Forty-three-year-old Hidayatulla, a rice farmer from Melmalayanur taluk, Villupuram district in Tamil Nadu, spent more than two days in the train and travelled over 2,300 kilometres to New Delhi to join tens of thousands of farmers protesting against the three new farm laws, and take part in the Bharat Bandh in the national capital.
It was not an easy journey. On December 2, he, along with 300 more farmers and their leader from Tamil Nadu, prepared to board the Vaigai Express from Tiruchi to Chennai and then onwards to Delhi, but their plans were thwarted. Their leader P Ayyakannu, president of the Desiya Thennindhiya Nadhigal Inaippu Vivasayigal Sangam, was put under house arrest and the farmers had to disperse.
“The police began rounding up groups of farmers who had gathered at Tiruchi, who they thought were heading to the protest in Delhi, so we decided to come in smaller numbers to avoid suspicion,” Hidayatulla, with a green thundu or towel wrapped around his neck, told Gaon Connection while he protested at Singhu in Delhi. He added that they had to hide their green thundus as it gave them away as farmers.
Finally, along with 50 other farmers from different districts of the state, he managed to reach Singhu on Delhi-Haryana border in a staggered way. “We are here to support our fellow farmers from other parts of the country, and we are protesting the arrest of our leader Ayyakannu,” he said.
Apart from these farmers from Tamil Nadu, farmers and political parties in other places in the country have also showed up in Delhi in great numbers to support the farmers’ agitation.
On September 27, the Parliament passed three new farm laws and ever since then, several farmer organisations have been protesting against these laws calling them kala kanoon and demanding their repeal. To press for their demands, a Bharat Bandh was declared today. Five rounds of discussions with the central government have already failed to cut the ice and this evening the Union home minister Amit Shah is expected to meet farmer leaders. Tomorrow is the sixth round of discussion between protesting farmer leaders and the central government.
The impact of Bharat Bandh is visible in various states of the country. In Wardha, Maharashtra, the farmers’ mandi remained closed and protestors from several political parties as well as farmer unions set out shouting slogans and raising banners, from the Chatrapthi Shivaji Maharaj Chowk towards the office of the district administration.
“Sanghathik, daroon cholche (it is going great guns),” Amal Haldar, convenor, The All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee, told Gaon Connection, all the way from Burdwan, West Bengal. He said farmers in West Bengal would support the agitation till the three anti-farmer laws were withdrawn. He warned of another huge gathering in Kolkata on December 16 with 50, 000 protestors.
“All these acts are made by the Parliament, and Tamil Nadu cannot be excluded. When the Act gets implemented, we will also face the same consequences like other farmers,” P Shanmugham, general secretary, Tamil Nadu Farmers Association told Gaon Connection. “Other than Bharatiya Janata Party, all other political parties in Tamil Nadu have issued statements of support towards the bandh. And we are confident that it will be a success,” he added.
Meanwhile at Tikri, on the border between Haryana and west Delhi that has been ground zero since November 26 when hundreds and thousands of farmers congregated there, effectively blocking the entrance into the national capital, Jaspreet Kaur, committee member of Punjab Kisan Union sounded exasperated as she requested Gaon Connection to wait till she had on her earphones as she could hear nothing in the din. There were several parallel conversations happening in the background and instructions were flying around.
“Eleven of the thirty six farmers unions from Punjab are stationed at Tikri, besides those from Rajasthan, Haryana, Maharashtra, and some other states. Everyone is sharing their issues about the agri laws and their unique problems,” she told Gaon Connection.
According to her, every village that is represented by the farmers at Tikri is observing a complete bandh. For instance, Mansa in Punjab, from where she is, is completely shut. “The organisations that represent the arthias (brokers), shopkeepers, other commercial establishments such as dhobis, beauty parlours, etc. all have joined the bandh, ” she said.
While the farmers from Punjab and Haryana have taken centre stage in the protests, several others have jumped into the fray. The call for the bandh was made by the farmers, in protest against the three agri laws passed by the central government, there has been a surge of support to them, not just from farmers from other states, but also from Dakshin Railways banks, PSUs, student communities and other institutions. “I have never seen this kind of an outpouring of support since 1995,” Vijoo Krishnan, joint secretary, All India Kisan Sabha, told Gaon Connection, from Delhi. He described it as a never-before-kind of solidarity. Farmer and mazdoor unions from Odisha, Bengal, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and many other states have supported both the agitation and the bandh, said Krishnan.
“It is not just against the central government and the three agri laws, though that may have been the catalyst. It is also against the corporate cronies,” said Krishnan. They are the symbol of the exploitation of the farmers, he added. Krishnan attributed the swell of support to pent up anger and frustrations across the masses. “The manner of the lockdown, agriculture, food security, unemployment, migrant labour issues…all these have contributed to it,” he said.
Protesting farmers at Singhu and Tikri borders have made it clear they are here for the long haul and have just made themselves more at home. They are cooking and eating chole puri, saag, daal, and pinnis, and also watched two movies last night. “We watched Nabar, a Punjabi movie; followed by Jungle,” Harinder Kaur Bindu, a farmer from Ramgarh, Firozpur district, Punjab, who leads the women’s wing of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, (Ekta Ugrahan), told Gaon Connection.
“We women have planned a march of about twelve to thirteen kilometers shouting slogans,” she said. “We are prepared to stay here for another six months too if required,” Jaspreet Kaur declared, as she jotted down some point in her notebook that she is never without. “We want kisan-centric laws, not corporate centric. We do not want amendments, we want complete roll backs of the three laws. We go to every meeting with the government with hope,” she concluded.
Meanwhile, there is a group of farmers who have come out in support of the farm laws. For instance, Shetkari Sanghatana, a farmers’ group in Maharashtra, has supported the three farm laws. During the recent rapid survey on the agri laws conducted by Gaon Connection, it was found that the highest percentage of farmers in the west zone (Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh) supported the new laws.
While the Bharat Bandh is underway, farmer leaders are meeting Amit Shah this evening, and tomorrow is the sixth scheduled meeting between the farmers and the central government minister.
