Indian farmers in no mood to forgive despite Modi’s U-turn on reforms
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Unidentified farmer in India shouts slogans against government during protests against Indian new farm laws, December 13, 2020 at Tikri border.
Yawar Nazir – Getty Images| Getty Images
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi may have caved inTo farmers’ demands that the law be repealed because it threatens their livelihoods
However, the reaction to Modi’s shock U-turn, in India’s rural North, where Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party face key elections next year has not been positive. This is a troubling sign for any leader looking to keep hold of national politics.
Guru Sevak Singh of Mohraniya in Uttar Pradesh (500 km east of New Delhi), stated that Modi had made him and other farmers lose faith in his party.
Singh stated that Modi was aware of his error and took a year for Modi to see it. He now understands farmers will no longer vote for Modi’s party.
It is a deeply personal matter for young farmers.
Guruvinder Singh, Singh’s brother aged 19, was killed in OctoberOne of the eight victims of violence stemming from the farmer’s uprising was killed when a car drove into protestors against farm legislation.
For more than a decade, thousands of farmers protested in New Delhi and elsewhere. They ignored the disruption to traffic but put pressure on Modi (and the BJP) who claim that the new laws are crucial to modernizing their sector.
Singh, who wept while holding a photograph of his deceased brother, said that “Today” was the best day to announce that his brother had been declared a martyr.
He said, “My brother was one of those brave farmers who gave their lives in order to show that the government was implementing laws designed to end the agrarian industry.”
Singh stated that several officers were present around him, which Singh claimed were there to assist his brother and the three other victims of the car. Ashish Mishra is the son of Ajay junior home minister, and is currently in custody at police.
Ajay Mishra Tani stated that his son wasn’t there at that time and that the car being driven by “our driver had lost control” and struck the farmers. “Miscreants” attacked the vehicle with swords and sticks after throwing stones at it.
“How can you forget?”
Modi’s government passed three agricultural laws in 2020 to improve the country’s agriculture sector, which employs approximately 60% of India’s workers, is highly inefficient and heavily indebted, and is prone to price wars.
Angrily angry farmers protested, claiming that the reforms had put their livelihood in danger and given control of crops and prices over to private companies.
The resultant protest became one of the largest and longest-running in history.
Six leaders of farmer unions in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab led the protest movement. They said that they wouldn’t forgive any government for labeling farmers who were protesting as terrorists or anti-nationals.
“Farmers were beat with sticks and rods, detained because they demanded legitimate rights… Farmers were run over by a fasting vehicle belonging to a minister’s household… Tell me how we can forget all this!” Sudhakar Rai is a prominent member of the Uttar Pradesh farmers’ association.
Rai claimed that at most 170 farmers died in anti-farm laws protests. His claims are not supported by any official data.
Unidentified senior BJP member said Modi decided to abolish the laws after consulting a leading farmers’ association that was affiliated with his party.
According to the politician who attended the meeting, the party conceded that the BJP failed to clearly communicate the advantages of new laws to those in attendance.
Leaders of the opposition and some analysts said Modi’s move was linked to state elections next year in Uttar Pradesh — which accounts for more parliamentary seats than any other state — and Punjab.
Fear of imminent elections can achieve what democratic protests cannot. P. Chidambaram (a prominent figure of the opposition Congress party) wrote on Twitter.
Singh and other farmers warned the government that they could be punished for their treatment.
Singh stated, “We are the backbone and Modi today admitted that his policies against farmers were wrong.” “I lost him in this mess, and no one can bring them back.”
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