Farmers Movement Archive

Mega farmers’ rally vows to oust Yogi regime in U.P.

His huge audience echoed his chants that rang across this western Uttar Pradesh town, the site of brutal communal riots just eight years ago. “In my father’s time, it was common to hear both chants together at meetings, and we want to revive that atmosphere,” the BKU leader said. The SKM is a platform for farm unions which, for the last 10 months, has been protesting against three agricultural reform laws which could affect State-run markets, and has also called for a legal guarantee for minimum support prices for all farm produce. Unlike in Punjab and Haryana, where the protests originated, there is no strong existing network of State-run markets or extensive government procurement of crops in Uttar Pradesh. Hence, for most farmers here, who support the Tikait group, the demand for a guaranteed MSP prices holds much promise. “We voted for the BJP in 2019 because it promised us MSP rates that would make farming profitable. But [Prime Minister Narendra] Modiji only lied to us,” said Veer Singh, a farmer from Meerut. Mr. Singh said he had sold his paddy crop at prices 22% below the announced MSP rate this year. “What is the point of declaring MSP if there are no mandis to sell to the government and the private trader refuses to buy at that rate,” he asked. Rising input costs Parkash, a farmer from the Charkhi Dadri tehsil in Haryana, noted that even as farm profits fell, input costs for everything from diesel to electricity to urea had risen. “It is not only for farmers, even the price of cooking oil, of a gas cylinder have all surged under the Modi government. He is only looking to help his corporate friends, not the common farmers who voted for him.” It is this anger and despair due to inflation, falling farm incomes and unemployment that the SKM hopes will unite farmers and workers as well as Hindus and Muslims in Uttar Pradesh. In what was seen as a significant gesture, BKU president Naresh Tikait and Muslim farmer leader Ghulam Jola sat next to each other on the stage. “We have to get over the divisive politics of this government. There was a dip in our relationship after the Muzaffarnagar riots but now it is time to move ahead,” said Mr. Naresh Tikait as Mr. Jola echoed the sentiment. They insisted that the Uttar Pradesh government’s recent overtures towards cane farmers are too little too late. “This government has to go,” said Mr. Tikait, adding that he was not against “Yogi or Modi” but “their policies, which are anti-farmer.” While he ruled out any direct entry into electoral politics, his younger brother hedged his bets. “There are still six months until the elections, so there is time to decide,” he told The Hindu . Interestingly, the Rashtriya Lok Dal, which depends on the same support base as the Tikaits, provided back-end support for the gathering, and while leader Jayant Chaudhary was not on stage, his face was on a number of the hoardings around town. Crowd estimates varied from one to five lakh farmers. While the majority of those attending were from Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, large contingents arrived from Punjab, and smaller groups represented most Indian States. “The farm laws have done one good thing in that they integrated farmers across India and helped them rise above regional barriers. The demand for an MSP law is a national one,” said Easan, founder of the Tamil Nadu Farmers’ Welfare Association.

The Hindu

2021-09-06

September 06 2021 00:00 IST