Farmers Movement Archive

Open House: Are farmers right in continuing with their protest?

When one of the parties involved in a standoff climbs down from its rigid stand the other is naturally expected to follow. Agreed that farmers have saved themselves from the contentious farm laws and that their real fight is for an assured remunerative price of their produce by legal security of the MSP and implementation of the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission. Like ASHA workers and other temporary and ad-hoc employees they too might be tempted to intensify their agitation viewing poll time as the most opportune time to get their demands met. So far, the public sympathy has been with the farmers as common man saw them agitating against legalisation of hoarding-a twin of black marketing. Farmers might be justified in continuing their agitation but, at this stage, they must guard against disruptive acts like road or rail blockade that inconvenience the common man. They must not vitiate the vital public support they got by appearing stubborn and irresponsible. The government too should negotiate with them with an open and sincere mind to save both-our agriculture and the agriculturist.HL SharmaStakeholders should work in tandemFarmers are right in continuing with their protest as there is many a slip twixt the cup and the lip. Nothing is completely certain until and unless it really happens because political announcements in our country can easily goes wrong.Although the PM has announced that the three laws would be repealed in the winter session, why can’t the Centre bring ordinances to repeal the farm laws like it did to extend the tenure of the CBI and the ED Directors? Moreover, the important issue of a guaranteed MSP and certain other irritants still remain to be solved.The MSP must be made a legal right and the procedure used to calculate it ought to be made fully transparent. The need of the hour is to make sincere efforts to strengthen the agriculture sector and ameliorate the living and financial plight of the marginal farmers.The farmers deserved to be commended for running a prolonged agitation for their rights. In their year long struggle they lost 700 precious lives. Timely decision by the government would have saved the lives of those brave farmers. It shows that the PM cares little for them but more for elections particularly of UP which he doesn't want to lose. That's why the farmers don't trust him and are bent upon continuing with their protest.So their fears should be allayed at the earliest. To achieve concrete and tangible results positive attitude, mutual faith and understanding are essential. Therefore, all stakeholders should work in tandem to resolve the pending issues. Kudos to the farmers who have shown the country that through peaceful and purposeful agitation the mighty government can be compelled to think twice before it does something contrary to the general good. Tarsem S BumrahAccept all of their genuine demandsSince long fiscal deficit in the annual budget is a routine affair. But now with the passage of time trust deficit between political leadership and people has taken more prominent place. The result is that people don’t believe their leaders. Many times leaders make a promise and don’t keep it up thereby term it as a jumla. Such behaviour has lowered the level of politics. Recently, kids staged a play named Sabz Bagh at Punjab Naatshala in which a animal says “We animals don’t wear clothes, but we are not shameless.” Such thought-provoking dialogues compel to think on what level humanity has lowered it. Now, there is an opportunity before the central government to grasp it accepts all genuine demands of the farmer and restore to some extend the lost deficit.Nityanshi ChopraQUESTIONDespite the government reducing the sand price, the real problem of mining sand remains in the state. Various villagers continue to complain against riverbeds being ravaged. Are such populist declarations made by the government enough to address this age-old menace without putting the mafia responsible for these illegal activities behind the bars?Suggestions in not more than 200 words can be sent to amritsardesk@tribunemail.com by Thursday (December 2)Farmers should continue agitationOur centuries old living behaviour is very well explained in a song of Hindi film Jis desh main Ganga behati hai by Shailendra. Our PM is yet to understand the difference between approach to human life by West and East. Because of his closeness to USA he has lost the track. If he had cared about the human life, more than 700 farmers have not lost their precious lives. But he did not. Our PM never bothered when thousands of farmers faced the scorching heat and unbearable winter on the doorsteps of Delhi. Now he is compelled to withdraw the three controversial farm bills due to forthcoming assembly polls in five states. Hence it is not change of heart on his part but a compulsion. So farmers should continue their agitation till their all genuine demands are accepted by the government. In independent India it is the only agitation which completed one year without any incidence of violence and above all without any single leader like JP or Anna Hazare.Naresh JoharMake MSP mandatory for all cropsReal India lives in rural parts of the country. So, here is a time to give practical shape to this old saying. PM has taken a right step, though late, to repeal the three controversial farm laws but now he should take immediate steps in regard to minimum support price (MSP). The MSP should be made mandatory on the pattern of minimum wages for the working class. In the past the OM made a promise to double the farmers’ income by 2022. Therefore, by making MSP mandatory, the Central Government would be taking a huge step to fulfil the promise of the PM. To earn the goodwill of the vast majority of farmers community it is appropriate time to make MSP for all crops mandatory.Harsh JoharNo point in continuing the farm laws protestNo, the farmers are not at all right in continuing with their protest. The main protest of farmers was against contentious farm laws and after PM has announced withdrawal of three contentious farm laws their demands have been met with. Now in present scenario their all protests, raising of new demands like legal protection of MSP are baseless and sans logic. Already much loss has been caused to nation economically and lives wise too due to adamant attitude of both farmers and BJP. As PM has finally subdued before farmers demands, they should not waste a single minute in ending their protests, go back to their native places and resume farming. As no one is above PM in our country his statements and decisions are reliable and there is no logic in farmers stands to wait for the actual follow-up of the decision. The farmers should have faith in our worthy PM and retreat back immediately to their homes without further delay in wasting valuable time on baseless issues.SANJAY CHAWLARepealing farm laws just not enoughThe farmers, led by more than 30 farmers’ organisations, have been fighting for nearly over an year to get the three farm laws repealed, in which about 700 farmers have lost their lives. They suffered a lot but the central government did not pay heed. The 2022 elections and farmers’’’’ protests by BJP leaders forced the Union Government to withdraw these laws. The PM abruptly announced the repeal of three laws on November 19 and asked the farmers to return to their homes but the farmers are still clinging to Singhu Border, Tikri Border and UP Border. The farmers in conversation with PM Modi expressed that they are not at ease, being far from their homes, they want to clarify a lot before ending the struggle. All farmers of the country should get MSP on crops. There must be a fixed purchasing price so that farmers may get what they deserve. Compensation should be given to the families of the farmers who were martyred during the farmers’’’’ struggle and also Electricity Bill 2020 should be withdrawn. The umbrella body of farmers ‘unions’ also sought for withdrawal of cases against farmers and building memorial for the protesters who lost their lives during agitation against the three agricultural laws.Sucha SagarNo plausible reason to continue stirSince the PM has announced in an address to the nation the repeal of three farm laws, there is no plausible reason to continue the agitation at Delhi border. The yearlong agitation has caused huge economic loss to the industries dotting Delhi borders beside inconveniences to public due to road blockade. Punjab economy too has suffered beside loss of plus seven hundred farmers lives The process for annulment of the laws will take due time and should not be projected as a ploy of Central Government to delay the repeal proceedings which required Cabinet approval and others legal hassles. PM also announced setting up of expert group to sort out the complexities on the MSP to find mechanism acceptable to the entire stakeholder. Farm bodies should not play into the hands of political parties since the success of current agitation was largely due to its peaceful & apolitical configuration. Parties may play spoilsport to the success achieved so far. Listing set of another’s demands would lose public sympathy as major demands on repeal of laws & MSP stand addressed & to continue road blockade and dharnas find no justification at all. In the emerging scenario, farmers should end protests and resume table talk with government for amicable solution on the remaining agriculture issues instead of adopting stubborn approach.Anil VinayakRepeal and restart in right earnestFarmers and the whole country, including industry, railways, roadways and business in general, heaved a sigh of relief when the Prime Minister announced on Guru Nanak Dev’s birth anniversary that his government had decided to repeal the contentious agricultural laws. Most probably, the laws will be formally repealed, but the most unfortunate part of it all is the trust deficit between the farmers’ leadership and the Prime Minister of the country. Not that the farmers don’t want to make agriculture a powerhouse of economic growth. Their protest is against the laws because the proposed reforms are guaranteed to fail as they failed to improve the farmers’ lot wherever in the world they were introduced, whether in USA, Chile, Philippine, or elsewhere. The small farmers there were simply swallowed by capitalists. Moreover, the Prime Minister, though seemingly sincere in his announcement, was noticeably quiet on the issue of the legal guarantee of a minimum support price for all their crops, and their other pending demands. In fact, the farmers’ joy and jubilation is over having achieved a status quo, the situation that prevailed before these so called black laws were hurriedly passed without any discussion at any level. Everyone has welcomed Modi’s climb down, even though it was a tenaciously delayed decision that cost the country 700 or so precious lives, but the political exigencies that propelled him to break his year long silence are also too transparent. The forthcoming Assembly Elections in UP, Punjab and some other states are crucial for BJP and farmers and their supporters constitute a huge vote bank. On the other hand, farmers’ Mahapanchayat at Lucknow, last week, reiterated their resolve to continue their protest over pending demands. Whatever, after the laws are repealed, after legal guarantee of MSP is made public,( if that is ) governments at the state level as well as at the union level, must start working on how to make agriculture a truly profitable and environmentally sustainable profession. Right now, it is an impoverished occupation having a great potential for jobsMOHAN SINGHNot wise to cease protest nowFarmers have striven long and hard against the three contentious farm laws. The protests at Singhu and Tikri border, the Lakhimpur Kheri violence will forever remain etched in their memories. It took several months and a lot of sacrifice to elicit a promise of repeal of the farm laws from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 19. Now, that the Cabinet has cleared the bill to repeal these three farm laws and the approval of the Parliament is yet awaited, it would not be wise to cease the protest prior to the fulfillment of their demands. Time has already proven the propensity of political promises to turn volatile if not pursued till their consummation. It’s the same with the farmers’ demands including the legal protection of MSP. Farmers should continue with their protests till all their demands are met.Shaheen P Parshadprotesters will lose credibility if stir is onNow, that the farmers have proved the power of protest, as Centre has agreed to repeal the three farm laws, this should be taken as their victory. Though BJP may have bought peace with the farmers by accepting their demand, farm union leaders should reciprocate by being responsible citizens and ending their agitation. But if farm unions’ leaders continue their protests on one after another or more demands they will not only lose their credibility but also the sympathy of the people who have stood with them all through their yearlong agitation and protests. Among farm unions’ demands, the most unreasonable, if not outrageous, is the one for the repeal of the amendments proposed to the electricity law, as farmers are bent upon preserving a status quo mainly defined by free or cheap power. Now the SKM, the joint platform of farm unions, is being quite unreasonable and asking for changes that can make India a basket case. And if we look closely at farm unions’’’’ demand for minimum support price (MSP), it also needs a thorough debate on its being reasonable or not. MSP effectively works for paddy and wheat crops, as they form the foundation of government’s food security regime. But if farm unions continue to demand guaranteed minimum support prices for all their other crops and their entire procurement by the government, this will be clearly a non-starter. These demand’s fulfillment, should not be their condition before they withdraw their agitation. So, there is dire need to reform MSP and move India’s agrarian economy to a system where farmers respond to price signals in making their choice of crops, but SKM’s approach is in contrast to this. The government may be having the right intent in its agricultural reform package, but now that it has stepped back, there should be a redline on the clutches of some demands. And for the government, it is utmost necessary to build consensus for reforms but equally important is to stand firm in the face of unreasonableness, if any.PL SinghFarmers’ concerns are justifiedIndia is a democratic country but what’s happening since last year makes this statement hard to understand. It’s been one year that farmers have been protesting against three contentious farm laws at Singhu and Tikri Borders. After seeing their persistence towards making farm laws to be repealed, PM had to withdraw these laws few days back. Still farm unions don’t want to culminate their protest. Their concerns are justified as the protest they hold was not easy throughout the year, more than 700 farmers lost their lives.Sukhmeet KaurPass repealing law in ParliamentThe announcement by the PM regarding withdrawal of three farm laws is welcome, but how the aggrieved parties take this news is at their discretion. It can be considered an election gimmick of the ruling party. Secondly, this announcement made especially on Guru Nanak’s birthday seems more than anything, an act of exploiting religious sentiments of farmers because most of those leading the agitation are either Sikhs or are from Punjab.The announcement supported by legal and constitutional component can create faith among the aggrieved parties. Not only the farmers but all the stakeholders: the farmers, corporates and consumers should be taken into consideration. Till the farm laws are constitutionally repealed and farmers’’’’ other demands are addressed, they have a right to fight.Madhu SharmaFarmers right in not going backAlthough the PM has announced to withdraw the three farm laws, yet farmers’ unions have refused to end their agitation and decided to continue it until all their demands would be fulfilled. They are absolutely right in continuing the protest due to various reasons. Firstly, the three farm laws should be repealed by following legal or parliamentary procedures as it was passed in the Parliament. Secondly, the leaders of the farmers’ unions opine that it could be an election stunt as the assembly elections are going to be conducted in some states of the country. Thirdly, it could be seen in history that verbal promises never fulfilled and forgotten. For instance, there were dire consequences of Rajiv-Longowal Accord 1985. In conclusion, thousands of farmers have been protesting for more than a year. They are ready to wait for the announcement by the government to take affect through Parliament procedures and make a law on guaranteed MSP.Harsimrat KaurOther demands must be accepted soonFarmers are right in continuing with their protest as they have been sitting on the borders of Delhi for more than a year now. They have withstood very difficult conditions of heat, rain and cold. So, they should wait just a little longer and wait for the appropriate action by the government. The Central Government seems supportive of farmers now as it has approved the draft legislation to repeal the three farm laws. The other demands of farmers must also be considered as soon as possible so that they can return homes to their families and the blocked roads are opened again for the public.JATINDERPAL SINGH BATTH

The Tribune

2021-11-29