Farmers camped at the Delhi border at UP Gate since November 26 last year distributed jalebis and termed as a victory Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Friday announcement that the government will repeal three controversial farm laws passed in Parliament in 2020. The farmers have been demanding a roll back of the laws, and a law to guarantee minimum support prices (MSP) for a range of crops.
Hundreds of farmers at the UP Gate protest site, mostly from districts in western Uttar Pradesh and parts of Uttarakhand, have been preparing for a march to Delhi on November 29 during the next Parliament session. On Friday, soon after the announcement, more farmers were rushing to the site, according to leaders of the farm unions.
“It is indeed a victory of the yearlong agitation by farmers, and about 700 of them also gave their lives to the cause of this agitation. The PM’s announcement has come on the day of “Prakash Utsav” (Guru Nanak’s birthday) and it is a welcome step. Still, we will wait and watch till the laws finally get repealed. Further, a law on MSP should be passed. The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) will roll out further strategy in coming time but for now the protest site will continue to operate,” said Jagtar Singh Bajwa, farmer leader from Uttarakhand and the UP Gate site’s spokesperson for SKM, an umbrella body of several farm unions.
“The government is feeling the heat of the continued agitation by the farmers, and the decision has come ahead of assembly elections in several states being round the corner,” Bajwa added.
Assembly elections in three key states in the context of the farmers’ movement — Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand — are due early next year.
The farmers at UP Gate have been occupying portions of the Ghaziabad-Delhi carriageways of National Highway 9 for almost a year, and hundreds of tents have been set up at the site.
Rakesh Tikait, national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), and one of the principal leaders of the protesting farmers, indicated that the agitation would not be suspended yet. “The agitation will not be taken back immediately. We will wait for the day when the farm laws are rolled back in the Parliament. The government should talk to farmers on the issues of MSP and others,” he tweeted.
There have been multiple rounds of talks between the government and the farm unions, but none since January 22 this year when both sides took hard positions on the question of repealing the laws.
Sardar VM Singh, a prominent farmer leader who heads the Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan, which moved out of UP Gate protest site in January after a Republic Day tractor march to Delhi turned violent, said that key was a guarantee on MSP.
“This agitation, however long it lasts, should have something that goes for the farmers and each farmer must gain. Ordinance came in June 2020 and the crop like wheat, dhan, makka, etc., were then going at the rate of 30-40% less than MSP. Basic thing is that the MSP guarantee must be given. This is the issue we were fighting for and if the guarantee on MSP would have been given, the three laws would have become infructuous automatically,” Singh said.
The PM, in his address, said that MSP will be made more robust and transparent, and a committee will be constituted to take decisions on the matters related to the issue.
Some farmer leaders at the Ghaziabad site viewed the development as “political compulsion”.
“The decision has come ahead of the assembly elections in UP, and it shows that the government is feeling the heat of the sustained efforts by the farmers put in the movement for almost a year. The decision by the PM is welcome step and we will wait to see it turning into reality. Further, there were other demands like law on MSP which should be fulfilled for benefit of farmers,” said Prabal Pratap Singh, spokesperson for BKU (Asli).
The umbrella SKM issued a statement soon after the PM’s address.
“Samyukta Kisan Morcha welcomes this decision and will wait for the announcement to take effect through due parliamentary procedures. If this happens, it will be a historic victory of the one-year long farmers’ struggle in India. However, nearly 700 farmers have been martyred in this struggle. The central government’s obstinacy is responsible for these avoidable deaths,” the statement read.
“SKM also reminds the Prime Minister that the agitation of farmers is not just for the repeal of the three black laws, but also for a statutory guarantee of remunerative prices for all agricultural produce and for all farmers,” it added.
The occupy movement at UP Gate has resulted in thousands of daily commuters taking alternate routes to enter Delhi. A huge volume of traffic also passes through the Kaushambi township near the Anand Vihar-Kaushambi border.
“We see the development as a welcome sign, but we think that there is no immediate relief coming our way. Thousands of vehicles pass through out township every day. So, we will wait for the developments and hope they get resolved soon to benefit thousands of commuters,” said VK Mittal, president of the Kaushambi township residents welfare association.