Three contentious laws will be repealed in the next parliament session. This might be the first retreat by the Modi Government. The farmers have been protesting against the laws for a year. Over the months, the close allies of the ruling party BJP, directly and indirectly, have stated the role of the ‘India-breaking forces’ behind the protests; the women were named to take the money for the sit-in protests; farmers were called terrorists. The Khalistani word became more popular with the protests, as the religion of the farmers, who mostly were from Punjab and Sikhs, were dragged in. And it’s become the habit of many right-wing groups to associate the demands of any turbaned guys with the Khalistan.
The Agriculture Minister of India had asked more than 15,000 agriculture graduates to create awareness and benefits of the laws last year. Numerous meetings had been held over the year between the protesting farmers and the ministers of the government. The laws were also decided to be put on hold by the government, but that tactic didn’t work out with the farmers as they outrightly rejected the offer. Now, this looks very bizarre as the Agriculture Minister of India welcomes the decision of repealing the farm laws. It should also be noted that his tone of calling the thousands of farmers as ‘some farmers’ remain the same.
We have also seen the English celebrity tweeting in favour of the protests, and the united team of the actors and the sportsmen detesting that openly, calling it, directly and indirectly, the internal matters of India. And one cannot forget the comments of Kangana Ranaut throughout the farmers’ protests. I believe her first revelation of supporting the Hindutva might be during her interaction with Sadhguru before the release of her movie Manikarnika. But that was what some people call the soft-Hindutva, which, according to few, what Mahanta Gandhi advocated.
Anyways, what made the Modi Government to repeal the farm laws?
It wasn’t the protests.
It wasn’t the death of seven hundred farmers in the protests.
It wasn’t the bitter cold nights the farmers spent, the heat of the month of June-July they endured, or the rain-drenched tents or the floor they slept on.
It wasn’t the pain of the farmers that Modi felt.
It was the defeat in the by-elections. This shook the party and its members. The prices of petrol and diesel came down, which were shooting the sky every day. Upcoming elections in 2022 in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, etc., are also the factor for them to concede to the demands of the farmers.
Things got interesting here as the ex-CM of Punjab had said he would be ready to shake hands with the BJP, but not before resolving the issues of farmers. His frequent mentioning of Pakistan and national security made him a potential candidate for the BJP. Amarinder Singh has raised the issues during the opening of the Kartarpur Corridor too, when millions of Sikhs were clasping their hands to thank Waheguru. We also saw the detestable remarks made by the then DGP of Punjab, Dinkar Gupta.
BJP hasn’t given the CM face of Punjab for the upcoming 2022 assembly elections. Who knows after the repealing of the farm bills, they will share the seats, and Amarinder Singh will be the CM face as he had started his own political party – Punjab Lok Congress.
With the declaration of repealing the laws in the next parliament session, people have expressed the possibility of taking back the decisions of Article 370 and CAA – two of the most contentious laws. One thing has proven here: if people stand together, even the hardliners will bow down to them. This shows the power of people. This is how the democracy should be, where the governments are run by the people, not the other way around.
After the announcement of repealing the laws by the Prime Minister of India, the farmers exuberated their long struggle and welcome the decision by the government. Although, they want to stand together till the next parliament session; words aren’t enough. Secondly, they want a law for MSP. This might be the starting of a bigger problem for the Modi Government as the Agriculture Minister had said earlier it’s not feasible. It will cost $228bn if MSP is guaranteed on every crop.
The government might’ve thought the repealing of the laws would be enough to lure the farmers for the next elections. But the farmers were clear since the beginning what their demands were.