CETRI
On December 11, after a historic 380-day struggle against three contentious farm laws—the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020 ; the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act ; and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and the Farm Services Act, 2020—thousands of farmers, agricultural workers and women lifted their ‘siege’ of Delhi. Their decision brought down the curtains on the longest agitation in the history of independent India.
On November 19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on national television that his government had decided to repeal the three farm laws. But the farmers’ movement led by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), the broad front representing more than 500 farmer and peasant organisations, was not taking any chances. It had after all seen the government and its representatives defend the laws until recently and vilify the protesters by calling them anti-nationals, Khalistanis, Maoists and even Andolanjeevis (professional protesters).
It had also witnessed murderous attacks on farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh and brutal police action in Karnal, Haryana. Its leadership was therefore clear that nothing short of a repeal by Parliament would do apart from acceptance of their other demands. Even though Modi said in his address that a committee would be formed to discuss issues related to the minimum support price (MSP) of crops, farmers were sceptical. They waited for the winter session of Parliament.
On November 29, the Farm Laws Repeal Bill, 2021, was passed by the Lok Sabha with a voice vote without any discussion even after the opposition demanded one. Some farmer organisations were not bothered about whether a discussion took place in Parliament or not. But there were many others who felt that a discussion should have taken place. The abrupt manner in which the Bills were passed in September 2020 and repealed a year later, they reasoned, was not good practice. Happy as they were with the repeal, they felt the government ought to have stated its reasons for it.
While introducing the repeal Bill, Agriculture Minister Narendra Tomar said that Modi had kept his word and shown a “large heart” by announcing it on November 19 to coincide with Guru Nanak Jayanti. But he also said that Modi had made several attempts to convince the agitating farmers about the merits of the laws although only a group of farmers were protesting. The government, therefore, did not really concede that it had done the right thing by repealing the laws. It almost sounded apologetic for doing so.
The retreat
It was only after the repeal was formalised in Parliament that the farmers were satisfied. Yet their celebrations were laced with caution as there was a long list of unmet demands that were crucial to their lives and livelihoods. The martyrdom of over 700 farmers could not be forgotten easily. Thousands of cases were filed against farmers, mainly in States governed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the tractors of several farmers had been confiscated.
Even though the laws were repealed, there was no sign of the government accepting their demands such as a legal framework for (MSP ; withdrawal of the Electricity (Amendment) Bill ; removal of penal provisions of the Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Act, 2021 ; withdrawal of cases against thousands of farmers, especially in BJP-ruled Haryana ; and compensation to the 700-plus families who had lost family members during the protests.
Another unmet demand was the sacking of Ajay Mishra Teni, Minister of State for Home, for his complicity in the horrific mowing down of four farmers and a journalist on October 3 at Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh. As the government had not yet agreed to a legally guaranteed MSP and assured procurement and was largely silent on the other issues raised by the SKM in its missive to Modi on November 21, the SKM decided to continue with the protest. On November 30, the government declared it would form a committee on the MSP and asked the SKM to send its representatives. The SKM said the proposals needed to be given in writing by the government. Meanwhile, on December 2, the government notified the Farm Laws Repeal Act.
On December 4, the SKM constituted a five-member committee comprising Ashok Dhawale, president, All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) ; Balbir Singh Rajewal, Bharatiya Kisan Union (Rajewal) ; Gurnam Singh Chaduni representing the BKU, Haryana ; Shiv Kumar Kakkaji of the Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangh from Madhya Pradesh ; and Yudhvir Singh of the BKU, Tikait faction. Barring Ashok Dhawale and Yudhvir Singh, all the others were members of the 10-member coordination committee. The committee’s objective was to come up with proposals on how the MSP could be formulated for all crops. The SKM announced that it was not going to withdraw the agitation unless the government committed itself to the pending issues of compensation, withdrawal of cases, electricity Bill, commission on air quality, and so on.
Governnment’s proposals
On December 7, the SKM received a set of proposals from the Ministry stating that a committee would be formed with farmer representatives. But the government did not say that SKM representatives would be part of the committee. The SKM insisted that it should be part of any committee constituted by the government to discuss issues related to MSP. The government sent a revised proposal, which the SKM leadership accepted after internal discussions.
On December 9, the SKM received a letter from Sanjay Agarwal, Secretary, Agriculture Ministry, on a proper letterhead. It was a response to the SKM’s demands relating to pending issues such as withdrawal of cases ; compensation to families of the deceased farmers ; and withdrawal of the draft Electricity (Amendment) Bill.
The letter stated that a committee would be formed with representatives of the Central government, State governments and farmer organisations and agriculture scientists. It clarified that this committee would include representatives from the SKM also. One of its mandates would be to decide how to ensure an MSP to farmers. The letter pointed out that the government in its talks with farmers had assured them that it had procured farm produce at MSP rates and would continue doing so.
The letter also said that the State governments of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana (all coincidentally BJP-ruled) had given a guaranteed assurance that all the cases related to the movement would be withdrawn with immediate effect. All agencies and departments of the Central government and Union Territories, including Delhi, had also agreed to withdraw the cases filed against the protesters and their supporters with immediate effect. The letter stated that the Central government would also appeal to other States to initiate proceedings to withdraw such cases. Here, it should be pointed out that the Punjab government had already publicly declared that all cases against farmer protesters would be withdrawn and that it was ready to give compensation. On compensation, the letter from the Ministry stated that the governments of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana had in principle given their approval to it. On the Electricity (Amendment) Bill, the government said, clauses affecting farmers would be discussed with all stakeholders and the SKM. Only after discussions with the SKM would the Bill be placed in Parliament. On the contentious clauses in the Air Quality Act, the government said both Sections 14 and 15 had freed farmers from any criminal liability.
SKM to stay
The movement, the SKM leadership stressed, had only been suspended, not terminated. In a press conference announcing the end of the present round of protests, SKM leaders said that they would regroup to ensure fulfilment of all the other demands and and raise new ones. The SKM would not be dissolved and would have regular meetings.
At the press briefing, the leadership first recalled the sacrifices of all those who had died in the course of the protests. They thanked the media, the social media, medical professionals, and the langar (community kitchen) volunteers who kept the kitchen fires burning to provide food for the protesters camping at the sites. They even thanked Modi for ushering in the farm laws thereby giving a handle to farmers to rally together under one roof against those laws.
The leaders were unsparing in their criticism of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government and especially Modi, who they said had been particularly adamant about not repealing the laws even as farmers battled cold, heat, pouring rain and even sickness under the open skies for more than a year. They resolved to meet on January 15.
The farmers made history but not before enduring tremendous challenges that came in their way : battling COVID-19, braving extremes of weather, despondency, calumny, and in some cases suffering loss of life. It was no ordinary victory. For the first time after the introduction of neoliberal reforms in the early 1990s, laws passed by Parliament were repealed because of persistent protests by farmers and agricultural workers that drew international attention and appreciation. Even though the protests happened mainly in in north India, they received support from all parts of the country as the issues raised by them were common for farmers across the country.
Do-or-die spirit
The farmers of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh had got overturned a decision that had been imposed on them by a government that enjoyed a complete majority in Parliament. Confident of its strength, the government refused to engage with the farmers after January 22, 2021. A total of 11 rounds of meetings had been held and little headway made as the government refused to budge. Represented by Agriculture Minister Narendra Tomar, the government made it clear that repeal could not be forced on the agenda. The farmers could suggest changes in the laws but no complete repeal was possible.
What the government was not prepared for was the farmers’ determination not to return home until the laws were repealed. When the bitter cold of the Delhi winter did not dissuade them, it was unlikely that the bristling summer would. The farmers were getting ready for the long haul.
On their part, the farmer unions engaged in discussions each time when the government sent out word to them. It was a unique sight at the discussion venue. The leaders brought their own food prepared by the community kitchens, politely declining the government’s hospitality, squatted on the floors of the sprawling halls of Vigyan Bhawan, the venue of the negotiations, and never once compromised on their main demands. Throughout the agitation, protesters of all age groups, including octogenarians, were heard saying that they were willing to lay down their lives but would not beat a retreat without getting the laws repealed.
The SKM experience
The SKM, a joint front of more than 500 farmer and peasant organisations formed in 2020, steered the movement in a way that would have been the envy of the most disciplined corps of any army. With a core committee of 10 persons and with the support of the 32 farmer unions from the participating States, the SKM ensured that the movement was not confined to the borders of Delhi. It took the issues to farmers in the rest of the country, and support poured in from different directions. Farmers from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha and West Bengal extended their support. In Maharashtra, the AIKS had already waged successful movements, including the famous Long March from Nashik to Mumbai. It kept the momentum alive. Similarly, in Rajasthan, the AIKS had held successful struggles against electricity rate hikes, all of which helped farmers to sustain the protests at the Delhi-Rajasthan-Haryana border at Shahjahanpur.
What was behind the government’s change of heart ?
The BJP’s electoral setbacks in recent Assembly byelections, including those held in States ruled by it, clearly prompted the government to relent. In most BJP-ruled States, especially Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, BJP leaders, including senior Ministers, were finding it virtually impossible to hold public meetings as they had to repeatedly face the ire of the farming community. With Assembly elections due in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand next year, the BJP leadership could hardly take any chances. But then it could not also admit that the laws were a mistake and the country’s farmers had not accepted them.
Modi’s November 19 message, half-hearted and unconvincing as it was, was a face-saving act. He said his government had failed to convince the farmers of the merits of the laws, implying that there was nothing wrong with the laws themselves. He apologised for his government’s limitations but did not extend the courtesy to the farmers who had spent more than a year on roads. The announcement was calculatedly made on Guru Purab, presumably with an eye on the Sikh vote in next year’s Assembly election in Punjab.
The SKM, meanwhile, had intensified its protests after the murderous attack on farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri and in Karnal in Haryana. The BJP now was squarely in the dock. Until the events of Lakhimpur Kheri, the SKM had maintained an apolitical stance and kept political parties at a safe distance. After Lakhimpur Kheri, it realised that it could not be neutral any more. It declared “Mission U.P” and “Mission Uttarakhand”, which was a clarion call to defeat the BJP in the forthcoming Assembly elections. The BJP now found the farmers to be a force to reckon with. It was not just the vote of the farmers but that of all those associated with agriculture that could prove to be decisive factors.
