Emergence of farmers’ resistance to the ruling party and the RSS is a big sign of hope

Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), spearheading the farmers’ movement has made two significant moves: first, to give a call to the people of Haryana to force their legislators to vote against the M.L. Khattar government in the March 10 vote of no confidence – which the Khattar govt has managed to survive – and second, it’s appeal to farmers to vote against the BJP and its allies in the forthcoming Assembly polls to ensure their defeat.

These twin moves by the SKM ought not to be presumed as politicisation of the farmers’ movement but as the first significant step towards intervention in the political system of the country. For the second move, it has chosen Kolkata as the first rally pit stop. West Bengal has been the most politically-conscious state in the country and SKM’s intervention in the state would have wider ramification across the country.

The political importance of Bengal for BJP could be made out from the simple fact that the party has put the prestige of the prime minister and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat at stake. The BJP and the prime minister have been designing their strategy in consultation with Bhagwat. This is also for the first time that the RSS has drafted senior functionaries in the state to guide the state unit. It is significant that while the BJP and Modi are being accused of poaching TMC leaders and legislators, the fact is that it is an integral part of the RSS strategy to ensure the BJP’s victory.

It is amazing to watch the entire saffron brigade – from RSS, BJP to all its 24 frontal organisations – to launch such a menacing fight against Mamata Banerjee. A vilification campaign has been launched against her. Even the prime minister of India has been flinging jibes at her.

A hawker selling children’s clothes on the pavement rightly sought to know whether the Bengali farmers would be able to understand the language of the farmer leaders from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. But he was quick to reply, it is the body language, the thrust of the message and the concerns of millions of toiling farmers that would have an impact on the psyche of the farmers of Bengal.

The SKM’s strategy reminds one of the call given by Jayaprakash Narayan during the Bihar movement to the armed forces to protest. In the unlikely scenario of the BJP managing to eke out a win in West Bengal, it will give rise to the emergence of an even more aggressive form of politics in the country. With the fall of the last bastion of opposition resistance, the BJP will not bother to maintain even a façade of morality and probity in public life and accountability. The BJP and the Modi government would turn even more ruthless.

The farmers are not only fighting for themselves but for the entire poor and middle classes. India is already witnessing a dark phase in its democratic history. People are not aware how this regime will behave in future. The SKM is preparing to try and inflict what farmers’ leader Yogendra Yadav described as “vote ki chot” (hurt with votes) on the BJP and its allies in West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry.

Veteran farmer leader Balbir Singh Rajewal has said: “We will appeal to all farmers not to vote for the BJP and its allies. We will not support any party or campaign for any party, nor will we tell farmers who they should vote for. All we will do is appeal to them not to vote for those who brought the farm laws and have unleashed repression on farmers, and try best to vote in a manner that will ensure the defeat of the BJP and its allies.”

Farmers’ leaders will be sent to all poll-bound states to address at least one rally organised by their local partners to mobilise opinion. The first such rally will be held in Kolkata on March 12. The farmers have also decided to firm up solidarity with workers by joining the trade unions’ call for protest action on March 15 against corporatisation and privatisation. Many of the central trade unions have been backing the farmers’ protests.

Dr Darshan Pal, president of the Punjab chapter of Krantikari Kisan Union and a member of SKM said, “We will take part at a convention in Kolkata on March 12 where we’ll apprise local food growers on the anti-farmer face of the BJP and ask them to teach this ‘Kisan Virodhi’ party a lesson in the upcoming polls”.

Avik Saha, secretary, All India Kisan Sangrash Coordination Committee (AIKSCC), said, “We’ll appoint ‘Kisan Doots’ (emissaries) at the March 12 convention and they will take turns to reach Bengal’s villages and distributing pamphlets highlighting the sore points in the farm laws and their consequences for the agricultural community in layman’s language.”

The primary task before the SKM is to blunt the politics of communal divide. Farmers are farmers, irrespective of which religion they may belong to. The SKM will ask voters to be cautious of the divisive policies of the BJP. The upsurge in the farmers’ power has been unprecedented. The farmers are rising as never before in India. They were meant to be encircled by the government, but they are encircling the government rapidly.

Significantly, two days back, Rakesh Tikait stressed on farmers’ unity, which “is the only weapon to vanquish a stubborn BJP government at the Centre for repealing the three black agriculture laws.” He even

expressed apprehension that the Union government may resort to coercive mechanism. He said “Its silence for the past few days indicates that it is planning some steps against the farmers' agitation over newly enacted agriculture laws.”

Apart from resorting to direct intervention in the political system through giving the call not to vote for BJP, the SKM is also planning to gherao the Parliament. Tikait said: ‘Farmers will gherao Parliament if govt doesn’t repeal agri laws. This time, 40 lakh tractors will be there, instead of four lakh tractors.” The protesting farmers would plough the parks near India Gate and grow crops there, he added.

Tikait said farmers are openly challenging the government that if it does not repeal all three contentious agricultural laws and does not implement the MSP, the farmers of the country will also demolish the godowns of big companies.

Narendra Modi and his far-right Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) does not take kindly to criticism, whether it comes from India’s citizens or from abroad. Already his lieutenants and supporters like Yogi Adityanath have launched a crusade to malign and denigrate the basic ethos of the Constitution.

In this backdrop, the emergence of farmers’ resistance to the ruling party and the RSS is a big sign of hope.

Views are personal

(IPA Service)