The Punjab farmers and the Centre appear to be headed for an avoidable confrontation which would in the long run prove to be counter-productive. So far, the peasants who have been stopped from marching towards Delhi, have by and large been peaceful. However, the death of one of them in alleged firing by the Haryana police, has apparently hardened their stance. Many groups that had been till now, indifferent or not responsive to the agitation, have apparently changed their mind.
The result is that the Andolan may take an unexpected turn which would not be in anybody’s interests. It is important to understand that the farmers of Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh cannot be intimidated by any kind of force. They would resist any such attempts without caring for their own safety. Therefore, the authorities need to keep this in mind before adopting any kind of harsh measures which would contribute in aggravating the already tense situation.
Significantly those who are participating in the demonstration have taken their vows to fight for their rights at Gurdwaras and thus are unlikely to wilt under any kind of threats. The farmers have been demanding minimum support price (MSP) for their crops and are critical of the government for not seeing the issue realistically. Their argument is that if the loans of many industrialists and others can be waived off, why cannot the centre adopt a pragmatic approach towards them as well.
As per the government data, 58 percent of the peasants are under huge debts. This is largely because the cost of the inputs that go into farming have gone up manifolds while the prices at which the goods are sold, is much less. Therefore, this anomaly needs to be rectified. There is also resentment that those who were responsible for the killing of four farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri and the killing of one in Punjab, have not been adequately punished under the law.
There were also reports of one of the injured farmers being admitted to a medical facility in Rohtak from where he was shifted to Punjab on the request of the Chief Secretary of the State. Former chief Minister, Captain Amarinder Singh, who is now in the BJP, has demanded action against the Haryana police personnel, and has urged the State government to deal with them as per the provisions of law. The Captain is well versed with the plight of the Punjab farmers and knows that they were producing their crops on small pieces of land by putting in all what they had.
His approach towards the issue is evidently pragmatic and if decoded in political terms, it implies that he does not concur with the government policy in respect of certain matters concerning the agrarian sector. The fallout of what is going on in Punjab is also being felt in political circles where it is most difficult to imagine any of alliance between the Akalis and the BJP, ahead of the elections.
There are two streams of thoughts within the Akalis. One view is that the party should have a tie-up, and from within pressurize the Centre. The second is that it was pointless to have any arrangement with the BJP since efforts should be made, first to recognize and satisfy the demands of the Panth. If the community was not happy with the decisions, there was little point in having two or three MPs in parliament. Political observers in the State believe that the Akali Dal leadership was in a major dilemma.
Ideally speaking, it should have first fought for the MSP for the farmers and once that was conceded by the Centre, should have negotiated an alliance. With very little time left for the elections, the Akalis would not be able to consolidate whatever gains they have made in the past few months. In fact, they would squander them. It is important to comprehend that the farm land price in Punjab was the highest in the country. Those who have land holdings have to be encouraged to pursue farming for everyone’s welfare.
However, if they decide to sell of their land and move overseas, the consequences would be grave so far as framing is concerned. Significantly, the Indian diaspora from Punjab is probably amongst the highest and most of those who have gone there, were farmers back home.
In California, there are roughly two lakh Sikh voters as per a report. The Centre must respect the contribution of the farmers as a a whole and uphold the slogan, “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’’ coined by former Prime Minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri. Both farmers and the soldiers are the backbone of the country. One looks after food security and the other protects our borders. They share a common background and thus have a deep connection.
There are certain central leaders and BJP activists, who have been making unsuccessful attempts to show the farmers as Khalistan sympathisers. This they are not. They are patriots and have served this Nation like so many others and to brand them as anti-national is absolutely unacceptable. Video clips of Sikh youths climbing the Red Fort ramparts during the previous agitation are doing the rounds.
Deep Sidhu, who led one such group, died sometime ago. There were questions that were raised on how he and others could have got inside the Red Fort that too on the Republic day, unless, there was facilitation. The point is that this issue needs to be solved as early as possible and should not be allowed to escalate.