SUSHIL KUTTY
The last time the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) piled on the heat on the Modi government was ahead of the 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, promising to relegate the BJP to second or even third place. That did not happen. Other factors set the trend for the poll outcome despite the vestiges of the farmers’ agitation blighting the vitiated political environment.
Earlier, in December 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had withdrawn the Centre’s three farm laws, and had given a written assurance that all the farmers’ demands would be met. That turned out to be a lie. And, now, the fires are back to burning.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha is angry that the Modi government has reneged on its promises. Anywhere else and the head of the government would have stepped down. But this government is impervious to criticism, and even protests.
For the Modi government, promises are the cliché to be broken. Besides, this was not the first promise laid to waste by the Modi dispensation. In any case, they’re too many to list. Enough to say that the farmers are inclined to remind the Centre that it cannot make a getaway after taking the farmers for a ride.
The first edition of the farmers’ protests was lifted on December 9, 2021. The hottest part of 2022 is behind them, and Lakhimpur-Kheri remains etched in the farmers’ minds. The ‘andolanjeevi-kisan’ is inclined to breathe fresh life into the stalled farmers’ protests. The Modi government cannot be allowed to make a getaway after reneging on its “written promises”.
On July 3, representatives of all the constituents of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha met in Ghaziabad. Result: The protests would be resumed without further ado. The Modi government stands accused of not forming the promised committee on minimum support price (MSP). Two, the “false cases” lodged against the farmers haven’t been withdrawn as assured. Three, the all-important written promise of a legal guarantee on MSP is still pending.
Basically, the silver-tongued Modi government “betrayed” the farmers. Grievous is also the fact that no less than the Prime Minister gave these written assurances. And it’s rare for any Prime Minister to go back on his word. But nothing is beyond this Prime Minister! White-faced lies come easily to politicians and it’s acknowledged throughout that there’s no truer politician than “our dear Prime Minister.”
The Modi government will feel the heat starting July 18 when the Samyukta Kisan Morcha will hold ‘Protest Against Betrayal’ meetings throughout the country and coinciding with the start of Parliament’s Monsoon Session. July 31, the martyrdom day of Shaheed Udham Singh, will be marked by “chakka jam” on all major highways across the country.
Fact is, “betrayal” costs. And this edition of the protests will not only be about MSP and “false cases”, on the farmers’ radar will also be the contentious ‘Agnipath’ armed forces’ recruitment scheme. Over the centuries, farmers’ children have been the mainstay of the army and farmers are convinced ‘Agnipath’ is not only anti-farmer, but it’s also anti-army and anti-India, designed to end the hegemony of martial castes.
The farmers’ protests will be buoyed by the participation of the unemployed youth in large numbers, even if it’s only to oppose ‘Agnipath’. The SKM has billed the Agnipath defence recruitment scheme “anti-national and anti-youth, and anti-farmer.”
In Punjab and Haryana, the military has always been high on the career graph. Also in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The farmers and the youth have the Congress party’s back, and other opposition parties are expected to lend them heft. Ex-servicemen of the farmers-belt, and the unemployed youth, have started rallying behind the opposition parties to protest the “Agnipath scheme”.
The Opposition can be expected to grab this opportunity once again to galvanise forces against the BJP, and the Modi government. And, although there’s no longer the three farm laws to make an issue out of, the opposition parties, tagging the numerous farmers’ organisations, will attempt to make the most out of the demand to make an issue out of the legal guarantee on MSP.
Both the farmers and the opposition parties must have learned their lessons from the first round of farmers’ protests. For millions of Indians, the Modi government is a “government in perpetual retreat”. Prime Minister Narendra Modi cannot resort to the same trick twice. He will be booed out if he folds his hands once more.
The written promises that Modi made to put an end to the protests the first time hang like the Damocles’ sword over his head. The farmers must also know their limits. Parking themselves on the borders of Delhi wouldn’t work twice. That said, the one thing that shouldn’t be forgotten is that the Modi government is, even at its best behaviour, trusted like a fox! (IPA Service)