With anger and a song

The farmers’ agitation is unique in many ways. First, it is a conglomerate of 31 ideologically competing organisations. Secondly, it has successfully purged the interference of the established political parties as reflected in the popular song, ’Kithe kithe paye aa vande, kedi party de kede jhande, O vota paake khaave dande, Oh bholeya Jatta samajh agende’… (We are divided under different party flags, you vote and get beaten up, Oh, the innocent souls arise and understand their agendas). A clear message to the common people, that it is the political parties and leaders who divide us, seek our votes but in the end, we get beaten. However, it is indeed the time to understand their real agendas. Thirdly, the movement is beyond the kisans, as there is a broad-based engagement of the Arhtiyas, small shopkeepers, landless labourers and the social and cultural activists.

Families and Women Protest

The support of the families and the women is unprecedented. My interactions with the families of the agitators in the Malwa region of Punjab have been quite educative. The women, particularly, were expressive. They perceived that there is a move to rob them of their land. For a Punjabi, the land is not only an economic asset, but it is a lifeline and status symbol. And, it was because of this, that many women exhorted their men, “Go and fight; we will look after the house and the land, come back victorious.” This sentiment is reflected in the popular songs – ‘Khet tere eh khon nu firde; Jo tu paddre kiteh enter naal’. These corporate are eyeing to take away your land, which you have cultivated with hard labour.

Anti-Centre Anger at the Grass Roots

The anger against the central government was visible amongst the farmers, Arhtiyas and their families. The extent of the anti-Centre feeling was similar, as it was at the time of Emergency in the 1970s. This time, the anger has been mainly directed at the BJP and the big corporates. This anti-Centre sentiment has been expressed in a song; Khichla jatta, khich tyaari, pecha pai gaya centre naal; (Pull up your shocks, as we have locked our horns with the centre). A call to the farmers (Jatt, a farming community) to be ready to fight against the anti-people policies of the Centre. Even the traders and the Arhtiyas, who have been staunch supporter of the BJP all these years, expressed their anguish against these Acts and were forthcoming, to quote, ‘we were the BJP supporters, and now onwards, we shall work to dislodge them.’ The social activists, youth and the local singers and artists based in the region have been actively involved in mobilization. To quote; Oh akla waleo chak lo kalma, Mar len na raflan saanu (To all those who have a ‘mind’, pick up your pen, before the men with rifles kill us) - is clarion call to the Intelligentsia, to use their pen as a weapon and a shield to save the farmers from the rifles of the Central government, and from the false promises made by opportunist leaders during election campaigns. Many of the accomplished writers, artistes, singers and others have come forward and returned their State honours in protest.

Why Widespread Anger in Punjab

The most relevant question is, why the anger is so pronounced in Punjab?

Punjab has been the food bowl of India. It has largely functioned in the seller’s market. All these years, Punjab has contributed maximum foodgrains in the central pool. However, in 2020, Madhya Pradesh contributed 129 lakh metric tonnes (LMT), while Punjab’s share was 127 LMT of wheat. Punjab rallied behind Madhya Pradesh. The Punjab farmer sees it as a planned conspiracy. They argue that the Punjab farmers are being asked to diversify their cropping pattern, whereas, other States like, Madhya Pradesh and western Uttar Pradesh are encouraged to produce grains. Why are the farmers in these States are not supported to the diversify to, commercial crops?

Punjab and Haryana receive more than Rs 80,000 Crore of Minimum Support Price (MSP) every year. Not only is the livelihood of the kisans and their families, but that of the traders, the shopkeepers and other derivative beneficiaries also dependent on this. As per the data, only 6 percent of the farmers in India are fully covered by the MSP, and a majority of 84 percent is located in the states of Punjab and Haryana. Therefore, the apprehension of the withdrawal of the protective cover of the MSP is seen as an act of betrayal and chicanery. The young supporters were also convinced that  Punjab was initially used to fight the national hunger; the farmers of Punjab worked hard against all odds, whereas other states were taking advantage of the industrial and information technology (IT) revolution. As a result, Punjab lagged behind and remained predominantly agricultural State. However, that is also being dismantled.

In other words, the farmers of Punjab feel that they are now being pushed into the buyers’ market from the sellers’ market. And, it would obviously be the discretion of the Central Government to decide on the quantum of procurement on the declared the MSP.  Also, by taking agriculture out of the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act has not only legalise, but legitimise the private players to procure foodgrains at the prices lower than the fixed MSP. In other words, nearly 86 percent of the small and marginal farmers would be left at the mercy of the corporates, with reduced collective bargaining capacity.

The Central government’s argument is that these Acts are intended to empower the farmers and ensure doubling of their income. On the other hand, farmers’ organisations are critical of these Acts as they believe that these will lead to privatisation of agriculture, reduce agriculture to a subsidiary activity, make way for removing the protective cover of the government-led procurement, MSP, Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) Act and other safety nets.

Food is a Political and Social Issue

The urgency of debate on the farmers’ agitation becomes pronounced as we are, as usual, caught in two limits, i.e., to act only if confronted with no choice – a fire fighting approach and remain consistent even at the expense of being redundant that the free market has solutions to improve the well-being of the people living on the margin.  The assumption that the market shall protect and multiply the farmers’ income is not only fallacious, but misleading.  Three Acts passed by the Parliament relating to trade and trade practices in agriculture is a step towards making agriculture a hostage to the market fundamentalism. To consider the assumptions that these Acts shall ensure better livelihood of the farmers, provide food security to the millions of the people living on the margins and protect the sovereignty of the country, is untenable, is not only intellectually lethargic, but hazardous. These Acts shall have direct implications on the livelihood and survival of the people engaged in or dependent on agriculture, food security of the poor and food sovereignty of the country. No doubt, with these Acts, agricultural operations may become more efficient, but it will marginalize the farmers. In other words, agriculture may flourish, but the agriculturists shall perish. Food production and distribution is not merely economic issue and is not produced for purely profit. In the words of Hubert Humphrey, ‘Food is a new form of power. Food is wealth’.

Being a surplus agrarian State, Punjab has to sustain the high level of farm incomes with effective market support to sustain the livelihood of 50 per cent population dependent on agriculture. Without market assurance, it is difficult to rule out the possibility of social upheaval. If the government wants to procure less, let the farmer be compensated under the World Trade Organisation (WTO) compatible blue box. For this, the Centre should allocate Rs 15,000 crore of subsidy for diversification to commercial crops for the farmers of Punjab. This subsidy should be given for three consecutive years. To keep the Mandi system functional, the APMC Act may be reformed, and the State governments should be permitted to collect Mandi fees and the Arhtiyas be given handling charges.   

To outsource agricultural operations to the big corporate and legalise, and legtimise contract farming amounts to abandonment of the Atamnirbhar Bharat project of the Prime Minister. As is well established, the market works for those whose signals it can hear, but the voices of the poor farmers remain inaudible. It is pointless to hope that the market to accomplish what it was never cut out to do.

First Published in Indian Express: 8 Dec.2020