It is preposterous to believe that after abrogating Article
370 and 35A in Kashmir, Muslim, Christian and Dalit genocide in India, NRC and
CAA and controversial triple talaq reforms, now BJP is destroying farmers of
India. According to Farms Act 2020, farmers can sell their produce to whoever
they want, whenever they want. How can a small farmer store his produce for
months on end? He will not have access to storage facilities.
Despite depending on agrarian development and farm heartlands, the situation of
farmers both in Pakistan and India is not good. Recently, agitating farmers
mainly from Punjab were maltreated by the provincial administration. However, by
and large the Pakistani farmers are enjoying no mentionable hurdles
towardsgrowing crops, income on the produce and taxes thereof. But the condition
of farmers in the neighboring country, India, is highly miserable, which seems
the part of BJP’s anti-farmer agenda.
The farmers in India are facing frequent droughts, that too in the debt-driven
lands. They think that the fascist government of Modi is taking India towards
capitalism, by making the farmers slaves of the capitalists. This is the reason
that their protests and agitations have spread all over India after the tabling
of two controversial bills, which if passed may prove to be a death warrant for
farmers. Indian media calls Maharashtra as a farmers’ suicide belt while Uttar
Pradesh, Bihar and Orissa have been totally devastated. “Even after 73 years of
independence our farmer who is toiling to feed our nation, he himself is hungry,
deprived and distressed. Unseasonal rains, droughts, and floods, still ails
Indian agriculture. The farmer has reached the brink of despair, and what they
are experiencing is something which is beyond an agrarian crisis”.
The fact is the agriculture sector in India contributes nearly 15 percent of its
$2.9 trillion economy, but it employs about half of the country’s 1.3 billion
people only. On September 27, 2020, the Indian president, RamnathKovind gave his
assessment on three noxious agriculture acts: Farmers’ Produce Trade and
Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; Farmers (Empowerment and
Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; and
Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. Farmers are mainly concerned that
this will eventually lead to the end of wholesale markets and assured prices,
leaving them with no back-up option. That is, if they are not satisfied with the
price offered by a private buyer, they cannot return to the mandi or use it as a
bargaining chip during negotiations.
As a result, it is very likely that the produce will be sold at a rate which is
unsustainable for the farmer. The Acts further state that farmers can come into
an agreement with private companies. The Acts further state that farmers can
come into an agreement with private companies. Such deals are financially
attractive but because there are so many terms and conditions attached, it is
difficult for a farmer to cope with them. They become the slave of the company.
The agriculture sector contributes nearly 15 percent of India’s $2.9 trillion
economy but employs about half of the country’s 1.3 billion people is being
ignore by Modi. Rather BJP hoodlums are calling them Khalistan proxies.
The man called Narendra Modi who had won the elections on a promise of doubling
farm income has left farmers at the mercy of big corporations as he is making
them the slaves of the capitalists. It is widely believed and the farmers fear
that the three deadly farmer acts will only push the farmers from one set of
middlemen to another set of middlemen. It is not a solution for agriculture as
promised. Therefore, the Farm Act 2020 is a death warrant for small and
marginalized farmers, which is aimed at destroying them by handing over
agriculture and market to the big corporates.
The new a controversial Farm Acts are unlikely to be a panacea for Indian
farmers’ plights. The ruling BJP’s goal, in essence, is therefore to allow
greater play of market forces in agriculture. Modi’s government has designed
Farm Acts 2020 not for the farmers but for the investors. It has obviously not
done enough to ensure that farmers’ interests are not sacrificed. Farmers
actually need protection of their interests in the form of regulations. Rather
BJP goons are calling them protesters for Khalistan.
The farmers’ agitation over the new Farm Acts is yet another conflict and
protest against unilateral law of the Modi’s government. This time the farmers
from Punjab and Haryana states are joining the protests and are heading towards
Delhi. If this proves to be a success, Modi government will obviously be in deep
waters. These protests have called the attention of world leaders, who are
strongly criticizing India, though the Indian foreign ministry took notice of
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s comments calling it “unwarranted,
especially when pertaining to internal affairs of a democratic country”.
The Modi government dismisses the agitating farmers’ fears saying these are
misplaced. His government blames the opposition parties for spreading false
rumours regarding the fate of farmers under the new laws. “The new agriculture
laws have been brought in for benefit of the farmers. We will see and experience
benefits of these new laws in the coming days”, said Modi as his home affairs
minister offered to allow the farmers’ entry into the capital city as long as
they restrict their agitation to a designated spot. The farmers’ response was:
“thanks, but no thanks”.
According to a New York Times report, but the scene at Delhi’s borders, where
tens of thousands of farmers and their supporters have been demonstrating at
several road junctions, resembled the citizenship protests in spirit: the
combative anti-Modi speeches, the growing crowds and the countless volunteers
passing out food to keep things going. BBC observes that the farmers’ cause,
however, continues to gain support, though the authorities invited them for
talks – one round of talks with government ministers on Tuesday failed and a
second round was scheduled for Thursday. The farmers have now set up massive
camps at several locations and they say they will stay as long as it takes for
the authorities to agree to repeal the “black laws”.