Trade Unions of Bharatiya Kisan | At the forefront of farmers’ turmoil

For nearly three weeks, farmers have been protesting on the outskirts of Delhi, demanding that the government withdraw the agricultural laws. The unrest has gathered momentum with more and more farmers coming together despite the government’s call to end the protests.

While various farmers’ unions from different parts of the country have joined the upheaval, it is mainly led by organizations from Punjab and Haryana. The Bharatiya Kisan (Ekta-Ugrahan) union, one of the largest farmers’ unions in Punjab, has been at the forefront. The BKU (Ugrahan), together with the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC) and 30 other farmers unions, have been conducting the protests under the banner of the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee.

Also read: Farmers have a constitutional right to continue the protest: SC

The BKU (Ugrahan), led by former soldier Joginder Singh Ugrahan, has a significant influence among farmers in the Malwa region, also known as Punjab’s “cotton belt”. The union, founded in 2002, has been on the streets protesting against the government’s farm policies since farm ordinances were enacted in June. In September, the Center passed three agricultural bills in Parliament, replacing ordinances that Prime Minister Narendra Modi says have empowered farmers. But the BKU (Ugrahan) and the other protesting unions have rejected the government’s claims, calling the bills “anti-farmers” and demanding their withdrawal.

In August, the BKU (Ugrahan) launched a five-day campaign in some 600 villages in Punjab to “inform” the public of the “negative effects” of agricultural ordinances. Led by Ugrahan and Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan, a former professor who took early retirement from his job to take up the cause of farmers, the union promised it would not allow leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and others who supported the ordinances to enter in any town of the State. The protests quickly gained momentum in the state, which is called the “granary of India.” Agriculture is the main lever of the Punjab economy, producing 17.4% of India’s wheat and 11.32% of its rice.

Also Read: Maharashtra Farmers Call for ‘Chalo Delhi’ on Dec 21

Sitting

In September, the BKU (Ugrahan) intensified the protests. They organized a sit-in in front of the Patiala residence of Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, as well as the home of Shiromani patron Akali Dal and former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal in their ancestral village of Badal. It also launched a ‘rail roko’ agitation, disrupting train services in the state. Protesters started shaking up Punjab politics even before launching the ‘Dilli Chalo’ campaign. In September, immediately after Parliament approved the three bills by oral vote, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Parkash Singh Badal’s daughter-in-law, resigned from the BJP-led government as Minister of Food Processing Industries. Within weeks, Sukhbir Singh Badal, Harsimrat Kaur’s husband and chairman of Shiromani Akali Dal, announced that the party was ending its decades-long alliance with the BJP on farm laws. The Punjab government, led by Congress, also expressed strong opposition to the laws.

With the support of almost all non-BJP political factions in Punjab, the farmers brought the protest to the borders of Delhi. Ugrahan has been camping at the Tikri border in Delhi with thousands of his followers since the end of November. The BKU (Ugrahan) was at the center of a controversy after its members demanded the release of jailed activists Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam and others on December 10, Human Rights Day. The government immediately seized on the incident, saying that the “alleged” farmer agitation “has almost been infiltrated by left-wing and Maoist elements.” The BKU (Ugrahan), however, did not apologize. “We did nothing wrong. We had just organized an event to demand their release (of the jailed activists) on Thursday for Human Rights Day, ”Sukhdev Singh, general secretary of the Punjab union said on Monday. But other unions were not of the same opinion. They distanced themselves from these demands of the BKU (Ugrahan) and asked the team to stay focused on the demands of the collective protest.

Also read: Farmers’ protest | The government’s farmers committee will be fruitful only after the repeal of farm laws, farmers groups say at the proposal of the Supreme Court

Another union at the forefront is the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC), which has a large following among marginal small farmers and agricultural workers in the Majha and Doaba regions of Punjab. Like the BKU (Ugrahan), the KMSC had also started its agitation in June, organizing sit-ins outside collectors in various districts against agricultural ordinances. On September 7, members of the KMSC launched a campaign of “judicial arrest” and on September 24 a “rail roko” agitation began. While most of the other unions lifted the blockade of train services on November 24, the KMSC continued its protests, especially in Amritsar’s Jandiala. Led by its President Satnam Singh Pannu and Secretary General Sarvan Singh Pandher, the KMSC succeeded in translating the key points of the three agricultural laws into Punjabi and distributing more than 1 million copies to farmers and workers.

Its leaders have repeatedly said that they would accept nothing more than the government’s withdrawal of the three farm laws to stop their protests.

More factions

There are more BKU factions in the turmoil. The BKU (Ekta-Dakaunda), led by Buta Singh Burj and Jagmohan Singh, has been working on issues related to the growing agrarian crisis and has demanded an exemption for agricultural loans. The protest leaders admit that Jagmohan Singh, who had worked in the Punjab government’s cooperative department, had played a key role in bringing more than 30 organizations together under one roof in the protest against the agricultural laws. The BKU (Rajewal), led by Balbir Singh, who formed his union in the 1990s, is another group in the fold.

In Haryana, it is the faction led by Gurnam Singh from BKU (Chaduni), who is in the driver’s seat. After splitting from the BKU (Tikait) in 2012, Gurnam Singh has been working on farmers’ issues, having built substantial influence in the state’s sugar cane belt. The BKU faction led by Rakesh Tikait, son of prominent peasant leader Mahendra Singh Tikait, has also joined the protest. In the 1980s, the BKU founded by Upper Tikait in Uttar Pradesh, became a force to be reckoned with in the northern states of India, but later split into some 50 different factions. But many of these factions have now come together to protest against the farm laws.

When the Supreme Court proposed on Wednesday the creation of a committee of peasant leaders from across the country, it mentioned the BKU. “The committee can talk and solve this problem. Secure the names of some farmers’ unions who want to join … You should include the BKU and other leaders.

Despite many rounds of talks, neither the unions nor the government have shown a willingness to compromise. Farmers have adhered to their demand to repeal the laws, while the government has argued that the laws are good for both farmers and the economy. Meanwhile, the protests will intensify with more farmers preparing to travel to the borders of Delhi.