Seeds of Protest

As farmer agitations gather momentum, Forbes India speaks to farmers on the ground to understand the way forward, and why they will not budge till their demands are met

- MANSVINI KAUSHIK & NAINI THAKER

SHARANJIT SINGH IS ONE OF THE three lakh-plus farmers who has set up base near the Tikri border in Delhi. He travelled to the capital on November 26 along with a hundred others from Punjab’s Jalandhar district to participate in the ‘Dilli Chalo’ protest.

“Our fight won’t stop until these [Farm] Acts are abolished. It doesn’t matter if it takes days, weeks or months. We won’t go home until our demands are met,” Singh tells Forbes India over the phone while gearing up for another round of conversations in a meeting chaired by Union agriculture minister Narendra Tomar. As the sixth round of talks was cancelled, nationwide protests followed on December 8. A day later, the government proposed 10 amendments in the three farm acts; the farmers duly rejected them, sticking to their demand of a repeal of the new laws. The government had said it was ready to give a written assurance that MSP (Minimum Support Price) would continue. At the time of writing, the farmers had called for nationwide protests on December 14.

“The government doesn’t realise the power of farmers yet. The harder they’ll try to suppress us, the more we’ll rise,” says Kashmer Singh, president, Kisan Union Jalandhar, who has been stationed at the Tikri border since November 26. “Every consecutive day we are joined by hundreds of people. Till when can the government turn a blind eye?”

The government has refused to give in to the farmers’ demand of a complete withdrawal of the agricultural reform laws that were passed by Parliament in September. “In our proposal, we have made an effort to suggest a solution to their objections. They should leave the agitation and take the path of discussion. The government is ready for talks,” Tomar said on December 11.