By Ananya Guha
The farmer’s agitation is in fact an uprising, but a peaceful one. Irrespective of caste, community and religion, farmers all over Maharashtra gathered in Nasik to walk, literally walk to Mumbai. The participation of tribal farmers shows how the issue of forest land was abysmally ignored by the authorities. So was the MS.Swaminathan panel report. The farmers have called off the demands due to the government’s acceptance of those demands. The question is, what is the supposed acceptance? Are they put in writing? Is it the total waiver of loans or the acceptance of minimum price? Critics have taken pains on the media to show that it is ethically wrong for waivers, since some farmers have started repaying their loans. It is not a question of ethics, but that of amelioration of their condition, which is again conditioned, not only by pecuniary limitations, but also by crop failure due to weather conditions.
This farmers’ unrest has pointed to their insufferable condition, which could not be tolerated any more. The discipline with which they have conducted themselves, by protecting the city of Mumbai and not disturbing examinations is an example of how the common man or woman in India has wisdom, unlike the politicians who seem to be losing sight of such innateness day by day.
Secondly, the agitation has brought to fore the ancestral voices of tribal people inheriting land in forests from their forefathers. What benefits will they get in working in their soil of ancestral roots? The ancient voices of tribal India are now strident. The Maharashtra government’s initial apathy has changed into some action in words. Mere lip service however will not do. The voices of the masses will further unite. Farmers in other parts of the country are waiting.
The minimum price demand had to be foreseen. It was not. Now it has to be implemented. The problem of suicide dovetailed as it is with both family and social problems have to be appropriately challenged, not by doling statistics, but by very appropriate causal assessment.
The masses and the classes are the infinite legitimate social modes of inquiry and tools in our country. If the classes do not understand the rigours and demands, and the predicament of the masses there can only be such uprisings. The farmers by taking resort to non violent methods, which is a fine demonstration of primitive wisdom has voiced expressions of a hitherto voiceless society. The educated and political classes can take a leaf out of these pages of a narrative, silent, untold all these years, but given a solid voice now. We all know of a similar plight in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh and other states. The protest of the farmers may create all India ripples. It indicates how the agrarian sector has been neglected all these years, and how only wealthy farmers were paid attention.
The farmers’ protest is a social crisis arising out of dire social and economic needs. It is the dawn of unity among the masses in a befitting and non violent manner. It is the pathos and the tragedy that should strike our conscience, the national conscience. The acid test is that of ALL political parties coming together in one voice to settle issues permanently. Will They? Already reports have come that there is ferment in states like Orissa. Our policy makers and legislators should clearly understand that notwithstanding all the corporate glitz and the babble about smart cities, it is the agrarian structure that is the pivot of the economy. One may call it the unorganized sector or, whatever. The fact however is that more than two thirds of the population of the country, is engaged in this economy. The Narmada Bachao Andolan has been falling on deaf ears. There could be a similar protest now. The demand for pensions also adds to the complexity of the problem and underscores the dire need for permanent economic settlement for farmers. The suicides of farmers is one disturbing and tragic aspect in India’s agrarian history, although counting food production by tonnes or metric tonnes is fine. But what about natural turbulence and the vagaries of the weather?
Farmers like the rest of the society have roles to play in parenting, education and seeing their progeny married. This is peculiarly an Indian social and economic context, rural or semi rural. The world of smart cities is a misfit here. It is a rural and agrarian driven world where subsistence in itself is a problem. But farmers are demanding some quality in life. If loans can be ‘ written off ‘ for industrialists , then why can’t they be ‘ waived ‘ for them, especially in circumstances beyond their control? ‘ Writing off ‘ and ‘ waiver’ – these are the two polarities and indices of a pointed class bias.