The ongoing agitation of some farmers of Punjab from November 26 in Delhi is being presented by a section of media and the fissiparous forces as if there are two fighting camps arrayed against each other. The fact is that no government can afford to work against the interests of the farmers and that is what has been taken care of in these farm laws. These farm laws have been long overdue, and they should have been enacted some fifty years ago.
Think of neem coating of Urea bags, this simple step to stop the black marketing was not taken due to the pressure of the vested interests, who wanted to perpetuate it. The subsidy and loan-waiver based farmers’ policies may make some leaders popular but ultimately, they do not help the farmers to stand on their own feet. The so-called Kisan-movement of some kulaks, aarhatiyas and selfish politicians must be exposed as it is against the interests of more than 99 per cent farmers of the country, most of them happen to be small and marginal farmers. It is an open secret that only this section of farmers, which is behind this artificial agitation has been cornering all the benefits in the name of farmers. It is also crystal clear that those who have nothing to do with farmings and yet are lending their support to it are insincere, disingenuous people and they are so filled with the hatred for the present dispensation that they refuse to see the factual position. Hence, they need to be cured of chronic jaundice they suffer from.
MSP, frankly speaking, is also a deception. It has not helped the poor farmers anywhere except in Punjab. Go to villages of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and see that wheat, paddy or maize is never purchased on MSPs. Even for the sugarcane prices, small farmers have to run from pillar to post. For obtaining the selling slips of their canes, they have to cajole and grease the palms of dalals and petty officials. They do not get the arrears of their canes for months and sometimes even for years. This simple fact cannot be understood by the romanticised revolutionaries and the parasitic NGO managers, who are funded and paid to work for their masters sitting outside the country.
These were the same people, who were wailing and discussing on the television channels that the disease COVID might not kill the poor people, but the starvation will, without doubt, kill them. A bearded and fraud television channel owner, who has duped hundreds of crores and who also claims to be an economist, must have held discussions with some pseudo economists for nearly ten days in the wake of the lockdown and the crux of his discussion was that thousands would die because of hunger. But when more than eighty crore people started getting free ration every month for longer than eight months along with Rs 500/ in cash across the board, these spurious economists did not show even the minimum courtesy and basic moral courage to welcome this novel measure of helping the people.
It is well-nigh impossible to establish Ramrajya but sincere efforts made in that direction should be encouraged. Therefore, these farm laws, if honestly implemented are bound to ameliorate a lot of the small farmers. The need is to go for sustainable development and the pressure from the agriculture is to be unburdened and this is not going to be solved by retaining the APMS and MSPs. They can only be short term measures.
The government will do well to convince the tiny and misguided section of farmers, who have laid siege of some of the Delhi roads, that they must give up their adamant attitude and go back to their farming. But they will not do that because their handlers will not agree to it. Those who are sleeping can be awakened but those who feign to be sleeping they must be handled differently. This is for the government with enormous resources to think as to how to deal with these rich kulaks and motivated farmers.