‘You just cannot break the backbone of the country’
Open House: Did the government mishandle the situation to deal with farm protests?
Use of force will not solve anything
Yes, it is my firm belief that Centre has been at fault in handling the situation wrought about by farmers who are apprehensive that the Centre’s farm laws will pave the way for dismantling the MSP regime. The Centre has wilfully bungled in solving the issue by being adamant and non-concerned. The PM kept on beating around the bush in his ‘Mann Ki Baat’ programme without showing the least concern about the farmers’ agitation and its remedy; it should have been time for him to initiate ‘kaam ki baat’. But the government is taking the serious issue casually, hoping the crisis will blow over on its own. Educated or not, farmers realise what the corporatisation of agriculture and contract farming will mean for the small cultivators. The government just cannot ignore because their discontentment does not augur well for the country. Rather than holding meaningful talks with farmers and coming out with some tangible measures to allay their fears, the farmers were assaulted with teargas and water cannons. They are called the backbone of Indian economy, and many such sobriquets are used to describe them but Haryana didn’t have any qualms in unleashing brutal force against them to stop them from advancing to Delhi. Even roads were dug up and borders sealed as if an enemy were going to invade Delhi. Why can’t the farmers be allowed to protest peacefully in the national capital? The Haryana CM, at the behest of his Delhi masters, ill-treated the Punjab farmers who deserved to be treated with respect. But Khattar government acted like Judas. The PM and his ministers vociferously claim that farm Bills are for the benefits of the farmers, then why did they not hear them patiently? In fact everyone talks of grand plans for doubling farmers’ income by 2022 but in reality no one bothers about their plight for no concrete policies have been made for them. The use of force cannot solve the problem as it can not muzzle their voice. Hence, it becomes imperative on the part of the Centre to recognise the pain, pangs and depth of farmers’ emotions and sentiments to reach out to them sensitively to find a viable mechanism to redress their genuine grievances.
Tarsem S Bumrah
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Government has taken farmers for granted
The indomitable and dignified farmers of Punjab have always raised their voice when the governments turned a deaf ear to their miseries; the most prominent such movement before the present highly spirited agitation was ‘pagrhi sambhal jatta’, in 1907. The only messiah for them so far has been Sir Chhotu Ram, who was Revenue Minister of Punjab, during the British rule. If a minister could help the farmers during the alien rule to tide over their miseries, then how tragic it is that after the Independence the indifferent attitude of the successive regimes has made the living of the farmers pitiable. When the virus was speedily ascending, the regime took certain obscure decisions and proclaimed that it was turning a calamity into an opportunity. In this mindset, during the turbulent period, the government hurriedly promulgated the three laws. Since then, the voices have been raised against these laws but nobody heeded the simmering discontent of the farmers. This made the farmers and their unions and associations to stand against these at the national level. Call of ‘Bharat bandh’ and indefinite sit-ins proved ineffective. The state was also made to legislate on these laws. They had given a call for the march to New Delhi on 26th and 27th of November. A few days before that, the government again cleverly and deceitfully sent a notice for meeting on December 3. The farmers have remained calm, peaceful, willing to yield their ground to some extent, but they remained resolute throughout. The government had taken the farmers for granted, as it had done in the recent past in the case of mass migration of labourers during the abrupt lockdown, and during the demonetisation.
Hardish Sandhu
Time for Prime minister to think deeply
Our Centre, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has certainly got into the habit of taking blind decisions. Had the Centre consulted farm unions before passing the new laws, the ongoing protests, where large numbers of farmers are daily having a hard time, would not have taken place. Why is he always worried about benefiting the corporates? Many years ago, PM had also exploited Sikh farmers in Gujarat by forcing them to sell their land to the corporates, who eventually built factories on their land as also reported by some media houses. He is now experimenting with the same model with farmers of Punjab. In other words, he pretends a lot to be a PM who best thinks of the common public but the reality is something else. When farmers are feeling threatened with new laws, why can’t he scrap them? As leader he should make everything as simple as possible and not complex, with which common man continues to suffer. What an irony that he did not have any empathy for the farming community too. It also makes me wonder what logic ‘Mann Ki Baat’ programmes holds when he rarely wants to listen to the concerned community before rolling out any new laws. But if he shall, there’s still time for him to think deep about his blind decisions usually announced in the middle of the night, or else he may prove very grave for our nation. Currently, all government has brought is just chaos peppered with stress, anxiety and darkness for farmers.
Rameshinder Singh Sandhu
Protesters must be given justice
There has been a ‘Delhi Chalo’ protest for two to three months which has shaken the government to core. Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the farmers that government’s intentions are as pure as ‘Ganga’. The Centre is also inviting protesters for talks as they have blocked five entry points. A lot of people are supporting the protest. The government is fully responsible in tackling the situation. New agricultural laws must be made with a profit to both farmers and government agencies. The whole situation must come to a conclusion. The common people are suffering. In my opinion this situation must come to a negotiation as soon as possible. Concluding, the protesters must be given justice.
Izleen
How can government be so indifferent?
It is a typical case of mishandling of an important issue by the Central Government. Ordinances are being issued for urgent matters when Parliament is not in session. Why were they issued during the pandemic, it was not so important matter? To replace the said ordinances, three farm Bills were brought to Parliament and were passed without forming a house panel or without debate and discussions. What was the hurry? Parliament panel when formed even invites suggestions and objections from the general public! Very recently the President said that dissent, discussions, debates and tolerance are integral part of a vibrant democracy. But our present rulers have changed the definition of democracy to a government ‘of the people, by the bureaucrats for the politicians’. Farmers of Punjab were peacefully agitating since last two months but the Centre never bothered to address their grievances, rather they added insult to injury by inviting farmers’ representatives to Delhi and Union Agriculture Minister not available to meet them. Finally, when farmers marched towards Delhi they were thwarted by Haryana and Delhi police. It is a classic case of treating every problem as a nail when you are having a new hammer. The Centre could have solved the problem by understanding the nature of Punjabi farmer. It is said that a Punjabi farmer would not allow you to take a piece of cane from his farm but happily give you a block of juggery if asked in friendly way. Above all, why stop a peaceful agitation when all political parties in our country are born out of the womb of agitation, name any political outfit BJP, Congress or the most recent formation AAP, all are formed from agitations at different times. After wastage of lot of time and valuable resources central government is not ready to talk to farmers without any preconditions which would go against them.
Harsh N Johar
High time farmers’ demands are heard
Indeed, it is a double-edged sword. Farmers and the Union government, both are in an illusion. The government evaluated the power of farmers on a wrong note. People from the administration need to address this responsibly. And the Centre needs more mediators to solve this issue. In the end, I just want to add that we don’t need to judge either of them. Let the government and farmers sit on a table and discuss what is right. India is a democracy, no?
Aayush Sharma
Centre should agree to farmers’ demands
The government has granted the freedom to farmers to sell produce from one state to another, but has not given the legal guarantee for MSP. Basically, farmers want written assurance in the form of mandatory MSP. With talks progressing this week, they expect the government to understand their side of the debate. The Centre should agree to make amendments in order to provide the MSP security, and farmers should shun the illegal and anti-social path of closing Delhi border. The movement should not deviate from its original activities.
Saahil Hans
