Farm Stir: Positive Developments After Prime Minister Modi's Appeal For Resumption Of Talks
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack
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By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2021-02-09 10:22:50
About the Author
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack
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Prime Minister Modi strongly defended the new farm laws in Parliament and asked the farmers to end their agitation and return to the negotiating table. Some leaders of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha have responded positively and have reportedly asked the government to fix a date to resume negotiations. This is a positive sign. After all, there has been enough of posturing by both sides - the farmers taking out the tractor rally and then holding a chakka jam and the government showing its retaliation after the disturbances on Republic Day by huge buildup of security forces at the Ghazipur border, FIRs against many farm leaders and barricading the protest sites - and they should now settle the differences seriously through informed negotiations.
One uses the word informed with a purpose. Agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar was right when he said that such is the level of misinformation that no one has till date pointed out what is black in the laws that are called black laws. The farmers have to drop their inflexible attitude and the insistence on repeal of the laws. Instead, they should take up the government's offer to keep the laws in abeyance for 18 months and thrash out the differences. That would give both sides enough time to hold informed discussions. The farmers should point out their reservations about the laws and the government must address them.
But this can only be possible if the farmers first form an internal committee and study the laws in detail without outside interference. They know what is best for them and they do not need vested interests to point things out to them. The tone of the agitation till now shows that the farmers have made it an ego issue as they were not consulted before the laws were enacted (which obviously was a huge blunder on the government's part). That can be the only reason for their demanding a complete repeal. But they must realize that there are other ways of getting an upper hand and also getting their grievances addressed. A clause-by-clause discussion and the repeal of contentious clauses would be the best solution for both sides. As a matter of building trust, the government must take back the FIRs against farm leaders and must go only after the miscreants showing up in CCTV footage. As Deep Sidhu has already been arrested, his testimony, verified properly, should form the basis of the next legal steps in the Republic Day sacrilege at the Red Fort and mayhem at other places.
As for MSP, Rakesh Tikait has made fun of Prime Minister Modi's iteration in Parliament that "MSP tha, hai aur rahega" (MSP was there, is there and will always be there) by saying that the country does not run on trust and that there has to be a legal guarantee for MSP. But is there or was there a legal guarantee for MSP till now? It was being done on trust and the state run mandis were mandated to buy at MSP. Since the old system is not being done away with (the new laws will only introduce private mandis and other alternate channels of sales for the farmers) where does the need to codify MSP arise? If the system was running on trust all these years, and since it will be there even after the new laws come in force, there is no need to change it now. The farmers must study the many drawbacks in making MSP legal before insisting on this.
