As a jawan, I had always respected our Kisans. Remember PM Shastri who coined the slogan ‘Jai Jawan; Jai Kisan’. A true statesman who had recognized the two essential groups of people. If there is an external threat to the nation, we need the ‘Jawans’ and if there is a food shortage there would be a revolution within the country, hence the importance of Kisans. We remember that as a nation we were used to begging for food under PL 480 from the US on rupee payment in the fifties and early sixties. Shiploads of wheat were unloaded in ports and resupplied to various provision stores to ease the prices. We had also suffered recurring famines and one, as late as the Bengal Famine of 1943 where two million died of starvation; the food grains went out of the country to move the British war machine in the Second World War.
Today, India is one of the largest producers of food grains in the world and we are capable of rendering helping hands to those countries where there are food shortages. Green Revolution by agricultural scientists like Swaminathan and our own farmers have made our country proud, today. Even after the onset of the green revolution India faced severe droughts in parts of the country, however, our farmers rose to the occasion we tided over them.
It is said that we only know the value of a thing; when we do not have it. The government was able to give essential food grains to 800 million people for the past two years and overcame the ravages of Covid that had played havoc with the purchasing power of individual households. Even before Covid, the country had devised a ‘food security program’ where the state and the central governments were giving essential food at a subsidized rate; sometimes ridiculously as low as one rupee per kilogram of rice. It is the farmers who empowered the government to support the people.
Over a period of time, though the Agricultural Sector had improved, however, the condition of the farmers and farmworkers had stagnated for the last hundred years. As per the Annual Report of the Ministry of Agriculture 2020-21; 57.8 percent of our rural household and 54.6 percent of the workforce are involved in agriculture; making it the largest section of the population. The benefits of the government were being cornered by big farmers and small and marginal farmers with landholding less than 5 acres remained poor and were eking out their livelihood with only basic essentials. The average annual farmers’ suicides were ranging from 5000 to 6000. Just to give a figure, 86 percent of our farmers are small and marginal farmers where the entire household is involved in cultivating small parcels of land. With the passage of time, even these small landholdings got further subdivided. It only increased the number of small farmers without any increase in the agricultural lands. It resulted in underemployment in rural households and the lives of small and marginal farmers remained dismal.
Then started a trend, especially in Punjab where the small landholdings were taken over by rich farmers for farming without change in ownership. These small farmers were given small compensation and the big farmers increased their areas of cultivation. There was also a very well-oiled network of middlemen who operated between procurement agencies and farmers. They were known as Arhtias who intruded in every transaction between the farmers and buyers; be it private trade or government agencies. It appeared ridiculous that even the FCIs and state government agencies transacted their purchases through Arhtiyas. They cornered a percentage of profits without doing any farming themselves. How much power they wielded over the government is revealed when the Captain CM of Punjab opposed vigorously the move by the Centre to give the ‘direct benefit transfer’ to farmers for the grains purchased from them. He was worried as to how to compensate for Ahrtiyas as the farmers were forced to go through them in APMC (Mandis). The Centre did not relent. All the farmers got their dues without any cuts by the state governments.
As the present system was not alleviating the distress of the farmers the Government proposed that it will double the farmers’ income. A Ministerial Committee was set up in 2016 to examine the proposal. Its recommendations were studied by an Empowering Committee and three Farm Laws were promulgated in Sep 2020. I will not go into their details as the media has covered them extensively. Resistance to change for a system that was operative for a hundred years was obvious. Farmers failed to see that the amelioration of their plight cannot be brought about without drastic change in the existing system. The beneficiaries of the existing system were up in arms and felt insecure that the new system would eat into their incomes. Even the small farmers for whose benefit the laws were promulgated were fed with misinformation. Though most of them realized its advantages when they directly received the cost of their sold grains as per the MSP in their bank accounts, however, they were politically not strong enough to raise their voice, and misinformation was spread that the government would do away with the MSP.
The big farmers and Ahrtiyas spearheaded the agitation. The agitation was led by Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) whose national spokesman, Rakesh Tikiat was a poor farmer whose known assets as per Caknowledge.com were a paltry ₹ 80 crores with a monthly income of ₹ 50 lakhs. I am sure you all know that a Kisan has been freed from the income tax burden, unlike a jawan who has to pay it. He was the most vocal among the farmer leaders and was allegedly fighting for their welfare.
He was joined by one; Yogendra Yadav whose only association with farm produce was thrice a day at his dining table. His family from generations have never been farmers and it is most likely the next generation would also be accidentally seeing farms from the window seat of a commercial airplane. A self-styled psephologist who could make suave and subtle comments in a sing-song style and a past master in fuzziness. At the end of his five minutes of monologue, the listener would be as blank as before. It was a pleasure to see him being made mincemeat in his interview with the BBC. He is also a failed politician losing his deposit by polling 4.31 percent votes in Gurgaon Parliamentary Constituency in 2014. The winning candidate was from BJP with a 34.95 percent vote. His political ambition snuffed in his debut political venture; could not muster enough courage to contest again. He probably resigned to the fact that the Indian electorate was still not mature and wise enough to elect a leader of his calibre? He thereafter, probably vowed to work against the BJP as he was fighting for the Indian Republic while the rest of the majority in the country were voting for the Chinese takeover of the Indian Republic? His views on Mojo reveal that he is really worried about the Republic (not the TV) and its dismantling by the naïve people who have voted for BJP. He is also worried about the next generation and is really concerned for the nation as the gullible people of the country are voting for a party that is destroying democracy; read; not voting as per his wishes.
I have just tried to tell you about the person who took upon himself the role of a farmer leader. He joined the Coordination Committee of Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) comprising six leaders of farmers’ unions. The SKM was a conglomerate of over 40 farmers’ unions. All the leaders professed to work for the farmers. We all know how they blocked the highways leading to Delhi for one year and caused inconvenience to millions of commuters and local people. The insult to the nation on the R Day of 2021 is etched in the memory of every Indian when the agitating farmers insulted the National Flag at the Red fort and hoisted a saffron flag; accompanied by large-scale violence. One of the accused in the sordid episode was killed in a road accident, recently; probably a divine reprisal for an act against the nation? The farmer leaders were quick to point out that outsiders had joined the agitation and have perpetrated the act. If the perpetrators were outsiders why did the farmer leaders lay down a condition for withdrawal of FIRs on those involved in the R Day violence, for ending the blockade? The game plan was clear as the real farmers do not ever insult their nation; the agitation had been taken over by anti-national elements operating from Canada. However, the farmers lost the respect of the people as it was obvious that outsiders were goading them through the agitation with ulterior motives, even after the farm laws were revoked. The SKM was supposed to be a non-political organization but vowed to fight against the BJP in forthcoming state elections; jettisoning the basic premise that it was a farmers’ agitation.
The state elections took place in the first two months of 2022 and results were announced on 10 Mar. Other than Punjab it was the NDA all the way. Yadav who also masquerades as a psephologist, in his desperation and utter frustration spilled the beans. To be more precise Yadav in his Facebook post: “The purpose of Kisan Andolan was to create a pitch. In this match, we were neither the batsmen nor bowlers. We were groundsmen and our job was to create the pitch. Bowling was not our job. To throw Yogibaba out was the job of SP, BSP, Congress, and other organized political parties. There were shortcomings in their fight against the BJP,” It is crystal clear that the welfare of the farmers was so far removed from his thoughts; he just wanted to defeat the BJP and keep Yogibaba out of job and he did the groundwork for it. After scoring a duck in his debut election he has thrown his bat and ball and resigned himself to manually role the pitch. To fool the farmers is no cricket; isn’t it?
Yadav was leading them with an ulterior motive and their welfare was never in his thought and action. He had no qualms to inconvenience millions of commuters during the agitation. Most farmers did not know what they were agitating for? You must have seen on the TV; one of the reporters went around camp at the Shinglu asking the farmers their objections to the three farm laws and not one of them could state as to why they were there in the first place? Yadav on his part did not even care for the farmers who had left their families believing in him; little knowing that their leader is a selfish person with his own political agenda was using them to avenge the humiliating defeat he had suffered at the hands of BJP.
My Dear Farmers; do you realize how you were taken down the garden path to atrophy your standard of living to the current state and to ensure that the benefits always went to the rich farmers and Ahrtiyas. Thousands of you commit suicide each year for your inability to redeem debts. You will continue to depend on Big Farmers and Ahrtiyas in Mandis who hold their sway. You will continue to suffer the indignities which have been heaped on you for the past one hundred years because the selfish and rich amongst you with non-farmers like Yadav chart their own agendas to use you for political purposes and continue to lead you to your misery and debt.
You should know that any transformation in your life cannot take place without creative ideas and visionary laws. Now that you have opposed it and won, the laws have been revoked. You have to blame yourself. We countrymen need you; without you; we will go hungry. It is within you to see the light and make yourselves amenable to changes. You are very important to our country and this country cannot let you fail.
My Profound Pranaam
