The Tranquil Farmers’ Peace Camp
From February 13, 2024 farmers are yet again demonstrating in disagreement with the famously known “Farm Bills” passed by the Government of India back in September 2020. Read More
From February 13, 2024 farmers are yet again demonstrating in disagreement with the famously known “Farm Bills” passed by the Government of India back in September 2020. The bills are, back then and even today, characterized as “Anti-Farmer”. But as a rule, the ego of the government isn’t willing to accept the fact that leaving the farmers on the mercy of corporates will mean disaster.
The Union government has strongly advocated that these bills will help farmers to sell their products to big buyers. We all have good knowledge about who these “Big Buyers” are going to be and how, with time, they well control their farms and will reintroduce the “Jagirdaary” system.
The Union Government without blinking the eye calls the farmers protests based on “Misinformation”. Everything against the government is a propaganda. If the protesters are Sikhs they are Khalistanis, if they are Muslims they are Jihadis and these labels are for everyone, excluding the BJP supporters protesting in the non-BJP ruled states. How unfortunate, that the farmers demanding their rights are being pronounced as “Khalistanis”.
The labelling is helping this government to easily get away with the demonstrations that take place every now and then against its policies and anti-minority, anti-farmer and anti-people agenda.
The biggest weapon that legitimate these labels is the sell-out media which dances to the tones of the government and justify everything it does and finds fault with everything against the present dispensation.
The violence in Uttarakhand is being painted white by the same media, Mira Road violence has been justified by the same media, the Bulldozer terror is being and was justified by the same media and now they are doing the same and giving the farmers’ protest a bad name.
“Give dog a bad name and kill it” is being worked on like anything. The media famously known as ‘Godi Media’ leaves no stone unturned to help the government to make everything look well and paint every protest against it a propaganda funded by foreign powers. Who are those powers are yet to found.
In a pathetic and limit crossing move, a journalist, who I wouldn’t name, justified thousands of aspirants appearing in an exam for merely a single post. Thousands of aspirants are appearing for a single seat reminds us the widespread unemployment in the country, and the journalist justifies it to please those in power. These things make you feel sorry for them.
The Media will show Modi walking on an empty road but will not show a policeman shooting at peaceful farmers. They will never see any atrocities happening to the farmers but will beat their chest if even police pushes a BJP supporter protesting in a non-BJP state.
In the anti-farm bills protest two-years ago, over 700 farmers were killed protesting at Singhu and Tikri borders. A journalist too lost his life whereas one person was lynched. But there was no major outrage over it. Still the farmers were blamed and Modi praised for being the best Prime Minister of India ever. Unfortunately, these media Houses are behaving as if Narendra Modi is the First PM of Independent India.
Now as the farmers are yet again protesting and are demanding Minimum Support Price (MSP), the government is back to its manoeuvre of 2020-21. This time it has stopped them from entering Delhi. To defend why the government has stopped them from entering the national capital, it is using “violence” as shield.
Uttarakhand is peaceful, Manipuri is peaceful, Mira Road is peaceful and dancing outside Masjids after Ram Mandir inauguration is peaceful. But farmers demanding:
“10,000 per month for every farmer above 60 years. Fixed daily wages for farmers under MGNREGA, Rs 700 a day with 200 days of guaranteed employment a year. Government to ensure at least 50% profit over their overall cost of production. Legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for all the crops. Implement the recommendations of the MS Swaminathan committee on agriculture. Justice for Lakhimpur Kheri violence. Government to honour a promise to double their incomes, complaining that costs of cultivation have jumped over the past few years while incomes have stagnated, making farming a loss-making enterprise .Withdrawal of cases registered during the last agitation in 2020-21”,
is act of violence?
Farmers are using the pre-eminent and tranquil way to demand their legitimate rights but the government is having problem with their demands and is using every sort of force against them from tear gas to pellets to bullets everything is being used against them. They wanted to Indianize Kashmir have they succeeded in doing so or not is a different topic but surely by using all the force against protesters they have Kashmirnized India and that too successfully.
During the ongoing farmers protest a young Sikh protester was shot dead and 160 others are injured. The government must think who are they dealing with. These are own own people. India is not the only place where the framers’ protest is going on. Germany, French and Europe are the countries where framers are protesting. These countries are showing their values of being democratic and are allowing protests as a democracy should. But the only country that has problem with the farmers is India.
[The writer, Raqif Makhdoomi, is a law student and a Rights Activist. Views expressed are personal]
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