I am not a blind follower of any political ideology. I have vocally supported Narendra Modi as Prime Minister in 2014 as his agenda was development. And on exactly those lines, I had supported implementation of GST and digitalisation of money. But I have also criticised Modi and his government for his silence on Hindu hard-line statements and their stand on CAA.
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| Image source: Firstpost |
When the farmers started protesting, I started reading the new farm laws to understand what was wrong with them… Three new laws, passed hastily and in open defiance of parliamentary norms, were bound to spark off agitation. I realized that there were many aspects of the bills which would increase difficulty of the farmers. I believed that land lease provisions might result in loss of autonomy for farmers and their right to grow different crops (which might be corporate controlled); Minimum Support Price (MSP) should be expressly mentioned as it is a very important aspect in getting farmer’s their rightful price; putting the onus of grain storage solely on the farmer or the corporate (private hands) might lead to excess hoarding and malpractices; and corporate and MNCs being purely business models, with no care for ecological balance, soil fertility concerns, water paucity and fauna in agricultural ecosystems, might encourage agricultural malpractices such as monoculture agriculture resulting in poor gene pool and loss of vigorous, loss of pest resistance which lead us to famine like conditions. These were my concerns with the new bill and therefore I stood by the farmers.
I truly admired the peaceful and calm protests by the farmers and their grit and resilience as they stood out there in the biting cold and chill in the midst of rains, hailstorms et al; and I would every morning say a little prayer for them as the agitating farmers showed no signs of fading away. Angry cultivators have been camped on the doorstep of Delhi for weeks now through north India's bitingly cold winter, in tents and camps far away from their homes in a battle for their rights.
Having said that, I have to admit that the government was more forthcoming than I expected them to be (especially considering the recent examples of CAA and student protests). They were open to negotiations - which I initially thought was just a perfunctory gesture of trying to resolve a situation out of their hands and a movement gaining widespread support. The government looked rattled and did concede to some of the concerns of the farmers. That was something I had not expected, not from Modi government with their image of no-nonsense dictatorship style of implementation of laws. And yet the farmers unrelentingly continued to protest, now stuck on the demand of repealing the entire laws.
Personally, I do believe that the old laws are archaic and farm reforms are required. They may not entirely be the same as the new farm laws but barring few provisions, some progressive outlook on this highly ignored aspect of the economy is required. The farmers, however, want a total and immediate repeal of the laws passed last year. The farmers camped out near Delhi, however, are campaigning against a whole slew of reform measures, both real and imagined. For example, they want the government to guarantee that the current system of state-run procurement of rice and wheat will continue indefinitely - even though it hasn't even been threatened yet. The farmers recognize they have got the government playing defence. There are cracks even within the ruling establishment. After all, the ruling party's parent organization, the Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), has never been sold on the whole "market economy" idea. The farmers are now using the voice of dissent both inside and outside the government to further their agenda.
Still, it's remarkably disappointing that the government seems willing to roll back some of its most substantial reforms to date because of the vocal opposition of the country's most heavily subsidized and richest agricultural producers. I do feel they should have held a firm ground on a few things they capitulated on. I am starting to feel that the government has gone a bit overboard to bring the farmers to their side. It has, for example, agreed to protect farmers' access to free electricity. This is not just unaffordable; it also holds back the modernization of India's power sector and thus the growth of renewable energy. The government has also promised to not go after the farmers who burn agricultural waste - a major contributor to air pollution across India's northern plains, home to almost all of the world's most unhealthy cities.
Coming now to what happened yesterday, the Modi detractors might say that media is selectively showing footage but the truth is that whatever has been shown on the TV is shameful and scary and even if it is merely 10% of what happened, then too it is condemnable. A religious flag was hoisted yesterday at the Red Fort and even if the mast was empty at that time, it goes against the principles of Secularism. It is ironically disheartening that this was done on the Republic Day, a day that celebrates the sacred Constitution of India which promotes Secularity. A Heritage Property was ravaged; public property was damaged; service and armed forces were attacked; and moreover, the children and civilians who participated in the Republic Day celebrations were stranded in the cold without food and amenities for 7 long hours - all of this in the middle of a worldwide pandemic. The 'foodgods' of India had put their country to shame on a day when the entire world was watching us.
I am still with the farmers as long as they listen to the sound of reason. Modi government had in 2015 too attempted to strengthen the government's powers to acquire farmland but eventually had to roll back the same, following noisy objections led by the political opposition. Objectively, those land-acquisition laws were as regressive as the new agricultural reforms are progressive. Hence, in my opinion, these farm laws should not be dismissed without giving them a due consideration. Just like the farmers weed out the weeds and invasive species from their land and retain what is productive, the same needs to be done with these laws.
Disclaimer: These are my personal views which I was compelled to write down after the condemnable Red Fort episode and the ensuing violence yesterday. I am aware that the popular view might differ. I choose not to debate and will not respond to any comments. Anyone who tends to have a problem with my views may please feel free to unfollow me.
