Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Dec 18: Even as more non-BJP political parties and farmers’ bodies extended support to the farmers’ agitation that entered the 23rd day on Friday, the prime minister Narendra Modi while launching a frontal attack on the opposition parties for creating “distrust” between the government and the ryots made it abundantly clear that he and his government would be prepared to remove their apprehensions but would never concede the demand for repeal of the three farm laws, the main bone of contention.
In a virtual address to the farmers of Madhya Pradesh via video link as part of the government’s outreach programme, Modi said the BJP government at the Centre and he himself would go to any lengths to listen to the farmers’ questions, allay their fears and address their misgivings, but the farm bills would not be rolled back.
The union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar also gave a similar impression while talking to a section of the media. Tomar said the government was continuing its informal dialogue with various agitating groups to diffuse the crisis and was hopeful of “resolving farmers’ agitation against three new farm laws before the new year.”
“We have constantly been holding discussions with farmers’ unions… Overall, our effort is to reach a solution through dialogue with them. We are still open for talks. We are holding discussions with unions. I hope through dialogue we can move towards reaching a solution,” Tomar said while replying to a query about the stalemate and way forward.
Earlier in the day, the DMK-led opposition in Tamil Nadu started a day-long hunger strike in support of farmers. The DMK chief and Leader of Opposition, M K Stalin, party MP Kanimozhi and leaders of alliance parties participated in the protest in Chennai. Stalin slammed Centre and state government for not paying heed to the request of farmers and said that the NDA government has been passing anti-people laws.
Nearly a thousand farmers embarked on a foot march from Morena in MP to join protests at Delhi borders where thousands of farmers, especially from Punjab and Haryana, have been protesting for more than three weeks. Several protesting leaders have threatened to step up their agitation and have said they are prepared to celebrate the 2021 Republic Day with their own tractor rally on Delhi borders.
The PM’s address was a part of the nation-wide campaign launched by the BJP to counter the opposition attempt to “misguide and mislead” the farmers. With the farmers protesting on the borders of the national capital refusing to relent on their demand for repeal of three new farm laws, the BJP’s national leadership has written to all state units, asking them to hold Kisan Sammelans, mass awareness and public outreach programmes to “sensitise” the farmers about the benefits of the farm laws against which farmers from Punjab and Haryana are protesting. The senior ministers and leaders of the party are also holding meetings with “pro-farm laws farmers’ groups”, to signal that the demand for a repeal of the three laws doesn’t reflect a national farmer sentiment.
Re-assuring the farmers on their main point of apprehension, the gradual abolition of the Minimum Support Price System under the news laws, Modi said the farmers need not worry a bit on the issue. He said the opposition parties for political gains were trying to spread three major falsehoods bout the farm laws — that the MSP system will end, mandis will be phased out, and that farmers will suffer at the hands of the investor if they enter into an agreement as per guidelines set in the farm laws. He said that the farmers should be wary of political parties that are trying to “manipulate and mislead” them for political gains. “The country’s farmers and their interests are among our top priorities,” the PM said.
In a sarcastic remark on the opposition, Modi said he would not mind if the opposition parties want to take all the credits when these recently passed farm laws will bring reforms to the agricultural sector. He also said that the opposition parties can take the credit as their old election manifestoes mentioned these agriculture promises.
He said, “I request all political parties with folded hands, please keep all the credit. I’m giving credit to all your old election manifestos. I just want ease in the life of farmers, I want their progress and want modernity in agriculture.”
Attacking the Congress, whose leaders have spoken publicly against the new laws, Modi said some political parties opposed the reforms only because the credit was going to the Prime Minister and not to the opposition parties which had promised similar farm laws in their manifestos. “If today manifestos of all political parties are checked, their earlier statements are heard and their letters seen, these reforms are not different from what they promised… I humbly with folded hands urge them to take all the credit. I give credit to all your manifestos,” Modi said.
He added that the opposition parties were trying to reap political harvest by misleading and rallying the farmers against these laws. “For several years, farmers have been protesting for reforms. When the same parties were in power, what did they do? The previous government buried the Swaminathan Commission report which recommended 1.5 times MSP to farmers. We took that file out of the dusty corners in which it was thrown and gave farmers what was recommended,” the PM said.
Modi highlighted the unfulfilled promises of the Congress, which he said had come to power in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh on the back of farm loan waiver promises but was yet to fulfill them. The Prime Minister said farmers across the country had rejected the misleading campaigns against the three farm laws. He said these laws were not brought overnight, but parties, experts, progressive farmers had long demanded the reforms. “There were demands for the reforms from parties, experts, progressive farmers for many years. The previous governments had made promises to the farmers but never delivered. They are upset because what they had only talked about, Modi has done that,” he said, adding that they don’t have any problem with the reforms but only with Modi.
Modi also accused the opposition parties of using the farmers as a vote bank and political tool. He said the opposition parties are spinning a web of lies to misguide farmers as the implementation of these laws has been in discussion for the last several years. The prime minister also reiterated that the system of MSP will remain unaffected by these new laws.
Making a similar charge, Tomar also said the current government had the willpower to implement the new laws. He said that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had also wished to bring these laws but lacked the willingness to do so. He said, “Those who believe in status quo cannot create history. Even the UPA wanted to make these reforms but they couldn’t.”
About the welfare measures taken for the farmers by his government, Modi said a total amount of Rs 16,000 crores are being transferred into the bank accounts of 35 lakhs farmers of Madhya Pradesh. “Today, several farmers have been given Kisan Credit Card. Earlier, they were not available to all farmers. But we changed rules to make Kisan Credit Card available to all farmers across the country,” he added.
Meanwhile, the UP government’s attempts to break the farmers’ agitation has surfaced with the reports that the sub-divisional magistrate issued notices for penalty of Rs 50 lakh each to six leaders in Sambhal, mainly office-bearers of Bhartiya Kisan Union (Asli), to prevent them from “inciting” farmers to join the protests. The police later claimed that the amount was “a clerical error” and will be reduced. But leaders said the notice itself is a means to “throttle democratic protest.”
Similar notices seeking bonds of Rs 5 lakh each were sent to six others. They were issued on December 12 and 13 under section 111 of the CrPC, which authorises the magistrate to send a show-cause notice under a bond.
“I have spoken to the SDM and there will be fresh notices following the error,” Sambhal SP Chakresh Mishra said. “The SDM is currently on leave and once he comes back we will look to issue a bond of Rs 50,000 since the earlier one was a clerical error,” said Arun Kumar Singh, Circle Officer, Sambhal.
But the farm leaders said they “would rather be in jail than give in to these tactics”.
“They decided on a random number as long as it could deter us from protesting. It’s a non-violent protest. Why is the administration so afraid of farmers protesting? They have mentioned Rs 50 lakh as if we are terrorists. They know that we do not have that kind of money,” said Rajpal Singh Yadav, district president of BKU (Asli), who is among the six who have been served notices seeking Rs 50 lakh in personal bond.
The farm leaders, hailing mostly from the Chandausi and Singhpur areas, have been calling for protests since November 26. On the first day of the protest, nearly 400 people had gathered at a chowk in Sambhal. Since then, the leaders said, police have made several attempts to ensure that the protests do not take place.
“Before the notices, the police have been making rounds of our villages to keep a track of our movements. Whenever we called for a gherao or a demonstration, the police would come to our houses to arrest us. We managed to go to Delhi on November 28, for a day. We sometimes leave our house before the police come and even sleep in the fields to wake up and protest the following day,” said Sanjeev Gandhi of BKU (Asli), who was also served with the notice.
According to the leaders, some farmers were also taken into preventive custody for a day prior to a protest.
“Protests are taking place in the entire country but nowhere will you hear that the administration is threatening them with Rs 50 lakh. This is sheer harassment,” said Rajveer Singh of Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh, who was served with the notice.
The notice issued by Sambhal SDM Deependra Yadav stated: “In the context of what is happening in Delhi. six persons are going village to village and inciting the farmers with false information, which can lead to the breakdown of peace in the region. We are satisfied with the report of the local police station in this regard. It is hereby directed to furnish a reason as to why the farmers should not be providing a guarantee of worth Rs 50 lakh and a bail amount of the same money to maintain peace for one year.”
