The Centre has decided to repeal the 3 farm laws against which the farmers have been agitating for the last 1 year or so through wind, heat, rain, sleet and cold showing a remarkable tenacity and commitment to purpose. The withdrawal of the laws is a good augury and signifies the victory of the strong will of the farmers and a triumph of democracy in our country. However, it also shows up Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his stubbornness and unwillingness to be sensitive to people’s problems at the proper time.
Buckling down to pressure because of upcoming elections or whatever and consequently reversing decisions are not the indicators of wisdom. While recognising issues and involving oneself to resolve them in a proactive and a consultative mode are the hallmarks of great leadership and statesmanship. It is not only Modi but the farmers issue has shown up the ministers and the leaders of the BJP party as merely echoing their master’s line and questioning the patriotism of the section of our people who day in and day out slog in the fields to put food in our mouths.
We need to remember that the Green Revolution and the White Revolution at Anand that ushered in self-sufficiency in food for our country was not brought about by our policy makers sitting in their air conditioned offices but by the hard work and efforts of our farmers in the fields. This is what Modi forgot while dealing with the farmers’ agitation.
During this last 1 year of the farmers agitation there have been more than 300-odd deaths of the farmers arising out of natural causes, suicides, disease, police atrocities including firing and to top it all the deliberate mowing down with a car of farmers by a Central minister’s son in Lakhimpur Kheri. Some of these people, maybe 10%, may have died in the normal course but even they would have surely preferred to die in the comfort of their homes and with their near and dear ones attending while the remaining 90% died as a consequence of being in the camps and directly because of police action. Who will answer for the deaths of the farmers during the agitation?
The government had done the same thing in the demonetisation exercise when untold misery was unleashed on the common people with 50-60 persons dying in queues formed in front of banks to exchange notes and lakhs of people who lost jobs and/or livelihoods as we had seen in the exodus of migrant workers from urban areas back to the rural countryside. The people’s plight was further compounded by the fact that they had hardly found their feet from the demonetisation and while they and the economy were still recovering, the pandemic struck leaving them more vulnerable.
On the repeal of the farm laws, why does the Centre not issue an ordinance so that the farmers are left with no uncertainty that the laws will be taken back? When an ordinance can be used to legitimise an extension of service of a government official, in the recent case of the Director of ED, on a graver issue like the farm laws an ordinance can be definitely issued by this government. On the matter of agricultural policy, one does not say that reforms are not necessary. But the policies to reform cannot be rammed down the throats of the farmers and then lies floated that consultations were had with the farmers prior to the presentation of the laws in Parliament and then the laws rushed through both Houses without discussion despite the Opposition asking for them to be referred to a Select Committee. With the repeal of the laws one hopes that the government would have learnt that following the precept of keeping people informed, having discussion and debate prior to implementing any measure are the cornerstones of democracy. Otherwise from 2014 on every single issue ranging from freedom of speech of the press and the student community, demonetisation, the citizenship issue from the CCA, the GST implementation, the use of central agencies like the CBI & ED to drive their political agendas and then the farmers laws, Modi and his government have specialised in creating turmoil and distress to the people of this country trying to hide all this under a veil of ‘good governance’.
