perceived to be too high  for the ruling dispensation as the Supreme Leader can do no wrong. But this attitude does not go with participatory democracy. The Leader should admit the wrong and make amends and that is the right way.

the best part of the agitation is that its leadership is collective and every decision is taken by the majority. Of course, two of the organisations in Punjab are not part of this collective but they too go by the collective decision. This has frustrated every move to derail this struggle.

The problem is that the government has so far failed to understand the spirit that drive even the eighty year old women to sit on dharna on Delhi border for their very survival.

It seems that Narendra Modi, who had been incharge of Punjab as BJP general secretary in nineties for sometimes had failed to understand this driving force and the psyche.

There is a middle path and both the sides would have to step back a little.

Intensification of confrontation could prove to be too costly.  The world is watching.