Global solidarity for FarmersProtest in India gaining steam

Protests against the Farm Bills
held in the state of Punjab last September 2020. A massive protest and global
day of solidarity for Indian farmers is set on January 26, India’s Republic
Day. (Photo credit: Reuters)

 The Government of India’s move to
undermine the rights of the farmers by passing three new farm laws has sparked
a massive farmers’ movement. Legislation that would give corporations more
control over the food system—in line with the neoliberal restructuring of
agriculture—has pushed Indian farmers, their families and supporters to flock
to state borders, staging protests and sit-ins, reportedly the biggest in history, as
they try to enter New Delhi, India’s capital.

 The farmers’ movement in India has
been gaining wide support from the international community, including in the
Asia Pacific region where food producers suffer from the same situation. Last January
8, a solidarity forum was hosted by the Asian Peasant Coalition (APC), National
Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM), Socialist Kisan Sabha, Socialist Party
(India), Citizen News, and moderated by Sarojeni Rengam, PANAP executive
director.

Recently, the Supreme Court of India suspended
the implementation of the new farm laws and said that it will form a committee
of experts to try and resolve the dispute. The high court’s move shows how
effective the farmers’ protest movement has been; however, it also necessitates
increased vigilance until the anti-farmer laws are completely repealed.

  Straight from the border protests

 At the border protests, clashes
between farmers and state forces have intensified in recent weeks, according to
Richa Singh, leader of Sangatin Kisan Mazdoor. The Indian government is
undertaking bolder actions to quell the movement, such as putting up barricades
to stop protesters from entering Delhi, placing protesters on house arrest or
taking them into custody.

Galaxy Brar of Ganganagar Kisan
Samiti GKS, who constantly joins the border protests, narrates that farmers
have been bombarded with water cannons, batons, and tear gas. 

He claims, however, that state
propaganda has dominated the media, misleading the public into believing that
protesters are the ones who instigate violence

 The intensity of social conflict
reveals the depth and gravity of the impact of these farm laws, not just on
farmers but also on consumers in India, said Dr. Sandeep Pandey of the
Socialist Party.

 The first farm law abolishes the
Minimum Support Price, or the price at which government buys local farmers’
produce at government procurement centres. The Indian government claims that
farmers are now free to sell their products anywhere. But the reality is,
private buyers do not purchase agricultural produce at the MSP or higher.
“Sending farmers to private markets will remove the guarantee of a minimum
support price, leaving farmers at the mercy of private buyers,” Dr. Pandey
said.

 Already, some government
procurement centres have closed, forcing farmers to sell their produce at much
lower prices.

 The second law will allow private
companies to directly engage in contract farming with small farmers, which
makes them more vulnerable to exploitation. “India has a great memory of
Champaran Satyagraha movement. Farmers are not comfortable with private
companies dealing directly with them,” according to Dr. Pandey.

He is referring to the historic
movement Mahatma Gandhi led in 1917 against British colonisers who were forcing
farmers to grow indigo at a very low price. The said movement is said to be the
historical basis of the current farmers’ movement.

Critics also say that the law on
contract farming will increase corporate control over land and favour the
growing of cash crops over food crops.

Finally, the third law is an
amendment to the Essential Commodities Act. This effectively removes price
control and storage restrictions on foodstuff—including essential items such as
beets, rice, potato, onion, grains and pulses, and vegetable oil—which may
result in hoarding by big businesses and price increases.

 Meanwhile, Medha Patkar of NAPM
said that they are demanding the optimum support price for agricultural
products to prevent farmers from committing suicide. “One Indian farmer commits
suicide every 17 minutes. In fact, these should not be considered mere suicides
but the consequence of murderous attacks on farmers’ rights to lands and
natural resources, and the devaluing of their produce.”   

Solidarity from the Asia Pacific

From Indonesia, New Zealand,
Pakistan, Philippines and Sri Lanka came an outpouring of solidarity and
unified opposition to neoliberal policies in agriculture that impacts farmers
not just in India, but the entire region.

Rafael Mariano, chairman emeritus
of Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP, Peasant Movement of the Philippines),
said that landlessness continues to push rural communities into poverty, with
800 million people suffering from hunger annually. “In 2020, a total of 160
million hectares of land were sold and leased to foreign and domestic
investors. A fifth of these documented land grabs are deals for intensive crop
farming,” he said.

Mariano added that these
neoliberal policies ultimately benefit agribusinesses, including agrochemical
corporations whose products are used intensively with cash crops. “It is
important to build a strong people’s solidarity to defend the right to land and
other fundamental freedoms, and junk the insidious neoliberal policies of
free-market globalisation,” he said.

Triana Wardani, secretary-general
of SERUNI, a national organisation of grassroots women in Indonesia, also
expressed solidarity with the peasant movement in India. “Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s reforms would monopolise farm lands while landlords and
compradors would easily control the small agricultural production of peasants,”
she said.

 Meanwhile, Herman Kumara of the
National Fisheries Solidarity Movement (NAFSO) in Sri Lanka said that Indian
farmers are inspiring other food producers around the world. “I congratulate
our Indian comrades who are fighting in this struggle. We are the ones who feed
our nations but sadly, our rulers do not care about our contributions. But we
hope to defeat them through our collective actions,” he said.

 The fisherfolk leader shared that
on January 26, they will go to the Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka to hand
in a petition of support to Indian farmers and fishers.

Asif Khan of Pakistan Kissan
Mazdoor Tehreek (PKMT) expressed that the farmers’ movement in India today is
“unprecedented” because it brought together the plight, emotions and sentiments
of farmers across boundaries. “The plight of farmers and agro-based economies
in Asian countries are very much the same: they are all exploited by private
companies with support from the government. Land has been taken away, and
farmers end up working as labourers in the hands of capitalists, which just not
affects their source of living but also their dignity of living,” he said.

 The Indian migrant community in
New Zealand also conveyed solidarity. “We are proud of you for holding your
ground and keeping your demands clear,” said Mandeep Bela of the Indian
Workers’ Association, First Union in New Zealand. “I encourage everyone to
support the farmers and their demands. Everyone is connected to the farmers,
one way or another, since they grow the food we eat,” she added.

 On January 26, India’s Republic
Day, farmers in the borders will try to force their way into New Delhi and
stage a tractor rally. The Asian Peasant Coalition encourages supporters around
the world to hold their own solidarity actions on that day to pressure the Modi
government to scrap the said laws.

________________________________________

PAN Asia Pacific (PANAP)

48,  Persiaran Mutiara 1,
Pusat Komersial Bandar Mutiara, 14120 Simpang Ampat

Penang, Malaysia

Tel: +604 5022337  
Mobile: +6011 59233183

E-mail: info@panap.net

Website: www.panap.net

Like us on: www.facebook.com/panasiapacific

Follow us on: www.twitter.com/panasiapacific

Follow us on Instagram
@justpesticidefreeasia

 You have been subscribed to this listserve as
partners of PANAP.

To post to this listserve, send your message to:
partners@groups.panap.net

To be removed from the listserve, send any
message to:
partners-unsubscribe@groups.panap.net

For more information on the listserve:
http://groups.panap.net/mailman/listinfo/partners_groups.panap.net