• Lal Bahadur Singh

The heat of the peasant movement is going to reach Hastinapur through assembly elections, especially in West Bengal elections and panchayat elections in UP.

“Revolution is a celebration of oppressed people”

When the war of rights turns into a collective celebration of the public, then it becomes unbeatable. When thousands of peasants, burying in their hearts the grief of the martyrdom of more than 300 of their co-warriors, reached the Delhi border to celebrate Holi on the road away from their homeland, they were exuberant with the absolute longing for life, the pride inherent in their fight for dignity, the hope for victory and above all, determination to continue the fight. Undoubtedly, their mixed emotions of sorrow and anger, anguish, vengeance, feeling of being deceived and insulted and the resistance against it must have found expression in the celebration.

Farmers’ leader Rakesh Tikait, who celebrated Holi at the Ghazipur border with his wife and family, echoed the sentiments of the farmers, saying, “We can feel no joy of the festival of Holi after the death of so many companions. But since it is our festival, we will celebrate it; continuing our tradition. “

Expressing his determination to continue the fight, Tikait warned, “We will even celebrate Diwali right here.”

Obviously now that the farmers have made the movement their life, they are ready for a long battle.

They draw inspiration from the historic ‘PagdiSambhalJatta’ movement started under the leadership of Sardar Ajit Singh, the uncle of Shaheed-E-Azam Bhagat Singh, which finally forced the British rule to withdraw 3 such black laws after 8 months.

The ‘SanyuktKisanMorcha’ has called for a gherao of FCI on 5 April. The entire structure of mandi, MSP and PDS adjoins FCI, which is being pushed into losses by the government to be able to shut it down.

Earlier, India was shut down on 26 March. There have been many shutdowns in the democratic history of the country after independence, but the main feature of the ‘Bharat Bandh’, first of December 8 and now of March 26, is that not only these shutdowns have been tremendously successful, but also that they have been organized by those farmers who are not considered to have any influence in the cities, nor do they have any established All India Organizational structure, which is considered essential for the success of such programme.

The huge success of ‘Bharat Bandh’, on the call of the farmers, proves that the farmers’ movement has now assumed a nationwide form and has secured sympathy and support of all the sections of society against the government policies and repression. It is also a sign of a newly emerging political mobilization, which, even though may be in infancy today, may assume a larger shape in the coming days.

With this, 4 months of the Peasant Movement at the borders of Delhi have completed, though it started 6 months ago from Punjab. The number of protestors at the border is constantly fluctuating, but it is neither affecting the basic movement nor its momentum, which is constantly evolving. The movement is advancing towards greater heights according to its ideological and political content.

It is also noteworthy that such a large nationwide shutdown was completely peaceful. Apparently, after the experience of the 26 January’s government’s conspiracy, the farmers are now guarding the peaceful direction of their movement with more vigilance. But the government and the BJP are constantly taking provocative actions against the farmers, which is fueling the resentment of the farmers.

Yudhveer Singh, a top leader of the ‘SanyuktKisanMorcha’, who has been continuously involved in negotiations with the government and is the general secretary of Rakesh Tikait’s BKU, was abruptly arrested in Ahmedabad on the day of ‘Bharat Bandh’ on 26 March. His crime was that he was addressing a press conference regarding Rakesh Tikait’s visit to Gujarat on 4-5 April. Farmers of the entire country have been witnesses to the way the Gujarat police is dragging him from the press conference, as the video of the same has gone viral. Isn’t such an act of humiliating the top leader of the peasants a provocation? Rakesh Tikait has said, “Our aim was to show the reality of the Gujarat model.”

It is almost about 70 days since the last talks on 22 January. The government is not taking any initiative, instead is embarking upon repressive actions.

The ‘SanyuktKisanMorcha’ has said in a statement that, “Despite heavy protest from the opposition in the Haryana Assembly on March 18, a bill has been passed which aims to suppress the movement. Under the ‘Order of Recovery of Property Damage Bill, 2021’in Haryana Public System, the loss of personal or public property anywhere during the agitation, will be compensated by the agitators. Losses can be recovered from those planning, encouraging, or supporting movement in any form. By law, no court shall have the right to hear an appeal. The alleged loss will be recovered by confiscating the property of the agitators. Such a law has also been enacted by the Yogi government of Uttar Pradesh and it has been misused in a big way.”

Naturally, the arrogance of the government is causing further resentment among the farmers. Their patience has been tested for long now.More than 300 farmers have been martyred. The government is inviting anarchy by ignoring and suppressing the farmers who have been patient for so long in such a difficult situation.

The socio-political boycott of the leaders of the BJP and its allies by farmers assumed a violent form at some places in the past few days.

The ‘SanyuktKisanMorcha’ has said in its statement issued on March 27, “The biggest strength of this movement has been that it has been completely peaceful, farmers have shown their strength at every step of the movement with patience.”

Leaders of BJP and its allies have been inciting farmers by using rhetoric against this movement and farmers. Even martyr farmers were insulted by these leaders. Due to all this and in the context of opposition to agricultural laws, farmers have socially boycotted the leaders of BJP and its allies.

The BJP MLA from Abohar in Punjab was opposed by the farmers in the vicinity. This agitation of peasants turned violent under adverse circumstances and the MLA was physically abused. It is a matter of regret that a chosen representative was treated this way. We strongly condemn this incident and do not encourage such behavior.

We consider the BJP and its allies responsible for this incident. The central leadership of the BJP is rooted in its ego and is busy in electoral states rather than solving the problems of farmers. “

However, the farmers’ campaign against BJP-JJP leaders is going on still. Owner of the Zee News BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP Subhash Chandra’s programme in Hisar, was disrupted by the agitated farmers on March 28.

During the Assembly elections, the way in which the Farmers’ Movement has started to move in the anti-BJP political direction, has caused growing uneasiness to the Sangh-BJP.

A few days earlier, Meghalaya Governor Satpal Malik, who is basically a big Jat leader of BJP of Western UP, strongly advocated for the legal guarantee of the MSP for farmers and gave the famous statement which posed a question mark on the efficacy of the government. The changing political scenario of the nation, especially of the Jat belt is behind this new perception. Whether they have a personal agenda of their party or a vicious game behind this, one thing is clear that no matter how much effort is made to maintain bold face, the pressure of the peasant movement is being felt in the ruling circle.

Farmer leaders have appealed to the public not to vote for the BJP, so that the Modi government is pressurized to accept the demands of the farmers’ movement.

Listening to the farmers in the remote villages of Bengal, it can now be said with confidence that the message of this movement has not only reached the grassroots, but in every area of the country. A feeling of a simple class solidarity towards the movement has been ingrained in the minds of the farmers; even though they are not yet directly connected to the issues of the movement like the APMC Act, but they, instinctively, have a feeling that the movement is right, and the government is wrong. They are sure that in the long run there is some danger in the laws.

The Peasant movement has strengthened the anti-BJP sentiment in the electoral states, particularly in West Bengal, and is bound to have an impact on the election results.

Could these election results have a decisive impact on the government’s attitude towards the peasant movement?

In fact, the heat of the peasant movement is going to reach Hastinapur through assembly elections, especially in West Bengal elections and UP’s panchayat elections.

In the latest episode of his ‘Mann Ki Baat’ on 28 March, Modi Ji once again emphasized the need for modernization of the agricultural sector and said that it was important to explore new options along with traditional farming which would increase the income of farmers and employment in agriculture sector. But it is worth mentioning that this time, he refrained from directly mentioning or advocating 3 agricultural laws. Is this a sign of a changing strategy in view of the increasing political heat of the movement?

Earlier in the episode of November 28, while the farmers had settled at the border tolerating tear gas and water cannons at the barricades, Modi ji had praised these laws in ‘Mann Ki baat’ itself.

Indeed, a kind of cycle of history has completed with the Peasant movement. As a result of the 2013 Muzaffarpur riots, the Muslim-Jat unity in western Uttar Pradesh, which was the axis of peasant politics, was badly fragmented, the communal polarization had taken place that played an extremely crucial role to the emergence of BJP in Uttar Pradesh in 2014 and Modi at the center. Its momentum was clearly visible in the UP’s Assembly elections of 2017 and in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. But now the class unity, created by the peasant movement, has helped the farmers to understand the politics of communalism and get ahead by denying its dangerous game. What can be a greater proof that Sanjeev Balyan, who was awarded a ministerial post in the Modi cabinet due to his role during the 2013 riots, is now being socially boycotted and politically opposed by his own caste in the same villages, by the Jat farmers of Balyankhaap. The Peasants’ movement has completely changed the politics of Western Uttar Pradesh. It seems like in 2013, western Uttar Pradesh is going to play a decisive role again, but this time in the opposite direction - in 2022, it could lead to BJP’s termination in Uttar Pradesh and then to the termination of the Modi government from the center in 2024.

In the words of Pro. Prabhat Patnaik, “In the glorious tradition of our anti-colonial struggle, like a true mass movement, the peasant movement has changed the attitude of the people and has established a wider unity of people cutting across all the barriers of religion, community, caste, gender, region, state etc.”

The Peasant Movement will always be remembered for its historical role in the history of the country - that in a very delicate period, it played the role of ‘The Great Unifier’ against the politics of hatred, division and polarization of ‘The Great Divider’, and saved the democracy of this country from its suicidal tendencies.

(The author is former President of Allahabad University Students’ Union)

Courtesy: News Click