Farmers agitation in Punjab is becoming a movement of people of Punjab against Centre and the party in power at Center that is BJP. Punjab farmers and traders have joined hands as they all feel that new laws threaten the economy of State. Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims are united and presenting a common front. Traders of Punjab who work as Artiyas and buy produce from farmers are feeling as threatened as farmers by new laws.
If the farmers have come to the border of Delhi to agitate, traders have decided to support them by making sure that they get all supplies to continue the agitation. A supply chain has been established to not only to bring essentials like food, medical supplies and drinking water. They are also getting warm clothing, blankets and firewood to keep warm. There is laundry service, foot massagers, physio to keep you fit. The official agencies have not only posted a large number of policemen, paramilitary force to maintain law and order but also activated official agencies like Income tax department and enforcement agencies to check those who are providing funds to keep the movement going.
Traders in Amritsar have been raided by income tax authorities, notices issued for receiving funds from organizations in United Kingdom , Canada and USA who are sending money to the organizers of the protest. As such it is no more a simple protest but has become a movement against the farm laws. The Government has realized its implications and has offered to amend the same. One only wishes that more thinking and examination of legislation had been done to study them instead of rushing them through ordinance route and adopting them as law by Parliament without discussion.
The Center and BJP may believe that opposition to Farm Laws is limited to Punjab, Haryana and Western U.P, but it is spreading to Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. The logic is simple all states which produce surplus are against these laws. They feel that in case there is no guarantee of Minimum Support price, the corporate over a period of time will introduce contract farming and make them into hired workers instead of independent producers.
The Government has launched a major drive to divide the farmers' movement. Export incentives have been offered for sugar, but farmers are keener to get their sugar cane dues instead of getting doles like few thousand rupees in their bank accounts. The fight between official agencies and the farmers will be a long one not easy to be resolved. With it will also come bitterness. Signs of it are showing where anyone associated with BJP has become a suspect and subjected to hate. The BJP workers who assembled in different places in Punjab to celebrate the anniversary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee were geared and had to be rescued by police.
For BJP, Punjab and Haryana may not be important because they elect few members to Lok Sabha, but for the country they are important as they provide a large surplus of wheat and rice which keeps ration shops running. There was a time when India depended on ships bringing wheat under Pl 480 scheme from USA to feed our people till the green revolution changed the picture. Now our godowns are full. There is also talk of Punjab producing what is not wanted to forget that there are many in-country who are denied enough to eat even today. As a result, corona Children who were denied mid-day meals are suffering from malnutrition. The index of malnutrition has fallen not only in poor states but also in some of the rich states. India can talk of becoming a trillion-dollar economy and a world power, but as far as human welfare index we rank very low even below some of our neighbours in south-east Asia.
There is no need to diversify crop pattern in Punjab and reduce dependence on crops which require a lot of water. It is also true we need investment in agriculture by building cold storages and improving irrigation but Corporates do not offer a solution. Agriculture subsidy is a fact of life and India will not be different. Forget economics if India has to guard its borders well we can not antagonize people living in border States like Kashmir and Punjab.
I as a correspondent have covered when Punjab was on the boil in the eighties and I have also served in Kashmir for a long time. Let me suggest please do not treat these states as stepchildren. People in these states in the sixties, seventies have made sacrifices for the country. They provide soldiers and farmers who fight for us on food as well as the battlefront they need support to survive and lead reasonable living conditions. There is a need to sit with them and solve the problem. There is a simple solution a minimum support price for their produce as suggested by the Swaminathan Commission.
Author
Brij Bhardwaj
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