Farmers Movement Archive

Year of struggle did the unthinkable: United farmers from across India

Bathinda: A year of struggle has come with its share of heartburn and sacrifices, but it has also done the unthinkable — united farmers across the nation, brought their issues to the centrestage and made the Centre bend for the first time in seven years. They are yet again turning into a big pressure group. While the opposition has been bulldozed in Parliament, the protest has gained the political heft which even political parties in the opposition could not achieve. The farmers have been able to make the Centre roll back the three farm laws, but they plan to sustain the struggle to get the government to concede to their demand of a legal guarantee on a minimum support price (MSP) for crops. This was also the first time in the over seven-year rule of PM Narendra Modi-led BJP government at the Centre that the government acted cautiously against protesters and restrained itself from using force. Throughout the protest, say people involved in the agitation, farmers were told to inculcate in them that they could make even the mightiest bow. This was the spirit which put them on the offensive after BJP failed to win West Bengal elections, where farmers had directly taken on the saffron party on the political front. "Fighting against a mighty and formidable opponent was not easy. For it, we needed a lot of energy and stamina. It was the firm resolve and never-say-die spirit of farmers that they fought like warriors and made the powerful government bite the dust. But, it is not enough as our fight is still on for a complete victory," says farm organisation BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) president Joginder Singh Ugrahan. BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) is the largest farm outfit of Punjab with thousands of farmers as its active members. "Going by the enormity of the fight, as the farm laws were to affect farmers in every part of the country, not only those from Punjab and Haryana, farmers and farm groups from many states also came forward, making it a pan-India agitation. This is the victory of each and every farmer of the country," says BKU (Ekta Dakaunda) general secretary Jagmohan Singh.

The Times of India

2021-11-27

Chandigarh