Farmers Movement Archive

Setback to farmers’ cause

Both sides must pause and take stock of the situation. Both have to tread very carefully to ensure a viable solution acceptable to all concerned. The government cannot afford to capitulate to the demands of the farmers. Scrapping the three farm laws will make a legitimately empowered government look weak. A compromise has to be reached. A possible compromise would be for the government to discuss the merits and demerits of the laws with farmers’ representatives in each state separately and make the laws applicable to those states only where the preponderance of opinion favours their implementation, with or without modifications.This suggestion is made by an uninformed observer searching for a compromise. Perhaps, this solution is not feasible, in which case it can be summarily rejected and forgotten. But those who know and can help to come to a just conclusion will have to think out of the box.How did a small section of farmers create so much damage to their own cause? Were they saboteurs, as some observers had warned the farmers about? And if they were a fifth column, was this group a creation of Gurpatwant Singh Pannu’s Sikhs for Justice, which is US based, but has some following in Punjab among youth? Or, God forbid, was the group a creation of those keen on the new laws and thought it expeditious to create a rift in the farmer’s lobby?These questions need to be answered first before the farmers, or even the government, decides on its next course of action. If the culprits are only an offshoot of the main body that had decided to assert themselves because they had ideological differences with the acknowledged leaders, then the solution will be a lot easier to find despite the flip side of a split in the ranks.If the fifth column has been the creation of foreign-based Sikh organisations, both the protesters and the government will have to tread slowly. The wounds caused by ‘Khalistani’ terrorism on the body politic are still not fully healed. Great care and caution has to be exercised that no wrong move is made, specially by the government, which may provide the impetus for the revival of an anti-national movement. There are always disgruntled elements ready to join such malcontents even when they have experienced marginalisation in the Bhindranwale years and the subsequent era of ‘Khalistani’ terror.Fortunately, the Modi government has the expert services of Ajit Doval to guide it through such a crisis if it should arise. Doval, in turn, has the services of Datta Padsalgikar, a level-headed, low-key deputy, to advise him on internal security matters. Those two ex-IPS officers are capable enough to guide their political bosses through potential dangers.The danger of relapsing to terrorism is a live one. The farmers’ agitation is a live, potential hazard that can lead to such a pass. It has to be navigated by proven mariners like Ajit Doval and Datta Padsalgikar. If, however, the recalcitrant group has the blessings of the authorities, then that would be a different ball game altogether. I do not see such a game succeeding and I do hope and pray there is no such game. I have seen the authorities in Maharashtra creating a Frankenstein by secretly encouraging the Shiv Sena to get the better of the communists. I have seen the birth of ‘Khalistani’ terrorism on the back of a religious leader pushed centre stage to neutralise the Akalis. I would not advocate such strategies. They invariably boomerang and are best avoided.So, the first task that the farmer leaders will have to undertake is to unearth the culprits of yesterday’s fiasco. That should not be difficult. Their identities have been captured on camera and CCTVs. The police will almost surely be on their tails by now. If they are dissidents from their own ranks, it can be confirmed from the photographs.If they are planted by foreign-based organisations or inimical governments, that will be only a shade more difficult to detect but finally a conclusion will surely be reached. And here, the government will be in a better position to investigate. In fact, the government had already warned the farmers to expect a disturbance from such foreign elements! Obviously, this type of intelligence would be available only to the authorities.If, however, the ones involved in the violence were planted by the authorities, then it will be almost impossible to ascertain the truth. Already there appears on television screens an image of Deep Sidhu, a Punjabi actor and a man closely connected to the ruling party at the Centre, allegedly involved with the person who supplanted the Nishan Sahib, the Sikh Panth’s flag, at the Red Fort. This man’s name did not figure in the first FIR registered by the Delhi Police about the mayhem within the monument’s precincts. It must be ascertained who it was that set him up. Till his exact role is established, a doubt will linger about the government’s role in fomenting the riots.If a government department is involved, then the true culprits will not be brought to book and you will see a repeat of NE Delhi’s riots investigation and the consequent arrest of farm leaders, instead of the real culprits responsible for sabotaging the peaceful nature of the protests.

The Tribune

2021-01-29