By Krishna Jha
The day our Constitution was brought into force is back again at our door steps celebrating its 72nd anniversary. The preamble of the Constitution was accepted as the ‘solemn resolution of our people’ that declared our country as a ‘sovereign, democratic, republic’. Then there were the well defined objects set in the Constitution declaring the prime features of our democracy as secular and socialist. It also said with finality that the ultimate authority of power would be lying with the people of India.
In the seven decades after setting forth our guiding principles, it is again the time for reckoning how far we have been able to stand by them. Have we been able to listen to our masses about their sufferings, deprivations, and the blood soaked tragedies that fragmented them? The basic principles of democracy spelt out in the Constitution, that grant equality, irrespective of their community, caste and gender, freedom of expression that also many times lead to protest against the fault lines that emerge and with perseverance resolved, and also against the fragmentation of our composite culture.
Finally it is the right to life which assimilates each of the dimensions imperative to live. The historic protest of farmers, our prime food givers, awaiting justice at the borders of the capital, braving extreme weather conditions, is one of those beacon lights that brighten up the ever widening chinks between the promises and the realities. After several rounds of talks failed, the government being unruffled on its stand of keeping the farmers’ acts unchanged, finally people have themselves decided to take the ultimate step. Lakhs of them, among them farmers, and the supporting masses have come out to join the tractor rally, walking on foot, old, and young, men and women, children in tow, braving continued tear gas shells, lathi charge, they keep moving.
It is the Republic Day! The ‘Holy Anger’ has spilled on the streets of Delhi. They are moving ahead, with tricolour in hands, slogans on their lips, breaking all the barriers. T he protesting farmers symbolise the anger, unhappiness, and a steely determination to fight till the end. The protest that started around November 26 continues without a single breather. Braving the extremely chilled days and nights, tens of thousands of angry farmers, among them men, women of all ages, in thousands, including months old kids, have been camping on the borders of New Delhi for little more than last two months. It all started with the prime minister hastily getting clear the three farm laws that originally came as ordinances. The haste was apparent since the government got passed the laws without even counting properly the ‘Ayes’, which mean affirmation in the Parliament.
The protest erupted all over the country but the blaze felt sharper in the states of Punjab and Haryana. The region is spread over only three percent of our land area but has claim over almost fifty percent of its surplus of rice and wheat. The protest grew wider involving many other states, and as the government refused to listen, the farmers started their protest in aunique way, they camped at Delhi border. There were used tear gas, lathi charge, but the unruffled farmers kept their calm and refused to budge. They created a township of their own and thousands joined them. They came in trucks, trolleys with tractors, the instruments of agrarian production. The protest was unique and the world was watching its follow up with interest. Also there was the opposition and its growing strength turning into a threat to Narendra Modi. Talks started, though always ending in deadlock.
The purpose of the entire initiative was opening up for the private traders who could now directly approach the farmer though without any promises for fair price. The government marketing boards that always promised fair prices were ignored to serve the interest of the private giant companies with whom a common middle or marginal farmer could not even negotiate. It was more frightening since the space was now covered by corporate houses and the status of the farmer declined heavily. Also there were the states where the government facilities were eroded. There were hardly any sale centres left.
The result was farmers could not get the return and faced heavy losses. The three acts have been discussed in detail, and widely, but in nut shell, it is a simple handover, to the corporate houses. Walking on edge, the protesting farmers were forced to leave the route they had decided for themselves. They entered the zone of spontaneity. Almost the greatest march of farmers India had ever seen, was over by afternoon. They went back in groups, in tractors, on foot to their camps. (IPA Service)