Prime Minister Speaks: And Then The Three Farm Laws To Be Repealed!
The Farmers’ Movement has been going on
for nearly a year with thousands of them camping in the outskirts of capital
Delhi and suffering through all four seasons, many of them perishing in the camps.
They have been observing various programs of highway blockades; rail blockades;
Delhi marches during one of which on the Republic Day of 26th January
this year there was a burst of unprecedented, arguably unintended, violence in
the capital; marches to the Parliament; Bharat Bandhs; and so on. Around 11
rounds of talks with the Modi government failed to resolve the issue and the government
allegedly tried to repress the movement in various ways like trying to win over
factions to support the laws or taking tough measures in the areas of the camps
and so on. The trust-deficit of the farmers in the Government of India has
worsened so much that even now, at this welcome announcement, the top
leadership of the farmers says that the movement will continue till the last
nail on the cancelation of the three laws gets hammered in during the
Parliament as promised.
Be it for the forthcoming assembly
elections in five states including the crucial states of the definitive (for
General Elections) Uttar Pradesh and Punjab where the BJP is still a minor
player even after the Amarinder Singh defection from the Congress, or be it the
final realization of the Prime Minister about the intrinsic fears lurking in
the provisions of the laws this huge announcement is indeed very welcome—basically
because no nation can survive for long keeping the food-givers unhappy and
agitating; for the farmers it comes as the final victory; the success of
democratic movements; and for the BJP a favorable factor to seal the assembly
elections. As has been hailed all around the decision is indeed a political ‘masterstroke’
on the eve of the assembly elections early next year, suddenly taking away the
main vote plank from the opposition political parties, particularly for the
Congress tactics in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. The opposition has largely
welcomed the step calling it a victory for the farmers and that it marks the
end of the ruling party’s ‘arrogance’.
Agrarian reforms have always been a
contentious issue in most of the nations of the world, particularly India where
agriculture is still the mainstay of the country’s economy. Attempts at
reforming the farming sector have been going on since the British period and
the post-independence era in India where many of the reforms proved to be big
blunders while some of these seemed to have benefited the farmers. Most of the
nations of the world have been following a capitalist form of agriculture with
a regular mechanism of giving subsidies to help the land-holding phenomena of
farming survive, and the concept of ‘cooperative farming’ in the most inclusive
sense still remains a dream.
The Prime Minister while stoutly
defending the three Farm Laws failed to mention the fact that many of the top
Indian economists and agriculturists were bitterly divided over the issue—the main
fear being the big capitalists taking over farming putting the farmers at their
mercy for the MSPs or guaranteed prices and ending the land ownership cultivation
of the small and marginal farmers. Yet, inequalities in the farming community
continue to exist with some of them being affluent enjoying the benefits of
technology while most of the small and marginal farmers continue to struggle at
a subsistence level. Therefore, truly convincing and inclusive reforms are
always welcome.
In any case, we heartily welcome this
big announcement by the Prime Minister largely for the fact that one of the
longest ever agitations, particularly by the food-givers, is finally going to
end. Debates must go on for reforms and one of the main allegations of the
opposition parties and other experts and leaders had been the fact that there
was no debate before passing these crucial Farm Laws in Parliament. The target
or the task is extremely difficult no doubt, because in a democracy it is well-nigh
impossible to satisfy all stakeholders with a particular policy; however as we
have said the efforts must be intensified democratically taking all into
consideration.
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