Indian farmers, particularly from agrarian states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, are protesting since November 26, 2020, against three farm laws passed by Parliament of India in September 2020. According to Haryana Police, there are around 40,000 committed protestors sitting at Singhu and Tikri at the Delhi border.
Farmer unions and their representatives have demanded that the laws be repealed and have stated that they will not accept a compromise. Farmer leaders have welcomed the Supreme Court of India stay order on the implementation of the farm laws but rejected the committee appointed by the Supreme Court. They have also rejected a government proposal, dated 21 January 2021, of suspending the laws for 18 months.
Eleven rounds of talks have taken place between the central government and farmers represented by the farm unions between 14 October 2020 and 22 January 2021; all were inconclusive. On 3 February, farmer leaders warned of escalating the protest to overthrowing the government if the farm laws were not repealed. The stay order on the implementation of the farm laws remains in effect, and the Supreme Court appointed committee continues with its tasks related to the farm laws. Six state governments (Kerala, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Delhi and West Bengal) have passed resolutions against the farms acts, and three states (Punjab, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan) have tabled counter legislation in their respective state assemblies. None of the counter legislation passed the respective state governors.
The acts, often called the Farm Bills, have been described as “anti-farmer laws” by many farmer unions, and politicians from the opposition also say it would leave farmers at the “mercy of corporates”. The farmers have also demanded the creation of a Minimum Support Price (MSP) bill, to ensure that corporates cannot control the prices. The government, however, maintains that the laws will make it effortless for farmers to sell their produce directly to big buyers, and stated that the protests are based on misinformation.
Soon after the acts were introduced, unions began holding local protests, mostly in Punjab. After two months of protests, farmer unions-mainly from Punjab and Haryana-began a movement named Dilhi Chalo (transl.?Let’s go to Delhi), in which tens of thousands of farming union members marched towards the nation’s capital. The Indian government ordered the police and law enforcement of various states to attack the protesters using water cannons, batons, and tear gas to prevent the farmer unions from entering into Haryana first and then Delhi.
On 26 November 2020, a nationwide general strike of 250 million people, as per trade unions claim, took place in support of the farmer unions. On 30 November, an estimated crowd of 200,000 and 300,000 farmers was converging at various border points on the way to Delhi. On 21 March specific mention was made of Bengaluru, “….you (farmers) have to turn Bengaluru into Delhi. You will have to lay siege to the city from all directions”. Transport unions representing over 14 million truck drivers have come out in support of the farmer unions. On 26 January, tens of thousands of the farmers held a farmer’s parade with a large convoy of tractors and drove into Delhi. The protesters deviated from the pre-sanctioned routes permitted by the Delhi Police. The tractor rally turned into a violent protest at certain points as the protesting farmers drove through the barricades and clashed with the police.Later, protesters reached Red Fort and installed farmer union flags and religious flags on the mast on the rampart of the monument.
While a section of farmer unions have been protesting, the Indian Government claims some unions have come out in support of the farm laws. By mid December, the Supreme Court of India had received a batch of petitions asking for removal blockades created by the protesters around Delhi. The court also asked the government to put the laws on hold, which they refused. On 4 January 2021 the court registered the first plea filed in favor of the protesting farmers. Farmers have said they will not listen to the courts if told to back off. Their leaders have also said that staying the farm laws is not a solution. The government offered some amendments in laws. On 30 December, the Indian Government agreed to two of the farmers’ demands; excluding farmers from laws curbing stubble burning and dropping amendments to the new Electricity Ordinance.
Three agriculture laws
In 2017, the central government released the Model Farming Acts. However, after a certain period of time, it was found that a number of the reforms suggested in the acts had not been implemented by the states. A committee consisting of seven Chief Ministers was set up in July 2019 to discuss the implementation. Accordingly, the central Government of India promulgated three ordinances (or temporary laws) in the first week of June 2020, which dealt with agricultural produce, their sale, hoarding, agricultural marketing and contract farming reforms among other things. These ordinances were introduced as bills and passed by the Lok Sabha on 15 and 18 September 2020. Later, on 20 and 22 September, the three bills were passed by the Rajya Sabha, where the government is in a minority, via a voice vote – ignoring the requests of the opposition for a full vote. The President of India gave his assent by signing the bills on 28 September, thus converting them into acts. The legality of the acts has been questioned since both agriculture and markets come under State list.
These acts areas are:
Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act: expands the scope of trade areas of farmers produce from select areas to “any place of production, collection, and aggregation.” Allows electronic trading and e-commerce of scheduled farmers’ produce. Prohibits state governments from levying any market fee, cess or levy on farmers, traders, and electronic trading platforms for a trade of farmers’ produce conducted in an ‘outside trade area’.
Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act: creates a framework for contract farming through an agreement between a farmer and a buyer before the production or rearing of any farm produces. It provides for a three-level dispute settlement mechanism: the conciliation board, Sub-Divisional Magistrate, and Appellate Authority.’
Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act: allows for the center to regulate certain food items in the course of extraordinary situations like war or famine. Requires that imposition of any stock limit on agricultural produce be based on price rise.
Bharat bandh
Despite being ignored by the government, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), the broad front which spearheads the protest and represents more than 500 farm organisations, has chartered a complete course of action for the months ahead. On March 26, the SKM called for a 12-hour Bharat bandh. The bandh was by and large peaceful, even though in some States, the police arrested and detained farmer activists. In Ahmedabad, the Gujarat police detained Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Yudhvir Singh while he was addressing a press conference about the bandh. According to the SKM, preventive detentions and arrests of farmer leaders were made in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled Karnataka, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh. According to the farmers’ unions, the bandh was very effective in several districts of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, Maharashtra, Telangana, Haryana and Punjab. In Andhra Pradesh, the ruling Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party supported the call.
The SKM has now announced a slew of programmes for April and May, including protests at Food Corporation of India godowns and a march to Parliament from all the border points. On March 31, the protests at the border points completed 125 days.
The sit-ins at the five border points of Delhi began on November 26, 2020, and were allowed undisturbed amid the multiple layers of barricading by the police. The protests were kept alive in myriad forms, ranging from celebrations on March 8 (International Working Women’s Day) to paying tributes to martyrs on March 23, commemorated as Shaheed Diwas. They have gone on for so long for a variety of reasons, particularly the resentment at the police action on January 26 and the ill-conceived actions of the Modi government. A good number of farmers still continue to be in jail.
On March 19, the Manohar Lal Khattar-led BJP government in Haryana enacted the Haryana Recovery of Damages to Property During Disturbance to Public Order Bill 2021. The law, similar to the one enacted by the U.P government, provides for a Claims Tribunal and purports to recover damages caused during riots, agitations and protests. It states that “any person leading, organising, planning, exhorting, instigating, participating or committing such incidents that lead to damages” will be made to pay compensation. The opposition in the Haryana Assembly argued that there were already laws in the Indian Penal Code to recover damages to property and for rioting.
The farmers’ unions took all this in their stride and were by now adept at converting every setback into an advantage. One such opportunity, soon after the January 26 events, came through a nondescript player of the movement, Rakesh Tikait of the BKU, at the Ghazipur protest site on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border. On January 28, when a heavily armed police contingent, capitalising on the deflated morale of the protesters, tried to arrest farmer leaders and vacate the Ghazipur site, Rakesh Tikait went live on national television in a teary-eyed emotional speech that turned the entire nationalistic narrative on its head, revealing the farmers to be victims of a conspiracy hatched by the government. It resulted in a massive mobilisation of the peasantry from western U.P, Punjab and Haryana and infused a new energy that took the Central government completely by surprise.
Kisan mahapanchayats
Overnight, Rakesh Tikait became a hero and was in huge demand for all public meetings. The movement regained its lost sheen. The khaps and Jat caste councils got into action, convening huge mahapanchayats in villages in Haryana and U.P. Meetings were scheduled all over the country, including in southern States. Adopting a broader nomenclature, “khap panchayats” later gave way to the more accepted “kisan mahapanchayats”.
Rakesh Tikait, BKU Haryana leader Gurnam Singh Chaduni and others went to West Bengal and held a meeting in Nandigram, exhorting people not to vote for the BJP. While their appeals may have had limited reach, the message went out loud and clear that the BJP was anti-farmer. It was therefore no surprise that in all the election campaigns of the BJP in the five State Assembly elections, there has hardly been any mention of the farm laws. The nationalistic hysteria that emanated post the tractor rally of January 26 gradually lost steam despite attempts by the BJP and its band of faithfuls in the media to keep the issue alive. On March 27, under the aegis of the All India Kisan Sabha, a 20,000-strong convention of farmers and fisherfolk was held at a coastal village in Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, which condemned the Adani group’s proposal to set up a port, citing environmental grounds.
Since January 22, the day of the eleventh and last round of formal talks between the Central government representatives and the SKM, there has been little initiative by the government to break the logjam. On the contrary, the government went on an offensive, declaring its intent to hold meetings and outreach programmes explaining the benefit of the laws, that were received with much hostility in the States where they were convened. In Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab, representatives of the BJP faced angry protests when they attempted to hold meetings to publicise the farm laws. Angry farmers disallowed the entry of BJP leaders, including elected Members of Parliament in U.P such as Union Minister for Agriculture Sanjeev Balyan.
The international attention on the protests has also not been liked by the government. The protest “toolkit” tweeted by celebrity environmental activist Greta Thunberg and the subsequent arrest of climate activists in India put the spotlight on the government as being extremely intolerant of criticism. The last straw on its back was when the United Kingdom Parliament decided to debate the protests along with press freedom in India. A dozen MPs cutting across parties had raised the issue of the “use of force” against the protesters. The High Commission of India in London called it a “one-sided discussion” which had many “false assertions”.
In for the long haul
The current challenge for the farmers is to keep the momentum and morale high. Rajvir Yadav, a BKU office bearer from U.P., told Frontline at Ghazipur that they were prepared for this. He explained: “We knew this was going to be a long haul, that this government would try to break us, tire us out, defame us. This government is of a different mindset altogether. So we were prepared. We fail to understand why they are so stubborn. Can any BJP leader say that they won elections without the support of the BKU? The government is under corporate pressure. They agreed to put the laws on hold for some months. Why would they say that if they felt there was something wrong with the laws? There is some power that is running the government with a remote. They cannot mortgage our lives. We are not against the government but against the policies. We supported this party before, helped them form government on three occasions. And today they are doing this to us.”
Govt adamant
Farmers’ unions claim that over 200 protesters have died since the protests started in November 2020. However, an end is still not in sight. Although the Indian Supreme Court has put the reforms on hold in view of the protests until an amicable solution is found, farmers’ representatives and government officials have had almost a dozen unsuccessful negotiation meetings. The government is adamant on not repealing the laws and the farmers want nothing more than for the laws to be completely repealed. However, as the human rights violations of those protesting continue, the pertinent question is: how many more deaths, baton charges, and deterioration in the living standards of those protesting will it take for the Modi government to view these protestors as concerned citizens rather than a crowd motivated by political gain? It seems this will not happen anytime soon, as on 8 February 2021, Prime Minister Modi shared his view of those protesting, stating that a new branch of protesters had come into existence, who, like “parasites[,] feast on every agitation”.
Allegations of conspiracy
The Union Minister for Food, Railway and Consumer Affairs, Piyush Goyal has described the protesting farmers as “Leftist and Maoist” and being “hijacked” by unknown conspirators. Former Rajya Sabha MP and vice-president of BJP in Himachal Pradesh, Kripal Parmar stated, “The protest is driven by vested interest of few anti-national elements.” Union Minister and BJP politician Raosaheb Danve has alleged an international conspiracy, claiming that China and Pakistan are behind the ongoing protests by farmers.[250] BJP MLA Surendra Singh said, “….this is a sponsored agitation by anti-national forces and has foreign funding.” BJP Uttarakhand chief Dushyant Kumar Gautam stated that the protests had been ‘hijacked’ by “terrorists” and “anti-national” forces. Several BJP leaders have blamed what they have called the ‘Tukde Tukde Gang’ – a pejorative term used by the BJP and its supporters, against anyone who disagrees with its politics, which implies that the person supports secession – as instigating the protests, and linked them to previous protests about India’s citizenship laws. Delhi BJP MP Manoj Tiwari has accused such unnamed conspirators of instigating the protests, as has Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. In response to the BJP’s claims, Sukhbir Singh Badal, former Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab, claimed that the BJP was the real ‘Tukde Tukde Gang’ and trying to divide Punjab. BJP General Secretary Manoj Tiwari has also described the protesting farmers as “urban naxals”. Rajasthan BJP leader Madan Dilawar has accused protesting farmers of “conspiring” to spread avian influenza in India after reports of some cases of avian flu were made in January. Dilawar claimed that protesting farmers were spreading avian influenza by “eating chicken biryani and cashew nuts/almonds” although he did not clarify how these foods and avian influenza are connected.
Opposition to the claims of conspiracy has been voiced from within the BJP and outside it. BJP leader Surjit Singh Jyani, who was part of a committee that negotiated with several farmers unions, vocally opposed the claims, stating, “This type of language should be avoided. We know many farmers groups are Left-leaning but branding them tukde tukde gang and anti-national will not end the deadlock.”Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena leader, Uddhav Thackeray has voiced opposition to the labeling of protesters as “anti-national”, pointing to some confusion among BJP leaders about the source of the allegations of conspiracy.He stated, “BJP leaders should decide who farmers are – are they Leftist, Pakistani, or they have come from China.”[258] The conspiracy claims have also been opposed by Rajasthan Chief Minister and Congress politician, Ashok Gehlot, who urged the government to come to an “amicable solution” with protesting farmers “…instead of blaming gangs, anti-national elements for these protests.”
International support
Victoria Member of Parliament Rob Mitchell and Russell Wortley were among the Labor leaders who spoke in support of the farmers’ protests, with Mitchell addressing the Victorian parliament on the subject after several protests were held in Australia by citizens.
Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada expressed concerns about the supposed mishandling of protests by the Indian government. He was the very first politician on international grounds to speak for the farmers. Trudeau stated that “Canada will always be there to defend the right of peaceful protestors” and expressed support for “the process of dialogue.”In response, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs summoned the Canadian High Commissioner to India, Nadir Patel, and issued a démarche, stating that Trudeau’s comments were “an unacceptable interference in our internal affairs”. Trudeau reiterated his statement despite the Indian Government’s warning that his comments threatened diplomatic relations between the two countries. On Saturday, 5 December, hundreds of supporters protested in downtown Toronto and Vancouver, gathering in front of the Indian consulate in both cities to show their support. Organized by members of the Sikh community, the demonstrators stood in solidarity with the farmers and their right to peacefully protest.
Italy
Indian Ambassador to Italy Neena Malhotra visited a gurdwara in Rome in December as part of an outreach effort by the Indian government to Sikhs amid the farm protests. Malhotra received backlash on social media when the Embassy claimed she had been well received during the visit. However, Malhotra was heckled by members of the gurdwara management committee while she spoke in favor of the new farm laws.
New Zealand
In early December 2020, 1,500 Indian New Zealanders protested in Auckland’s Aotea Square against the new agricultural laws.
UK
Several Labour MPs in the United Kingdom expressed support for the protests and raised concerns about the government response to protesters, including Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, Preet Kaur Gill, Claudia Webbe and John McDonnell. A few British MPs and cricketer Monty Panesar also tweeted in support of farmers. In December 2020, a group of 36 British MPs from the Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrats and Scottish National Party asked the British Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, to raise their concerns with the Indian government. The British prime minister Boris Johnson, after being confronted with the issue, confused it with the India-Pakistan conflict, drawing criticism domestically and in India.
Several Indian-American protests were held in support of the farmers, with rallies being held outside Indian consulates in San Francisco, Chicago, Indianapolis, New York City, Houston, Michigan, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C. A rally of over a thousand Indian Americans was also held in Detroit,[282] and a car rally was held in Fort Wayne. Several American Congressmen from both the Republican and Democratic parties voiced support for these protests, including Josh Harder, TJ Cox, Doug LaMalfa, and Andy Levin.In December 2020, seven Congresspersons wrote to the Secretary of State, asking him raise the issue of the farmers’ protests with India. The Congressional Research Service published a report on the farmer protests on 1 March. Bob Menendez and Chuck Schumer wrote a letter to the Biden government in relation to the protests, urging it to discuss the farmer issue with the Indian government.On 7 February, Sikh farmers in California‘s Central Valley funded a 30-second ad which ran during Super Bowl LV in support of the protesters in India.[290] In February 2021, Trevor Noah ran a eight minute segment on the farm protests.
UN
António Guterres, secretary-general, called on the Indian government to allow the protests, affirming the right to voice opposition to the government, stating “…People have a right to demonstrate peacefully and authorities need to let them do so.”
International Monetary Fund
Gerry Rice, Director of Communications IMF, said that the agriculture reforms have the potential to represent a significant step forward for agricultural reforms in India. He contended that the bills will eventually reduce middlemen and improve efficiency. He also remarked that a “social safety net” should be there to protect “those who might be adversely impacted during the transition to this new system”.
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch issued a statement on 2 February calling on the Indian government to drop “baseless criminal charges” against journalists covering the protests.
Protest Toolkit
On 3 February, Greta Thunberg uploaded a document on Twitter which allegedly guided protestors about protests and on how to mobilize people against India and target Indian interests/embassies abroad. It contained actions taken up to 26 January 2021, future actions to undertake, hashtags which trended and would trend, celebrities who would be sympathetic to these protests and solidarity videos etc. She soon deleted the tweet saying that the document was “outdated”, and uploaded another toolkit to support protests, sparking a further row.
The Times of India reported that an initial probe by the Modi government, into the source of the toolkit that Thunberg posted, suggested that it was put together by a Canadian pro-Khalistan organization based in Vancouver, and that the toolkit had a plan to carry forward the “malign Indian campaign”, even if the government repealed the laws. According to one official, “This showed how sinister the entire campaign was”.
39 cases registered against farmers between Sept-Dec
Delhi Police have registered 39 cases between September to December last year against the farmers agitating over the three farm laws at various of the national capital, the Ministry of Home Affairs said.Farmers broke barricades to enter Delhi and indulged in vandalism across several parts of the national capital during their Kisan tractor rally against the Centre’s three new farm laws on January 26.
Farmer unions’ demands
The farmer unions believe that the laws will open the sale and marketing of agricultural products outside the notified Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) mandis for farmers. Further, the laws will allow inter-state trade and encourage hike electronic trading of agricultural produce. The new laws prevent the state governments from collecting a market fee, cess, or levy for trade outside the APMC markets; this has led the farmers to believe the laws will “gradually lead to the deterioration and ultimately end the mandi system” thus “leaving farmers at the mercy of corporates”. Further, the farmers believe that the laws will end their existing relationship with agricultural small-scale businessmen (commission agents who act as middlemen by providing financial loans, ensuring timely procurement, and promising adequate prices for their crop).[80] Additionally, protesting farmers believe dismantling the APMC mandis will encourage abolishing the purchase of their crops at the Minimum Support Price (MSP). They are therefore demanding the minimum support prices to be guaranteed by the government in writing.
As of 8 April 2021, the farmers’ demands include:
– Convene a special Parliament session to repeal the farm laws.
– Make MSP and state procurement of crops a legal right.
– Assurances that conventional procurement system will remain.
– Implement Swaminathan Panel Report and peg MSP at least 50% more than weighted average cost of production.
– Cut diesel prices for agricultural use by 50%.
– Repeal of Commission on Air Quality Management in NCR and the adjoining Ordinance 2020 and removal of punishment and fine for stubble burning.
– Release of farmers arrested for burning paddy stubble in Punjab.
– Abolishing the Electricity Ordinance 2020.
– Centre should not interfere in state subjects, decentralization in practice.
– Withdrawal of all cases against and release of farmer leaders.
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