The anger and frustration being showcased by the farmers in the Capital is not new and has been going on since the new farm legislations were announced in the month of September. For the last three months, thousands of people have been protesting in Delhi against the newly passed farm legislations. Thousands of farmers from Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh have marched to the Capital and are nearing the borders to raise their voices against what they allege are unfair and unjust legislations.
These farmers failed to gain the support of their respective states and thereby decided to march to the Capital to make their demands heard by the Centre, they are here to mount tremendous pressure on the Union Government and it is for this cause that they are coming to the Capital. The BJP government in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana despite having tried, have dialled to convince the farmers about the validity of the farm laws but the governments of Rajasthan and Punjab have tried their best to make their farmers sure of their support and standing.
These agitating farmers have been trying to put pressure on the government to withdraw the three legislation or guarantee them the Minimum Support Price(MSP) for their crops by introducing new laws. The protests are seeing the participation of several national and state level farmer unions and has been joined by many farmer leaders under the umbrella banner of Samyukt Kisan Morcha.
Some of the participating organisations are BKU, Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan led by VM Singh, Jai Kisan Andolan led by Avik Saha, All India Kisan Sabha led by Ashok Dhawal among a host of other participants. By the protests that have been going on, it is clear that the farmers of these states do not support the newly passed farm laws and feel that the laws would lead to the opening up of the agricultural sale and marketing outside the notified Agricultural Produce Market Committee mandis for farmers, it will remove inter-state trade and provide a framework for electronic trading of agricultural produce. Framers feel that once implemented, the mandi system will become dysfunctional and leave the farmers at the mercy of corporate players.
The farmers are demanding that the government guarantees the promise of MSP in writing and they feel that if this doesn’t happen, the farmers will be exploited in the hands of the corporate houses.
The farmers have been quite stubborn and adamant about their demands and the usage of force by the government has continued to anger the farmers further. Punjab rejected the laws in October and passed three farm amendment Bills removing Punjab from the laws imposed by the central laws.
Farmers have crossed the Delhi border and entered through Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. The government has tried its best to stop the crowds composed of farmers from entering into Delhi but the agitated farmers seem quite adamant about their demands this time. The police has already used water cannons and tear gas to disperse the angry farmers but this has not dampened the spirit of the protest.
