[WSMDiscuss] Farmers’ strike in India continues; massive resistance and defiance in Punjab and UP

[Jai Sen]

Monday, February 22, 2021

India in movement…, Farmers in movement, Peasants in movement…, Resistance in movement…, Solidarity in movement…, Democracy in movement…, History in movement…, Herstory in movement…

[The stakes in the stand-off between the massive farmers’ strike and the government’s radical agrarian ‘reforms’ through the three laws it has passed, remain very high, and the farmers are continuing to push back with everything they have – which is a lot of power.  Here, two articles on their continuing resistance :

In Punjab :

“You need not bother about the notices where Delhi Police is asking you to appear before them and join the inquiry of January 26 episode. Burn the notices. Tear them. We challenge Delhi Police not to enter Punjab regarding these notices. Punjab Police should also not bother our people in connection with notices,” said Joginder Singh Ugrahan, president, BKU (Ugrahan).

Kisan-Mazdoor Ekta Maha Rally [Great Farmer-Worker Unity Rally] : Farm leaders challenge Delhi Police, say ‘Do not come to Punjab’

Union leaders tell farmers and farm workers to tear notices served to them in connection with R-Day violence, gherao police teams that come to arrest them

Raakhi Jagga <https://indianexpress.com/profile/author/raakhi-jagga/>, in Ludhiana, Punjab
Updated: February 22, 2021 8:32:39 am

https://indianexpress.com/article/india/kisan-mazdoor-ekta-maha-rally-farm-leaders-challenge-delhi-police-say-do-not-come-to-punjab-7198808/ <https://indianexpress.com/article/india/kisan-mazdoor-ekta-maha-rally-farm-leaders-challenge-delhi-police-say-do-not-come-to-punjab-7198808/>


The farm leaders asked farmers to gherao Delhi Police personnel if they come to their villages to make an arrest. (PTI Photo)



It was a virtual show of strength and farm union’s unity on Sunday as thousands of farmers and farm workers gathered in Barnala where the leaders issued a direct challenge to Delhi Police asking it to not turn up in Punjab to arrest those who are being served notices for backing the agitation against the agri laws.

The farm leaders asked farmers to gherao [surround] Delhi Police personnel if they come to their villages to make an arrest.

Also Read |33 khap panchayat leaders, farmers from UP meet Kejriwal <https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/33-khap-panchayat-leaders-farmers-from-up-meet-kejriwal-7198726/>
“You need not bother about the notices where Delhi Police is asking you to appear before them and join the inquiry of January 26 episode. Burn the notices. Tear them. We challenge Delhi Police not to enter Punjab regarding these notices. Punjab Police should also not bother our people in connection with notices,” said Joginder Singh Ugrahan, president, BKU (Ugrahan).

Referring to the Republic Day violence, Ugrahan said it was done by a group which acted at the behest of the government.

Ugrahan was addressing the “Kisan-Mazdoor Ekta Maha Rally” called by his outfit and and Punjab Khet Mazdoor Union.

Read |‘248 farmers have died during protest against three agri laws’ <https://indianexpress.com/article/india/248-farmers-have-died-during-protest-against-three-agri-laws-7198797/>
The BKU (Rajewal) president Balbir Singh Rajewal too asked farmers not to appear before the Delhi Police if they get notices for joining investigation and told them to ‘gherao’ the personnel if they come to make an arrest. Two days ago, Haryana BKU chief Gurnam Singh Chaduni had made a similar appeal.

Claiming that the Centre is scared of the farmers’ agitation, Rajewal said, “Those bringing ‘langar’ material or extending help to us are being slapped with notices. Any farmer or labourers who gets the notice should forward a copy to us. No one needs to appear before police”.

Earlier, Ugrahan said that the Centre was trying to project an image that there are differences between the farm unions. “But here we are. We are all together at one platform. We have the strength to lead this struggle, to sacrifice ourselves,” he said. “Brothers may have differences, but when an outsider attacks, they get together to save each other. This fight is for the future of our children. It is a fight of secular people of this country. It is a struggle against government-corporate nexus”.

He further said, “We feel sad even if enemies’ children die. We condole them. (But) more than 200 farmers have died during the agitation but the Government hasn’t spoken a word”.

Addressing the gathering, Jhanda Singh Jethuke, senior vice president of BKU (Ekta Ugrahan), said the government should fulfill its promise of repealing the Contractual Farming Act implemented by the previous SAD-BJP <https://indianexpress.com/about/bjp/> government in 2013.

Also Read |Stand on farm laws unchanged, committed to early resolution: Capt Amarinder Singh <https://indianexpress.com/article/india/stand-on-farm-laws-unchanged-committed-to-early-resolution-capt-amarinder-singh-7198828/>
“Unions have already said that repeal (of the three agri laws) is their only demand. At the same time, the Punjab CM should focus on the repeal of the amendments in the APMC Act, which state government had introduced in 2017. The state government should also focus on cancelling the contracts with private Thermal Power companies and fulfil its promise and waive off the loans of farmers and labourers”.

Earlier, state Congress president Sunil Jakhar had told the The Indian Express <https://indianexpress.com/>, the basic objective behind amendments in the APMC Act was to protect the farmer from being exploited by the corporates.

Jhanda Singh said, “Capt Amarinder Singh has enough time before the 2022 Assembly elections and he should seriously take up the work he needs to do. Otherwise, we have the capability of running two parallel morchas – one against the Centre and one against the state government”.

Punjab Khet Mazdoor Union (PKMU) state general secretary Lachman Singh Sewewala said the Centre’s agri laws will have an adverse impact on employment and livelihood of agricultural labourers.

BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) general secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan also sought release of labour rights activist Nodeep Kaur, lodged in a Karnal jail. Kaur, a member of the Mazdoor Adhikar Sangathan, was arrested for allegedly gheraoing an industrial unit and demanding money from the company in Sonipat on January 12.


In UP :

In Tikait’s native village of Sisauli and neighbouring regions, his call for a boycott of the BJP seems to be having a tangible impact. Considered the ‘chaudhary’ or leader of 84 predominantly Jat villages, Tikait holds big sway in rural Muzaffarnagar.

“We have a strong sense of unity and the cause has united us further. We won’t let BJP leaders enter; they should talk only when the laws are repealed,” said Ajit Chaudhary, 24, a farmer from Sisauli. “No MLA, MP or leader should come to meet us. If they want to talk about the farm laws, they should do it with the Samyukta Kisan Morcha. Whatever the morcha tells us, we will do,” said Sachin Chaudhary of the Chaudhary Khap.

Signboards, slogans face BJP as it heads for west UP to woo Jats before rural polls

The BJP attempt to retain its Jat base comes ahead of the zila panchayat elections. “BJP-backed candidates had won 25 of the 26 zila panchayats in west UP last time and the Jat community has a sizeable presence in at least 18,” pointed out a senior BJP functionary

Amit Sharma <https://indianexpress.com/profile/author/amit-sharma/> , Amil Bhatnagar <https://indianexpress.com/profile/author/amil-bhatnagar/>, in Meerut, Muzaffarnagar
Updated: February 22, 2021 7:38:05 am IST

https://indianexpress.com/article/india/signboards-slogans-face-bjp-as-it-heads-for-west-up-to-woo-jats-before-rural-polls-7198717/ <https://indianexpress.com/article/india/signboards-slogans-face-bjp-as-it-heads-for-west-up-to-woo-jats-before-rural-polls-7198717/>
[For explanations of terms such as ‘Jat’ and on the electoral dynamics of what is happening in the state of UP (Uttar Pradesh), see earlier post on February 17 2021, ‘Ruling party BJP top brass in huddle over farm protest fallout in 40 Lok Sabha [Parliament] seats in Jat belt’, at https://indianexpress.com/article/india/farmers-protest-farm-laws-bjp-lok-sabha-seats-7191730/ <https://indianexpress.com/article/india/farmers-protest-farm-laws-bjp-lok-sabha-seats-7191730/>

A sign outside Bardaula village in Sambhal. (Express)

Days after the BKU’s Naresh Tikait suggested a social boycott of the BJP <https://indianexpress.com/about/bjp/> in Uttar Pradesh, an MP, MLA and several leaders of the party visited Lisad village in Shamli Sunday afternoon in the first such foray by the party into ground zero of the Jat unrest over the farm laws in western Uttar Pradesh.

However, anger with the BJP over the laws was palpable, as its Muzaffarnagar MP and Union Minister of State Sanjeev Balyan and Buldana MLA Umesh Malik, among others, were met with slogans of “Balyan Murdabad” and “Kisan Ekta Zindabad” in village Baiswal.

The BJP attempt to retain its Jat base comes ahead of the zila panchayat elections. “BJP-backed candidates had won 25 of the 26 zila panchayats in west UP last time and the Jat community has a sizeable presence in at least 18,” pointed out a senior BJP functionary.

Read |UP: BJP panchayat poll prep on in full swing <https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/lucknow/bjp-panchayat-poll-prep-on-in-full-swing-congress-farmer-outreach-begins-today-7182024/>
Lisad, where the BJP leaders headed on Sunday, is the native village of khap panchayat leader Baba Harikishan, who enjoys a huge following in the region. Harikrishan said there was no going back for the community. “We clearly told Balyan and Bhupendra Chaudhary (UP Panchayati Raj Minister) that the Centre must repeal the farm laws. We also informed them that sugarcane growers hadn’t been paid their dues even for the last season.”

Denying that there was a boycott of the BJP, Balyan said, “We assured the people that we will make every possible attempt to ensure their grievances are taken to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”

Western UP has been seeing a series of mahapanchayats against the farm laws, drawing progressively larger crowds, starting with Muzaffarnagar on January 29. Around a dozen of these meetings have been addressed by Rashtriya Lok Dal <https://indianexpress.com/about/rashtriya-lok-dal/> (RLD) leader Jayant Chaudhary, with Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi <https://indianexpress.com/about/priyanka-gandhi/> attending several, and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal <https://indianexpress.com/about/arvind-kejriwal/> expected in Meerut on February 28.

On February 15, Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP chief J P Nadda stepped in, holding a meeting with Jat leaders from UP, Haryana and Rajasthan. Jayant Chaudhary talked of this meeting at a recent mahapanchayat, saying, “We have come to know that Amit Shah and other BJP leaders are trying to wedge a rift among farmers on caste and communal lines… We must stand united.”

Baba Sanjay Singh of Kal Khande Khap in Muzaffarnagar said they were disappointed with the BJP calling farmers “terrorists and traitors”. “If a BJP leader wants to talk to us, they should resign first. They should be among us like one of us,” he said.

In Tikait’s native village of Sisauli and neighbouring regions, his call for a boycott of the BJP seems to be having a tangible impact. Considered the ‘chaudhary’ or leader of 84 predominantly Jat villages, Tikait holds big sway in rural Muzaffarnagar.

“We have a strong sense of unity and the cause has united us further. We won’t let BJP leaders enter; they should talk only when the laws are repealed,” said Ajit Chaudhary, 24, a farmer from Sisauli. “No MLA, MP or leader should come to meet us. If they want to talk about the farm laws, they should do it with the Samyukta Kisan Morcha. Whatever the morcha tells us, we will do,” said Sachin Chaudhary of the Chaudhary Khap.

The ripple effect could also be felt in Kutba, the native village of MP Balyan. “Traditionally, the Jats have always supported the BJP. But this time, there is a change. We can’t completely turn Balyan away or bar him because his home is here. But the fact is people are unhappy with the BJP. Tikait and his family have our respect and admiration,” said Kunwar Pal Singh Dewan.

In Sambhal’s Bhadraula, locals have put up a signboard saying BJP members are not welcome.

The BJP says Tikait has himself clarified that he made no such boycott call. “For the last two days I have been in the area and I have faced no such thing (boycott). I was in Jaitpur village right next to Sisauli, and spent many hours there. I also visited other villages in the vicinity for public gatherings. We have the support of locals,” Balyan told The Indian Express <https://indianexpress.com/>.

He also argued that Tikait as a farm leader and he as a public representative had their distinct roles. “I respect Tikait since he is also the leader of my community. But our work as a public servant will continue without any interference,” Balyan said.

Umesh Malik, the BJP Budhana MLA, said: “People are supporting us; in fact the support has increased. Sisauli is part of my Vidhan Sabha seat and I meet locals regularly.”

Asked by The Indian Express Saturday about his boycott call, Tikait said, “My words are being taken out of context. All I said was that people should not engage with those trying to vitiate the atmosphere.”



____________________________

Jai Sen

Independent researcher, editor; Senior Fellow at the School of International Development and Globalisation Studies at the University of Ottawa

jai.sen at cacim.net <mailto:jai.sen at cacim.net> &  <mailto:jsen at uottawa.ca>jsen at uottawa.ca <mailto:jsen at uottawa.ca>
Now based in Ottawa, Canada, on unsurrendered Anishinaabe territory (+1-613-282 2900) and in New Delhi, India (+91-98189 11325)

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