The government should not misunderstand that farmers would give up their agitation on the farm bills without their demands being met with, said former Congress president Rahul Gandhi after a delegation of Opposition leaders met President Ram Nath Kovind, urging him to persuade the government to accept the farmers organisations’ demands.
The delegation comprising Mr. Gandhi, NCP leader Sharad Pawar, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI general secretary D. Raja and DMK leader TKS Elangovan met Mr. Kovind.
“We urge upon you, as the custodian of the Indian Constitution, to persuade ‘your government’ not to be obdurate and accept the demands raised by India’s annadata,” a joint memorandum signed by the five leaders read.
“Our point to the President was that this was passed in an undemocratic manner and a proper consultation and discussion would have prevented this kind of situation. The farmers are carrying out a very heroic and courageous strike and keeping this in mind the government should immediately repeal the laws,” Mr. Yechury told reporters.
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Mr. Gandhi said the way the laws had been imposed on farmers, it was an insult to them. Farmers have lost faith in the government and which was why they have taken to the streets. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi claims that these laws are in favour of the farmers. If that is the case, why are they on the streets? Why is the farmer angry? Because the target of these laws is to hand over the agricultural system to the PM’s select few friends,” he stated.
“The government should not have any misunderstanding that the farmers will cow down. India’s farmers are not going to move and are not going to give up,” he added.
Mr. Pawar said the most disturbing aspect of the three Bills was the fact that there was no provision to implement a minimum support price (MSP). “The Bills do not protect the farmers’ interest. For the last 12-13 days, in this cold, the farmer is on the street and very peacefully they are expressing their unhappiness. It is the duty of the government to resolve the issue and despite discussions nothing has happened. Ultimately we decided to go to the highest authority of the country with the request that he should convey the feeling of the farmer community to the government.”
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Mr. Raja said no one should live under the illusion that these laws would impact only the farmers who are agitating for the past two weeks. “These laws will subject the agricultural workers to live in horrific conditions. We cannot remain mute spectators when farmers are on the streets fighting for justice”.
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Mr. Elangovan pointed out that two years ago, the government promised to implement the MS Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations. “This Bill has negatived that promise considering it does not mention the MSP at all. The farmers should not be left at the mercy of the corportates. The government is forcing the farmers to commit suicide. It will kill them,” he said.
Mr. Yechury clarified that only five Opposition leaders could attend the meeting with the President because of the restrictions imposed by the Rashtrapati Bhavan due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The joint memorandum submitted to the President claimed that the new farm laws would abolish the MSP, “mortgage Indian agriculture" and leave the markets to the “caprices of multi-national agricultural business corporates".
