File Photo. Photo Source: Babushahi Network

Over 95 Canada & UK based organizations express solidarity with Kisan Morcha in joint statement

Chandigarh, March 7, 2021: As many as 98 Canadian and United Kingdom (UK) based organizations have come in support of farmers’ agitation in support of farm bills.

In a joint statement issued by these organizations that include Canadian Labour Congress, British Columbia Teachers’ Federation (BCTF), Toronto and York Region Labour Council, Academics, and Activists Against Hate, Canada, Anti Caste Discrimination Alliance, UK, have urged the Indian government the Farm Laws, Electricity Act, Repeal the pollution penalty on farmers, providing the written guarantee of MSP along with other demands. 

Here is the joint statement issued by the organizations:  

The farmers’ agitation for the repeal of the pro-corporate farm laws has become the largest and longest sustained non-violent movement in Indian history, surpassing Mahatma Gandhi’s historic Dandi March against the abhorrent Salt Law of the British colonial regime.

The Modi regime rammed the farm laws stealthily through Parliament in September 2020, using its brute majority in the Lok Sabha, resorting to the questionable maneuver of a voice vote in the Rajya Sabha where it did not have a majority, and counting on the pandemic to muffle opposition outside Parliament. These laws were drafted without any consultation with farmers or their representatives, the farmers’ unions. 

The farmers have consistently opposed these laws, which go against the promises and commitments made to farmers by different governments over several decades. This is especially ironic given that Prime Minister Modi’s BJP campaigned on a pro-farmer platform, including making a minimum support price (MSP) mandatory and implementing the Swaminathan Report that is critical to saving India’s agriculture and farmers. 

The laws blatantly advance the interests of Modi’s crony corporate capitalists, such as Ambani and Adani, against those of the vast majority of the agricultural sector, effectively throwing farmers to the corporate sharks. 

The government and its propaganda machines, acting in the interests of a narrower and more exclusively corporate elite than any government has in independent India’s history, have concentrated not on finding solutions but on delegitimizing the protests and all who support them as representing special interests (large and rich farmers) in prosperous states. Nothing can be further from the truth. 

This movement goes back to at least 2017 and the unions associated with it represent a wide cross-section of the farming community from across the country - from agricultural labor to marginal, small and medium peasantry. The All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC) represents 250 organizations from 20 states, a unique broad coalition, from Dalit agricultural laborers to OBC, small and middle peasants. 

It is the AIKSSC which through a private members bill (supported by 21 political parties other than the BJP) introduced in 2018 a reform agenda towards making farming debt-free and sustainable. 

For several months the hundreds of thousands of farmers protesting peacefully on the borders of the national capital have faced and withstood brutal repressive policing including water cannons, tear gas, and barricades in the near-freezing conditions of a Delhi winter. 220 farmers have died as a result of the harsh conditions, a few unfortunately by their own hands as despair overcame them. 

The full participation of women in the protests, whether as tractor drivers or marchers, is another notable feature of the farmers’ agitation. Denying and defying the patriarchal stereotypes of rural north India through their participation in the protests, the women have demonstrated their full status as farmers on par with men. 

Another feature is the participation of older farmers, some in their 80s, providing evidence of the determination of the entire farm community to defy the diktats of a repressive regime.

After the false flag attempt of the regime to subvert the non-violent peaceful protest demonstrations on January 26, the farmers’ agitation has now entered a new phase. First, the already growing support for it from farmers across India is now even stronger, with vast gatherings or maha panchayat of farmers held in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Punjab. 

Second, with the state’s vilification and criminalization of the farmers and those who have come out in support of them, including youth, journalists, and human rights defenders, the movement has now acquired the character of a broad-based attempt to defend the very democratic rights enshrined in the Indian Constitution, most importantly, the freedom of speech and assembly and the right of peaceful dissent from and opposition to the actions and policies of the government. 

Third, the recent declarations of support for the farm laws by the IMF and the US government indicate the range of forces backing them, adding an anti-imperialist dimension to the struggle against them. 

As organizations that work to extend and defend democratic rights, we recognize that an attack on such rights anywhere is an attack on them everywhere. The farmers are sacrificing their well-being and putting their lives on the line to uphold these constitutional guarantees on behalf of all the people of India and are setting a glorious example to the entire world. Their heroism and their sacrifice deserve our strong support and our undying gratitude.

We salute the heroism of the farmers and pay homage to the departed souls who sacrificed their all to the larger cause.

We demand that the Government of India take the following actions:

REPEAL THE UNJUST PRO-CORPORATE FARM LAWS

REPEAL THE ELECTRICITY ACT

REPEAL THE POLLUTION PENALTY ON FARMERS

EXTEND MSP AT SWAMINATHAN COMMISSION RECOMMENDED RATE OF C2+50% TO ALL FARM PRODUCTS 

PROVIDE WRITTEN GUARANTEE OF MSP

The National Commission on Farmers (2004-2006) chaired by Prof. M. S. Swaminathan recommended that the government should fix MSPs for farm produce based on a comprehensive measure of cultivation costs that includes the imputed cost of capital and the rent on the land (called C2) to give farmers 50% returns.

OBC – Other Backward Class – in India a term used for educationally or socially marginalized castes. 

https://thewire.in/communalism/fact-check-red-fort-flag-tricolour-khalistan-nishan-sahib

STOP VILIFYING THE MOVEMENT AND CRIMINALIZING THE WIDESPREAD SUPPORT FOR IT FROM DIVERSE SECTIONS OF INDIAN PEOPLE, AND ESPECIALLY ITS HUMAN AND DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS DEFENDERS

Following are the signatory organizations on this statement:

1. Canadian Labour Congress (CLC)/ Congrès du travail du Canada (CTC) 
2. Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL)  
3. British Columbia Teachers’ Federation (BCTF)  
4. Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) 
5. Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE)/ Syndicat canadien de la function publique (SCFP) 
6. Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW)/ Syndicat des travailleurs et travailleuses des postes (STTP) 
7. Conseil central du Montréal métropolitain – CSN 
8. Fédération nationale des enseignantes et des enseignants du Québec-CSN 
9. Hospital Employees' Union (HEU), Vancouver, BC  
10. Manitoba Federation of Labour (MFL)  
11. Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL)  
12. Unifor National 
13. United Steelworkers (USW)/Le Syndicat des Métallos, Canada 
14. Toronto and York Region Labour Council 
15. Vancouver & District Labour Council 
16. Academics and Activists Against Hate, Canada 
17. Alternatives, Montréal 
18. Alternatives International 
19. Ambedkarite Buddhist Association of Texas (ABAT) 
20. Anti Caste Discrimination Alliance, UK 
21. Asian Canadian Labour Alliance (ACLA) 
22. Between the Lines publishers, Toronto 
23. British Columbia Teachers’ Federation (BCTF) 
24. Campaign Against Criminalising Communities, UK 
25. Canadian Foreign Policy Institute 
26. Canadians Against Oppression and Persecution 
27. Caring for Social Justice Collective/Collectif Soignons la justice sociale, Québec 
28. CareMongering International 
29. Centre de travailleurs et travailleuses immigrant/es/Immigrant Workers’ Centre (CTI/IWC), Montreal 
30. Centre for Study and Research in South Asia (CERAS), Montreal 
31. Collectif-CEDETIM, France 
32. The Corner House, UK 
33. Crescent Hub, The 
34. Community Food Centres Canada/ Centres communautaires d’alimentation du Canada 
35. Dalit Solidarity Forum-USA 
36. Democracy Equality and Secularism in South Asia, Winnipeg 
37. Disha, Canada 
38. East India Defence Committee, Vancouver 
39. ETC Group, Quebec 
40. Europe solidaire sans frontières (ESSF), France 
41. Fédération des femmes du Québec (FFQ)/Québec Women’s Federation 
42. Femmes de diverses origines/Women of Diverse Origins (FDO-WDO), Montreal 
43. Fernwood Publishing, Halifax and Winnipeg 
44. Foundation the London Story Netherlands 
45. Geopolitical Economy Research Group 
46. Global Justice Ecology Project 
47. Good Jobs for All Coalition, Toronto 
48. Gursharan Singh Memorial Lecture Committee, Vancouver 
49. Himalaya Seniors of Quebec (HSQ) 
50. Hindus for Human Rights (HfHR) 
51. Hospital Employees' Union (HEU), Vancouver, BC 
52. India Civil Watch International (ICWI) 
53. India Civil Watch-Montrreal 
54. India Solidarity, Germany 
55. Indian Resistance Network, Norway  
56. Indian Scheduled Caste Welfare Association UK 
57. Indian Workers’ Association GB (COC), UK 
58. Justice for All Canada 
59. Justicia for Migrant Workers (J4MW), Canada 
60. Khanyisa Education and Development Trust, South Africa 
61. Kurdish People’s Assembly, UK 
62. The Kurdish Women’s Initiative in the UK 
63. Makukhanye Rural Movement, South Africa 
64. Manitoba Federation of Labour (MFL) 
65. Montreal Serai 
66. Pakistan Organization of Quebec (POQ) 
67. Pash Memorial International Trust 
68. Peace in Kurdistan, UK  
69. People's Health Movement Canada/Mouvement populaire pour la santé au Canada 
70. Progressive Cultural Association, Calgary 
71. Punjabi Literary and Cultural Association, Winnipeg 
72. Qualitative Research Lab-Global South 
73. Respecting Elders Communities against Abuse/Ressources Ethnoculturelles Contre l’Abus envers     
74. les Aîné(e)s(RECAA), Montreal 
75. Rete jin Milano and CISDA (Italian Coordination in Support of Afghan Women) 
76. Ryerson Centre for Studies in Food Security, Toronto 
77. Sarokaran Di Awaaz, Toronto 
78. Secular Peoples’ Association, Edmonton 
79. Progressive Peoples Foundation of Edmonton
80. Maple Leaf Writers’ Foundation, Edmonton
81. Shri Guru Ravidas Sabha Derby (UK) 
82. Sikh Virsa International, Calgary 
83. SOAS India Society (School of Oriental and African Studies, London, UK) 
84. The Social Justice Centre, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, B.C. 
85. Socialist Project, Canada 
86. Society for Socialist Studies, Canada 
87. South Asian Dalit and Adivasi Network (SADAN) 
88. South Asian Women’s Community Centre (SAWCC)/Centre communautaire des femmes sud-asiatiques,  
89. Montreal 
90. Southall Black Sisters, UK 
91. South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy (SANSAD) 
92. South Asian Youth (SAY) Collective/Collectif jeuneusse sud-asiatiques (JSA)/, Montreal 
93. South Durban Community Environmental Alliance, South Africa 
94. Taraksheel Cultural Society of Canada 
95. Teesri Duniya, Montreal 
96. Unitarian Church of Montreal/Église unitarienne de Montréal  
97. Voices Against Fascism in India 

      98..Women Defend Rojava, UK