Dr. Pradeep Kumar Singh
The movement culture emerged in the year 1917 in protest against the policies of British rule, continues even today. But siege (gherao) of constitutional institutions, traffic jam, and calling for bandhs etc.,the means adopted by Mahatma Gandhi during colonial period for the freedom movement,cannot be considered appropriate for protests in independent India. However, majority of politicians of the country are still resorting to the same. Many other to acquire social identity, or to strengthen their position in politics, adopt this path as a shortcut to remain in the news.
In recent years there has been a growth of negativity in protest demonstrations. During the anti-CAA communal movement in Shaheenbagh, Delhi, last year, the traffic was blocked for 101 days, ignoring the problems of the passengers, even though the matter was pending before the Supreme Court. Many young children were also made to participate in the movement to instill negativity and distort their ideology in childhood itself. Some media persons were prevented from reporting on the movement premises, and some were mistreated. During the visit of American President Donald Trump, the protesters held arson, sabotage and communal riot in Delhi to defame the country.
The regional peasant movement going on at this time further enhanced the level of negativity. The agitators have been holding the Delhi borders hostage for more than two months, badly affecting the traffic and economic activities. Freeing the toll plazas in Haryana forcibly, and destruction of thousands of mobile towers in Punjab disrupting telecom services, cannot be called a peaceful movement. Women agitators chanted death songs for the country’s most popular leader and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the occasion of Lohri. The agitators crossing all previous limits of negativity, tried to malign the glory of the country through chaotic tractor-parade on Republic Day to pressurize the Government. Many miscreants broke the conditions laid down for the parade formulated with the consent of the agitating leaders and the police, and reached the ITO and Red Fort.They terrorized the police and public for hours, injured about 400 police personnel and hoisted the flag of a religious denomination on the Red Fort. They succeeded in their unholy plan.
The peasant movement appeared to be political and communal right from the beginning. Confusion was created among peasants by politicians for MSP, Markets and land grabbing. According to media reports, communal pro-Khalistan separatist elements were also involved in the movement. They were considered strength for the movement. The agitators have been raising communal slogans. They appear to be making their movement competitive with,and more powerful than the anti-CAA communal movement held last year. Therefore, they are adamant on forcing the Government to cancel the laws. Activists of some political parties are also participating as the farmers to strengthen their political career by getting media coverage. Many non-ruling parties are urging the agitating leaders to continue the movement. Now the political and communal colour of the movement is becoming clear.
Baba Saheb Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s famous speech “Grammar of Anarchy” delivered in the Constituent Assembly on 25 November 1949, throws light on these situations. He cautioned the country on the language of anarchy in democracy and said –
“In my judgement what we must do is to hold fast to constitutional methods of achieving our social and economic objectives. It means we must abandon the bloody methods of revolution. It means that we must abandon the method of civil disobedience, non-cooperation and Satyagraha. When there was no way left for constitutional methods for achieving economic and social objectives, there was a great deal of justification for unconstitutional methods. But where constitutional methods are open, there can be no justification for these unconstitutional methods. These methods are nothing but the Grammar of Anarchy and the sooner they are abandoned, the better for us.”
Several rounds of discussion have taken place between the Government and farmer leaders. A few demands of the farmers seem unviable. The demand for cancellation of agricultural laws, rather than point-by-point discussion is beyond comprehension. Given the climate and environment, it is the duty of the Government to implement schemes to encourage or control the cultivation of different crops in different parts of the country. Punjab and Haryana do not get enough rainfall, so groundwater-based paddy cultivation cannot be considered appropriate in this region. But farmers take paddy as a cash crop to take advantage of the government procurement at MSP, and burn stubble after harvesting. The entire region suffers from pollution for about 40-45 days in October-November. This also causes accidents in road traffic. When the police take action, sometimes the farmers take them hostage, or pressurize the Government to withdraw the cases.
Farmers take advantage of the Government procurement at MSP, but the entire society suffers from pollution. Farmers demand compensation from the Government for not burning straw. The Supreme Court has also ordered to grant incentive money. Though,media reports the incidents of stubble burning, yet calms down by attributing it to helplessness of the farmers. Here, it is important to note that paddy cultivation is not only taken up in Punjab-Haryana, but also in other parts of the country, where also farmers deserve the incentives even if they do not burn stubble.
Delhi Government has many times attributed the burning of stubble in Punjab and Haryana to pollution. The Supreme Court has passed strict orders in November-2019, assuming the same, and has held the state administration and police administration responsible for the incidents of stubble burning. Recent agricultural laws apply strictness on burning of stubble. The agitators have pressurized the Government to abolish the clause. Surprisingly, the Chief Minister of Delhi Government, and many political parties who remain concerned for pollution in Delhi, now stand in favor of the agitators rather than supporting the laws. When the matter reached Supreme Court, a ray of hope appeared, but these issues were not even taken up in the Court. The right of breath in fresh air still appears to be elusive.
Another important issue is the special importance given to Punjab and Haryana in the Government procurement of food grains at MSP. Farmers from other areas of the country also have this right. The legislature should seriously discuss this subject and form a committee of agricultural experts to develop an all-inclusive food procurement policy, so that all regions can be given appropriate representation based on the yield of local crops from different parts of the country.
In a democracy, the legislature repeals irrelevant laws, modifies them as needed, and enacts new laws. The important question is whether the justification of laws enacted by the Parliament will be decided by a chaotic crowd on the streets by putting pressure on the Government? Many non-ruling political parties are supporting this opinion. Even ignoring the shameful event of Republic Day, they are provoking the agitators by supporting every move by miscreants. There is no non-ruling political party to take care of the pains of the injured policemen. This is a very painful aspect of Indian democracy, which proves the truth of Dr. Ambedkar’s apprehensions.
The disciplined and law-abiding society of the country requests the Supreme Court to take Suo Motu action against miscreants for damaging public property in Delhi, creating terror, and hoisting the communal flag on the Red Fort on Republic Day. The loss of public and other properties due to the movement, and the additional economic burden on the Government, should be compensated by the property of the agitators and their leaders. The taxpayer of the country is not able to bear the burden of the unnecessary movements organized to establish political supremacy,facilitate media coverage and fulfill political interests.
(The author is former Dean (Research & Consultancy) Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering & Technology, Longowal)
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