Combined effort

Combined effort

The agitation has grown manifold; the Govt and farmers must resume talks to end the stalemate.

The ‘Bharat Bandh’ on Monday led to hue and cry in various parts of the country as the farmers called for a nationwide strike against the three contentious farm laws passed just about a year ago. Farm leader Rakesh Tikait claimed that it was a success. He said it was okay if the public experienced a “little inconvenience”, let one day be in solidarity with farmers who have been experiencing troubles for the last 10 month which looks good on paper. The farmers’ movement has received international attention and Monday’s protest, too, was covered by international media. It worked as a deterrent on the Government’s image-building drive. Tikait had also tweeted to US President Joe Biden, urging him to “focus” on the farm laws ahead of PM Modi’s US visit. The farmer unions had previously staged a high scale Mahapanchayat early in September when thousands of pro-farmers charged towards Karnal’s Mini Secretariat to stage a gherao which unsettled the BJP Government. Tikait is scheduled to address another Kisan Mahapanchayat in Chhattisgarh’s Gariaband district on Tuesday. But the question remains whether the more antagonistic approach with protests like the Mahapanchayat and now the ‘Bharat Bandh’ would actually work in favour of repealing the farm laws or would they make matters worse?

The UP Government had on Sunday announced an increase in sugarcane’s State Advised Price (SAP) by `25 per quintal for all the three varieties of the crop to woo farmers in view of the Assembly polls due next year. However, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s bid was not received well as Tikait called the hike a “big joke on farmers”. The Assembly polls in multiple States are scheduled for 2022 and the farmer outfits seek to build pressure on the Centre. The BJP Government has more on Stake and now that the Prime Minister has returned from the US after attending strategically important meetings, a “small” dialogue with farmers can follow for the sake of peace in the country. The Centre also must realise that simply changing the CMs won’t do. The Opposition parties, willingly or unwillingly, are likely to fuel the ‘movement’ at least until next year’s polls. The need to address the contentious farm laws issue is a critical one which has grown from a ‘bandh’ in Punjab in September last year to a near-total ‘Bharat Bandh’ on Monday.