Farmers’ Protest: The focus is now on mass demonstrations in all states to gain support. (Archive)
Reflexes
- Many of the farmers are back in the villages.
- Having fewer people at the borders is “part of a new strategy,” protesters say
- The focus now is on mass demonstrations in all states to gain support.
New Delhi:
The crowd of farmers is shrinking around the Delhi borders in Ghazipur and Singhu as the protest against the Center’s new agricultural laws entered its 83rd day with no progress in sight. Many of the farmers are back in the villages. Of the thousands who camped at the protest site just a month ago, only half remain.
When asked if the protest is fading, the peasants said that if it is clear that this is going to be a long battle, having fewer people on the borders is part of their new strategy, which is based on spreading the unrest.
The focus is now on holding mass demonstrations in all states to gain support for the unrest. Peasant leader Rakesh Tikait has planned mahapanchayats across the country. He is expected to attend a series of such meetings in Haryana, Maharashtra and Rajasthan over the next 10 days.
In recent months, talks with the government have stalled and neither side is willing to back down. Farmers have refused to accept the government’s offer to freeze all three laws for 18 months while negotiations continue. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said the proposal stands.
“What if 10 lakh people gather here? Will the government withdraw these laws? We will protest across the country, in all the districts our people are spreading. Meetings are being held,” said Rakesh, a protesting farmer .
“At first, the unrest was centralized at the borders, taking into account the stubbornness of the government,” said Jagtar Singh Bajwa, spokesman for the Ghazipur Protest Committee. “Peasant leaders are also changing their strategy, so that the protest can reach every house in every village. We are holding Mahapanchayats in different places,” he added.
“We need to use the energy of youth, so that while the word spreads, farmers can also continue their work. Now it is not just the border, but a farmer in his field is also part of it,” he added Mr. Bajwa.
Peasant leaders also claim that farmers are always available to reach the borders on short notice. “At the Ghazipur border, whenever we need numbers. One lakh of people can come in one day,” Bajwa added.
Activists involved in the agitation say that the decentralization of the agitation is an important step.
“In Punjab, Haryana and elsewhere there have been minor upheavals. Now they are intensifying,” said laureate and activist Ramon Magsaysay Sandeep Pandey.
“Decentralization is happening, the demonstrations in Bihar, farmers from eastern Uttar Pradesh, Awadh, cannot come by tractor, so we are also planning smaller events there,” he added.
So far, Punjab and Haryana have been the epicenter of the protests, while farmers in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh have participated to a lesser extent. There has been some involvement in states such as Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra.
Farmers argue that farm laws will reduce their income by eliminating the minimum prices set by the government and leaving them at the mercy of companies. The government says the laws are important reforms in the agricultural sector that will help farmers bypass middlemen and allow them to sell their products anywhere in the country.
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