“Farmers Protest”

By: Gurleen Dosanjh

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On August 9th, 2020, a revolutionary protest began that changed the lives of the Indian population; mainly the farmers in the biggest agricultural states of Punjab and Haryana. The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, passed three laws that were emphasized to be a ‘death warrant’ for farmers of India. Most of the stakeholders are small-scale farmers.

To clarify the system set in place, a farmer pays to grow their crops and then takes them to an auction market or “mandi”. This Mandi system was to protect farmers against corporate exploitations and to ensure that farmers are paid fairly for their crops. The new laws that were passed are taking away the entire Mandi system indirectly because they allow other business corporations to buy the crops and then sell them. Critics of the new law argue that the government thought that the farmers are not as educated as big business corporations they essentially decided to “trick” them into signing a contract where they become a stakeholder on the price of their crops. If the farmers do not meet the requirements and terms in the contract, it gives the corporations authority to take their land. India is still considered to be a developing country with 60% to 70% of the population being agricultural farmers. 58% of the Indian population depends on the income of farmers, that is more than 700 million people, about twice the population of the United States. In September, the Parliament of India passed three laws without consulting any farmers. As a result of these reforms, millions of farmers have traveled to the country’s capital - New Delhi - to protest against the reforms set in place.

The government of India is allowing police officers to violate, harm, and harass the farmers and their rights. India’s government has dug up the main freeway roads to which they travel to get to the capital in order to stop them from reaching. Farmers have gotten past multiple types of heavily loaded barricades, concrete walls, and iron nails embedded into the freeway despite all effort from the government to stop them. From the Indian government’s perspective, the farmers are considered to be the “weakest” or “poverty-stricken”, however, they as a community have come together to set up camp in New Delhi, as well as blocking the 5 most commonly used highways. They have made temporary shelters from tractors, farm equipment, and they have even started to make schools for the children to continue to learn. Rations are being stored in their tractors and farm equipment, making sure people do not go hungry. The word seva means to give to people in any way without having the expectation of getting anything in return. An act of seva is being done by the Punjabi people in Delhi by having “langar” or free food given out to the people that are in poverty and to those that have set up camp. Millions of people in poverty are being fed in Delhi due to the farmers. Adding on, the streets of Delhi have never been cleaner due to people cleaning up that have set up camp. The government has never done anything remotely close to the selfless acts of the farmers. How many more farmers need to die and get hurt before the government takes back these laws? Many have said in interviews that they will not retreat back to their homes until the reforms are taken away for good. These are the exact laws that the farmers are protesting against:

The Three Farmer Laws Passed

1. The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill 2020

2. The Farming Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020