Challenges Dot The Farmers' Movement

The farmers’ movement that had compelled the Union government to withdraw the three controversial farm laws, and became so vociferous as the political opposition to the ruling dispensation, stands at a crucial juncture today.

On one hand the farmers’ organisations across the country under the banner of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) continues to boldly resist, and take on the ruling dispensations at the Centre and well as in the states on people centric issues, on the other there are fault lines and challenges that need to be addressed. The movement is still far away from becoming a strong force that has a pan India presence.

The SKM programmes have seen participation in most of the states, but at quite a few places they have been a symbolic affair. At the same time the resistance to the events, programs and policies of the government has not seen a translation into political results.

The biggest proof is seen in the Assembly polls results of different states where caste and other considerations overruled the interests of the farming community. The fulcrum of the movement remains embedded in the states of Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh alongside strong pockets in some states like Maharashtra etc.

These aspects will be dealt with in detail later but first it is important to mention the current standoff that the farmers are having with the central government.

The SKM has expressed a strong opposition to the ‘arrest’ of its leader and general secretary of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) Yudhvir Singh at Indira Gandhi International Airport on November 29 on the ground that he is an accused in cases relating to the farmers struggle of 2020-21 in Delhi. He missed his flight to Columbia to attend an international farmers' conference.

“Later in the day, due to the strong protest from the farmers, the Delhi Police was forced to release him,” the SKM said.

“Virender Singh Hooda, a BKU leader from Rohtak in Haryana received a notice from the Delhi Police on November 22 directing him to appear in a case relating to FIR No. 522/2020 dated November 26, 2020. Again, in the face of a determined protest by the farmers, the Delhi Police was forced to publicly announce that the notice had been withdrawn.

“On December 7, 2022, Arjun Baliyan of BKU was prevented at New Delhi Airport from travelling to Nepal. SKM leaders from Punjab, Satnam Singh Behru and Harinder Singh Lokowal are facing legal proceedings in the Patiala House Courts in Delhi relating to the farmers' struggle in Delhi,” the SKM added.

Referring to various deliberations over the last two years, the umbrella organisation of the farmers has charged that, “Despite these solemn written promises and assurances made to SKM and to the whole nation through the Parliament, SKM has come to learn that the Narendra Modi government has unleashed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) against the farmer leaders and NIA has issued look out circulars (LOCs) against SKM leaders in cases related to the farmers' struggle at Delhi.”

The SKM has demanded that the Union Home Minister Amit Shah be transparent and make all the LOCs public. The SKM stated, “The Union government through a letter dated December 9, 2021 signed by Sanjay Aggarwal, secretary to ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare, had categorically stated that the state governments of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana have fully agreed to immediately withdraw all the cases related with the farmers' struggle.

“Further, the Union government and its agencies and administrations of union territories had also agreed to withdraw all cases related to the farmers' struggle and the union government would request all other state governments too to withdraw cases against the farmers' struggle.

“In the answer to Question No. 1158 dated December 19, 2022 raised in the Rajya Sabha, the minister of agriculture and farmer’s welfare Narendra Singh Tomar had replied that as per the reports received in the home ministry, the proposal to withdraw 86 cases against farmers have come up and the home ministry has permitted to do so. Apart from this, the railway ministry has given direction to withdraw all cases registered against farmers by the Railway Protection Force (RPF).”

The SKM has claimed, “The current modus operandi of implicating farmer leaders in criminal cases is a flagrant violation of the solemn promise made by the Modi government to SKM. SKM strongly rebuffs such a move and demands that the home minister Amit Shah explain why NIA and other investigating agencies are being used to violate the promise made by the Union government.

“The farmers' struggle at Delhi was a spontaneous peoples' upsurge to protect the interest of farmers and agricultural workers and rural poor against the imposition of corporatization of agriculture under the domestic and foreign corporate capital. It was a patriotic movement like the struggle for independence against British colonial rule. Any effort to paint the farmers' struggle as anti-national or foreign-funded or supported by terrorist forces, as is being attempted by the Government, is anti-people, anti-national and will be futile. The whole nation will reject such nefarious effort to dishonour and criminalise the annadatas of India”.

It has added that the recent Mahapadavs in the state capitals in collaboration with Trade Unions has made the government nervous; hence the backlash by illegal use of investigative agencies & Delhi Police against farmer leaders. It has called upon the farmers, agricultural workers and rural workers to undertake widest possible preparations to further intensify the ongoing struggle on the 21-point demand charter including demands of “minimum support price (MSP) @ C2+50%, comprehensive loan waiver, repeal of the four Labour Codes, withdrawal of Electricity Bill 2022 and saying a big no to privatisation”.

It stated that any move to unleash vengeance against the farmers’ movement will be confronted through massive and peaceful modes of struggles all over India. “In a democracy, the supreme power lies with the people and the Prime Minister and his cabinet are bound to act as per the democratic norms and traditions of the country.

“SKM demands that Home Minister Amit Shah publicly apologises for causing humiliation and inconvenience to SKM leaders including Yudhvir Singh and takes stringent actions against the concerned officers who have committed this illegal and vindictive act,” the SKM statement read.

Building on the success of Mahapadavs in several states, the farmers have decided to seek an appointment with the President of India and submit a memorandum to direct the union government not to violate the written commitments made to the SKM and desist from any act of vengeance. The SKM will also submit a memorandum to the home secretary calling upon him to make public if the LOCs have been issued against the SKM Leaders and to withdraw all the pending cases.

Having decided to undertake a campaign among farmers and farm-workers on this very development, the SKM delegations will meet district collectors on December 11 submit a letter addressed to the President of India demanding that no act of vengeance be allowed against the farmers’ movement.

Coming to the fault lines, those involved with the organising of the farmers’ movement say that the road ahead is difficult given the lack of understanding and consciousness among the farmers in states where agriculture remains a subsistence activity. These are states Bihar, eastern Uttar Pradesh, parts of Madhya Pradesh etc. where land holdings are small and agriculture practices are unlike those in states like Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh where Green Revolution led to use of technology, heavy machinery and high yielding variety of seeds along with the Mandi system of procurement.

It is true that the latter are also facing the other side of the Green Revolution that is reflected in the deepening water crisis in Punjab, the farmers getting trapped in the wheat-paddy cycle, the Mandi system having led to profit goals and the farmers getting into the debt trap.

Punjab is at the top when it comes to farmer debts with per farmer institutional debt reportedly standing at Rs 2.95 lakh. It is followed by Gujarat at Rs 2.28 lakh and Haryana at Rs 2.11 lakh. Farmer leaders in Punjab also underline the large departure from agriculture taking place in the state.

They further point out that in states like Uttar Pradesh and Haryana the institutions like Khaps and caste often assume political overtones that prevent the farmer narratives dominating every other thing when it comes to translation into political results.

“Class consciousness is missing in many states. The ideological and organisational strength is also not there. In states like Punjab, organisations plan regular movements on a day to day basis. Take for example a recent movement in Lakha village near Jagraon that went on for a month on what may appear to be a small issue of construction of a road.

“The people are now talking about the need for a new education policy. There are regular discussions on how to tackle the issue of depleting water tables and stubble burning. The positive aspect of the farmers’ movement was that it had an impact across India and the farmers’ issues acquired deep roots. Efforts are now on to take the movement forward realising the current socio-political scenario in the country,” Kanwaljit Khanna, who was instrumental in organising the farmers’ movement. Said.

Those who were a part of the farmers’ movement told that the SKM has provided an exposure to the pertinent issues being faced by the farming community. They agree that it is a long way to go given the fact that a large part of the country is still under rain fed agriculture, the institution of Mandis and procurement under MSP does not exist at many places.

“There are gaps that cannot be filled by the SKM alone. There is a need of alternative politics that may not necessarily be parliamentary politics but a people’s movement. The people have to understand issues like why diversification of crops is not being promoted and facilitated. Why on one hand there is denial of MSP on crops other than a minimal few although it is announced for 23 crops and why on the other the country imports pulses and other commodities shelling out crores?,” Narayan Dutt of Inqlabi Kendar Punjab, asked.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by PM Modi on October 18 approved the increase in the MSP for all mandated Rabi crops for the marketing season 2024-25 ‘to ensure remunerative prices to the growers for their produce’.

“The absolute highest increase in MSP has been approved for lentil (masur) at Rs.425 per quintal followed by rapeseed & mustard at Rs.200 per quintal. For wheat and safflower, an increase of Rs.150 per quintal each has been approved. For barley and gram an increase of Rs.115 per quintal and Rs.105 per quintal respectively, has been approved,” a government spokesperson said.

The spokesperson claimed, “The increase in MSP for mandated Rabi Crops for marketing season 2024-25 is in line with the union budget 2018-19 announcement of fixing the MSP at a level of at least 1.5 times of the all-India weighted average cost of production.

“The expected margin over all-India weighted average cost of production is 102 percent for wheat, followed by 98 percent for rapeseed & mustard; 89 percent for lentil; 60 percent for gram; 60 percent for barley; and 52 percent for safflower. This increased MSP of Rabi crops will ensure remunerative prices to the farmers and incentivize crop diversification.

“The government is promoting crop diversification towards oilseeds, pulses and shree anna/millets to enhance food security, increase farmers' income, and reduce dependence on imports. Besides the price policy, the government has undertaken various initiatives such as the National Food Security Mission (NFSM), Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY), and the National Mission on Oilseeds and Oil Palm (NMOOP) with the objective to provide financial support, quality seeds to encourage farmers to cultivate oilseeds and pulses.”

However, the procurements of commodities barring a few are contested time and again both by the farmers as well as the opposition parties.

In a relief to Punjab the union ministry of food & public distribution (DFPD) recently allowed extension of procurement period till December 7 as Punjab had witnessed state-wide floods leading to late sowing and eventually delayed harvesting which is still on-going in certain parts of the state.

Coming back to the challenges before the farmers’ movement, some constituents that had fallen out of the SKM following their decision to contest the Punjab assembly polls last year or otherwise are yet to return to its fold. It is being stated that while talks are on to bring them back, the farmers want a ‘principled unity’ and not one based on short term compromises for their long term struggle and movement which they agree is a long-battle.

It needs to be underlined that the issues and challenges of the farmers are state and region specific. For example, during the recent tour of Rajasthan this reporter found that while there was a greater impact of the farmers’ movement on the fraternity in the areas bordering Punjab and Haryana, the scenario was quite different as one moved south west.

“We want to get organised and fight to secure our rights but we do not have that kind of leadership to educate and lead us. We are farmers dependent on rain fed agriculture and our farming is not mechanised,” a farmer said, during an interaction at Jodhpur Kisan Mandi.

Recently, during a state level training and seminar of Kisan Sabha on ‘Economics of Himachal - Issues related to farming, horticulture and natural disaster’ farmers’ leader Dr Kuldeep Tanwar had underlined the role forests play in the economy of Himachal Pradesh.

Tanwar said that despite forest wealth worth Rs 1.5 lakh crore present in the state, its contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP) has declined from 40 per cent to only eight per cent today. He said the people of Himachal are entitled to Rs 4000 crore per year from the central government for protecting and preserving the forest wealth of the state, which the state governments have not been able to take till now.

Another expert Dr. O. P. Bhureta, while analysing the data released by various departments according to the geographical location of the state and the perspective of farmers and horticulturalists, said the cultivable land in the state is only 11 per cent and of the other barren lands, only 4 per cent is usable.

Today, 9,96,809 farmer families in the state have 9,44,226 land holdings, out of which 88 per cent farmers fall in the category of small and marginal farmers with less than two hectares. He pointed out that only 9.74 percent workers in the state are in the organised sector while 90.36 per cent are in the unorganised sector, on whom the beneficial policies of the government have little to no impact. In this regard, there is a need for Kisan Sabha to do concrete analysis and make concrete interventions.

Efforts are also being made to generate awareness among the farming community at other places as well. On October 20, the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) had organised an interaction with British Member of Parliament Jeremy Corbyn from the Labour Party in Maharashtra where besides Left leaders and progressive intellectuals of Maharashtra, other members of SKM, leaders of bank, students and teachers’ unions had also participated.

Corbyn spoke about the political issues in the United Kingdom, the working class struggle against the corporates and their government, the global rise of the right wing, the decades-long brutality of Israel towards the Palestinian people, the debate in the United Kingdom Parliament supporting India’s farmers' movement etc.

Laura Alvarez, the founder of the Peace and Justice Project along with Jeremy, spoke on the various progressive movements in Latin America. She spoke about her experiences in India and how it is getting difficult for the progressive and social movements to spearhead their pro-people work.