Farmers Movement Archive

‘Republic Day events a temporary setback, farmers haven’t lost sight of goal, stir hasn’t weakened’

Chief minister of Punjab Capt Amarinder Singh was attacked on social media for saying that maligning the farmers protesting against the three recent laws on agriculture marketing could cause the morale of the armed forces to go down. The former Army Captain and military historian explains to TOI’s Vibhor Mohan the rationale behind his statement. The Congress leader says that protesters have so far kept the movement apolitical but if he is asked to mediate, he will, albeit only for repealing the laws. The vilification of protesters as ‘Khalistanis’ and issue of religion have again dominated the social media since January 26. How do you see this?Yes. It’s really sad that this vilification campaign has taken over the social media, post the events of Republic Day, relegating the main issue – the black farm laws – to the background. What happened at Red Fort — the symbol of India’s independence — is condemnable and no right-thinking person can ever justify it. I was, in fact, the first person to condemn it, and have categorically said that it was a shameful incident and those behind it should be investigated and dealt with, according to the law of the land. Having said that, I strongly believe that those who instigated violence that day were not farmers but goons. Genuine farmers, who have been protesting for more than four months now, first in Punjab and now at Delhi borders, know very well that their strength lies in non-violence and public sympathy. Why would they jeopardize the movement by resorting to such tactics? They are not terrorists or separatists but farmers of Punjab and other states, who are fighting for their rights and the future of their coming generations against all odds and an arrogant BJP-led NDA government at the Centre. The BJP cannot wash its hands of its role in instigating this vilification campaign, as its leaders, since the very beginning of the agitation, have been repeatedly and persistently calling farmers all kinds of names — Khalistanis, Urban Naxalites, hooligans and what not – to discredit the movement. Rajnath Singh had called for a stop to this name calling. but it’s back with a vengeance. The engineered attacks on the farmers at Singhu and Ghazipur borders and the provocative sloganeering there is shameful. The attacks have been perpetrated in a planned manner and I don’t believe that local residents had anything to do with them. What is worrying is that no BJP leader is criticising these attacks or asking for an end to this vilification campaign. Punjab has seen a lot of bloodshed and cannot afford to see any more of it. Any communal unrest in Punjab can have disastrous consequences, as we have a hostile Pakistan sitting on our borders, waiting to exploit any opportunity. You have time and again raised the issue of Pakistan and China and said Punjab is facing a difficult time due to being a border state. However, your statement on Indian armed forces was severely attacked. What is the need of the hour in context of national security?Again, it’s unfortunate that social media trolls, most of whom are paid to spread hate and misinformation, are dictating the media discourse on such a sensitive issue. I stand by my statement that the morale of Army personnel from Punjab, who incidentally constitute 20% of the armed forces, could be impacted by the ongoing events. Just imagine the mental state of a soldier sitting on the front at Dras or Siachen, knowing well that his aged father or younger brother/sister is sitting under the open skies on Delhi borders with uncertainty on the course that this agitation would take and the constant threat of police action. Add to that the ongoing vilification campaign and the provocative engineered sloganeering – “Goli and Gadar”. Our soldiers too have access to social media and can very well see what’s happening here. Their concern for their families cannot be and should not be undermined. As far as threats from Pakistan and China are concerned, they can be only ignored at our own peril. Not a day passes when bodies of Punjab’s brave sons don’t come wrapped back home in the Tricolour from our borders. Pakistan-backed forces have been always active and are looking for opportunities to spread trouble here. A disturbed Punjab, like Kashmir, suits their scheme of things and they will go to any extent to achieve it. And the unrest this agitation is causing can give them the opportunity that they want. I have been constantly warning Delhi of the dangers of prolonging this agitation by delaying a solution. Ever since this agitation started in October, there has been an increase in the movement of drones and other activities from across the borders and I have apprised the central government about it. Arms, ammunition, drugs and money is being sent here for what? Don’t those sitting in Delhi realise it? India, in fact, now faces a twin threat from Pakistan and China. They both are working together and India needs a clear policy to deal with them – both against China’s expansionist agenda and Pakistan’s efforts to disturb our peace. Your government passed a resolution against the three laws in the assembly and was then mulling moving the SC on the issue. Would your government be interested in seeking an active role in the talks with farmers or even in the deliberations on the issue?It’s been four months since we passed the legislations to negate the impact of these black farm laws in Punjab but the governor is sitting on them. Ideally, the governor should have sent our bills to Delhi and left it on the President of India to take a decision on it. What we did is constitutionally valid under Article 254 (II). During the UPA regime, several BJP ruled states had passed amendments to the centrally enacted laws on land acquisition and the same were approved by then President Pranab Mukherjee in 2014. As far as our decision to challenge the laws in the Supreme Court is concerned, that still holds but since the negotiations were going on between the Centre and the farmers, we wanted to see which way things go. We are still hopeful that both sides will resolve the negotiations across the table and we will not need to get into a prolonged legal battle to get farmers their due. In any case, the matter is already in apex court and we are a party to it. The apex court has stayed the laws for now and even the union government is willing to delay its implementation, so we shall wait and see what happens. As regards Punjab taking an active role in the negotiations, it will entirely depend on the Centre and the farmer unions. The unions have so far kept their agitation apolitical and have been negotiating directly with the government. If they both agree, I would not hesitate to intervene, but my stand is clear that the only answer to this situation is a repeal of these laws. One should understand that laws are enacted for the benefit of the people and if those very people (farmers here) don’t want it, then what is the point of having them? The government should see and feel the pain of the farmers from across the country and repeal these laws. They should send the farmers back home, form a high-level committee of experts, with farmers, other stakeholders and state government representatives in it, and frame new laws that are genuinely in the interest of the farmers and acceptable to them. The way these farm laws were passed was not only against the federal structure of the country but also the principles of Indian Constitution. They were wrong and they must go. Do you think the dust would settle anytime soon on R-Day incident and protesters would be able to regain their position of strength vis-a-vis the Centre?I strongly feel that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should take the lead and call for an end to the vilification campaign. These protesters are poor farmers and are patriots like all of us. Their democratic protests don’t make them anti-nationals. A democracy is all about having space for dissenting voices. The R-Day events were certainly a temporary setback to the agitation but the farmers haven’t lost sight of their goal and their agitation hasn’t weakened. They too have decried the unfortunate incidents of Red Fort and have distanced themselves from the people who were at the forefront that day. The post R-Day events – UP government issuing orders for vacating the farmers and the draconian measures of snapping water and power supply and internet at the protest sites — have only strengthened the resolve of the farmers. See what’s happening in Western UP, Haryana and Punjab. More and more farmers are joining in and mahapanchayats have been held to support the farmers’ cause. So there is no question of regaining or losing strength. The future of these farmers is at stake and the Government of India must continue talks with them. They should talk to each other as equals and not let egos come in between. You claimed that you could have resolved the deadlock by now. What in your opinion the two sides are not doing right as the dialogue has not yielded any results?Frankly, I would not have allowed the situation to come to such an impasse in the first place. I would not have brought out such laws in the first place, and had I made the mistake of doing so I’d have immediately made amends by withdrawing them. Now that the crisis has escalated so much, as I said earlier, the only logical solution is to repeal these laws without any further delay. There is no point of having an agriculture law which the farmers don’t want. As for mediation, I am there to help if both sides want. Do you think the Centre would ever agree to the demand for repealing the farm laws? Can putting the laws on hold for a longer period (beyond 18 months) be a middle path to end the logjam?They should. When they are ready to keep them in abeyance for 18 months and are willing for amendments to it and even further discussions in Parliament, why can’t they just withdraw the laws and start afresh? They should take all stakeholders in confidence – which they should have done in the first place – and enact new laws. The government should look at the problem sympathetically and not get stuck on ego. The farmer unions have postponed their February 1 march to Parliament, but they are now mobilising more crowds for ‘record gathering’ on February 2. Sitting there for two months, are they now justified in this move?Peaceful protests are a democratic right of every Indian under our Constitution. Even the Supreme Court has not objected to these protests. You cannot call these protests pressure tactics, since the farmers have been forced to resort to the agitation, as the Government of India was not willing to hear them out. The way these ordinances were brought in the midst of the pandemic, without consulting the stakeholders, and the way they were bulldozed in Parliament because of BJP’s brute strength raises question on the intent of the government. Had they found it prudent to discuss this with farmers and others beforehand, this situation wouldn’t have arisen.

The Times of India

2021-02-01

Chandigarh