Farmers Movement Archive

A night of poetry and contemplation

“ Ib toh maan ja, Modi (Modi, please yield [to our demands] now).” The lilt in the voice of 90-year-old Hari Singh from Shamli brought cheer to a chilling New Year Eve on the Ghazipur border and the Meerut-Delhi Expressway where hundreds of farmers have been sitting for more than a month. “Where is the chill? I am feeling the warmth that I have never experienced before. It is a festival like no other as it has united farmers across the spectrum,” said Mr. Singh, who had attended many a protest with Mahendra Singh Tikait, the founder of Bhartiya Kisan Union, including the historic protest at the Boat Club in 1988. He was right for a few metres away Sita Singh of All India Kisan Khet Mazdoor Sangthan was reciting poet Balli Singh Cheema’s popular poem, “ Le mashalen chal pade hain mere gaon ke log, ab andhera jeet lenge mere gaon ke log .” (The people of my village have begun the march with torches, the people of my village will win over the darkness.) There was poetry in the air. A farmer was trying his hand at homonyms from the stage as he was putting the politicans on notice. “ Jo humko halke main lega woh apne halke main nahin ja payega. (Those who would take us lightly would not be able to go into their constituencies.) Beyond the rhetoric of “Jo asal beej hai, woh yahan se nahin hilega” (the true sons of the soil won’t budge) in response to the government’s attempts to reach out to farmers in Western Uttar Pradesh, farmers had started discussing the what ifs. “The government is playing different tricks to break us. Policemen are being sent to villages to stop farmers from joining the protest. Those who have nothing to do with farming are being propped up as farmers. Here attempts are being made to malign the image of our leaders. They want to tire us out,” said Prashant Pawar from Muzaffarnagar. “The two demands that have been accepted could not digress us from our core demands of legalisation on MSP and repealing the three unjust farm laws,” he said. A realisation was dawning that if the government didn’t yield, the anguish had to be translated into votes. There were discussions that for how long the game of one-upmanship among the khaps of Western Uttar Pradesh could be buried under the newfound unity. “Our grandfather used to say that diya bati (the symbol of Bhartiya Jan Sangh) should not enter the village as it was a party of merchants. We voted for the BJP because of its nationalist approach. Now we are realising our mistake,” said Hemant Chaudhary, a student of engineering from Khurja in Bulandshahr district. On a nearby trolley, one could see a poster asking to boycott Ambani and his products. “But, by far there is not alternative. No political party protested in Parliament. No MP or MLA resigned in protest against the farm laws and none could be seen here” said Kushal Pal Singh from Malenda in Shamli district. “Agar Modi hi maan le, toh woh kya bura hai” (If Modi accepts our demand, he is not bad), chipped in Brijpal Singh from Dabathwa village in Meerut. ‘It’s like sewa for us’ Meanwhile, young Baldev Singh from Bijnor was sweeping the floor in front of the makeshift stage on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway. “It is like sewa for us. The place is no less than a gurdwara,” he said, as hundreds of peasants started collecting to pay tribute to 40 farmers who lost their lives during protests with candles and mobile lights to flash in the mist that had covered the expressway.

The Hindu

2021-01-01

Ghaziabad