Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Dec 11: The Triumphant farmers on Saturday began their journey back home to their respective states after having spend more than a year laying seize at the Delhi borders forcing the unrelenting Narendra Modi government to bow to their pressures accepting almost all of their demands.
More than a year after they arrived in large convoys of tractors, they are taking back with them a victory to cherish and memories of a successful siege at Delhi’s borders. The farmers lifted blockades on highways at Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur borders and took out a ‘Victory March’ to celebrate the repeal of the three contentious farm laws and the Centre’s written assurance to fulfil their other demands, including constituting a committee for legal guarantee on minimum support price (MSP) for crops.
Emotions ran high as the farmers set off for their homes in different States, including Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh, after a successful movement. Tractors bedecked with colourful lights rolled out of the protest sites blaring songs of victory while the elderly flaunted their colourful turbans and danced with youngsters.
The farmers are celebrating December 11 as ‘Vijay Diwas’. On November 26 last year, the first batch of farmers had arrived from Punjab and Haryana for a sit-in protest at the border against the three contentious farm laws. With a firm resolve to move back only after the laws are repealed, the farmers began settling in and after Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella organisation of 40 farmer bodies, accepted the draft proposals by the government, it was decided that the farmers will begin marching back to their homes from Saturday.
In many ways, the last night at Singhu Border resembled the initial nights of the protest — people sleeping in the open as the tents have been brought down, tractor trolleys packed with clothes, utensils, bamboo sticks moving in the narrow portions of the road and more open spaces between the rows of tents after some of the structures were completely removed.
The farmers marked the occasion with festivities. At every 100 metre, a tractor with glowing LED lights and a speaker was visible. In front of the vehicles, groups of people broke into impromptu dances as cheers travelled in a Mexican wave.
Harvinder Singh (42) from Jalandhar watched the celebrations from a distance. Seated on his wheelchair, beaming, he waited for his friend to steer him into the crowd for a closer look.
“Singhu border had become our home for the last one year. This movement united us (farmers) all as we fought together against the black farm laws irrespective of caste, creed and religion. This is a historic moment and the victorious result of the movement is even bigger,” said Kuljeet Singh Aulakh, a farmer from Moga in Punjab, as he embraced his fellow farmers before starting his journey back home.
“We are going with our heads held high. It is a very emotional moment for us. There is joy and celebration but there is also grief in our hearts for the lives lost in the process. Personally, it was not easy for me because living in the protest on a wheelchair has its difficulties. But my brothers were there for me throughout. It’s a memory of a lifetime,” said a teary-eyed Harvinder.
Jitender Chaudhary, a farmer at Ghazipur border, was busy preparing his tractor-trolley to go back home in Muzaffarnagar of western Uttar Pradesh. He said that he was going home with hundreds of good memories and victory against the “black” farm laws. “We are fortunate that we participated in a historic movement against the three farm laws imposed on us by the central government. We have made new friends and gained a different experience here during the agitation,” Chaudhary said.
Farmer leaders said they would again meet on January 15 to see if the government has fulfilled their demands. Parliament passed a bill on November 29 to repeal the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers’ (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and the Farm Services Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.
Barely 100 metre from the main stage, fireworks went off amid loud cheers from hundreds of farmers. Even close to midnight, the farmers refused to budge and the dancing continued.
Like in an Indian wedding household, while some celebrated, others took the responsibility of getting things packed. Ahead of the mall at the Kundli border, many could be seen folding their yellow plastic sheets that were instrumental in protecting them from the rain and cold. Trolleys were being reattached to tractors and many stood discussing what would be a good time to start the journey back home.
Post-midnight, the langars began serving tea as several farmers slowly began retiring to their tents. For the farmers, there was the thrill of a successful movement, the happiness of going back home and the sadness to leave behind the brotherhood.
As the night progressed, the traffic at Kundli became denser after trolleys started heading home. Inside the trolleys, packed with items, many could be seen sharing blankets and mattresses.
Despite several hours into the night, a constant stream of people kept moving. Earlier, there would be night vigil by a few to ensure no anti-social elements disturb the peace. On the last night, many could not sleep due to the excitement.
“I slept for a few hours and now I am up again. I do not want to miss a single minute of this. What we have is history. In the morning we will all be gone. I will probably go and help the langars because they will be preparing the morning tea for everyone. Words cannot describe what I am feeling,” said Jatinder Singh (32) from Jalandhar.
The agitating farmers feel that Guaranteed minimum support prices (MSP) for all crops may be the best route to crop diversification in Punjab and Haryana. Farmers in these two States already get the benefit of MSP rates for paddy and wheat because of the high levels of procurement. However, they say they will join the upcoming fight for an MSP guarantee for all crops, as it will enable them to shift away from input-expensive, environmentally harmful and climatically unsuitable paddy to grow oilseeds and lentils instead.
“Why would I want to pay ₹3 lakh for a borewell that is going to drain even more groundwater from my lands if I can be assured of MSP rates for growing other crops,” asked Jagmohan Singh, a leader of the Dhakaunda faction of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, who is a member of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM). He suggested that paddy cultivation and procurement be shifted instead to a State like Telangana, which is fast earning the moniker of the new rice bowl of India due to major improvements in irrigation.
Singh said input costs are also cheaper in places where water availability is higher and the need for fertilizers and pesticides is lower than in Punjab. Paddy farmers in Punjab need thrice the amount of irrigation water used by those in Bihar to produce one kg of rice, according to a study by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, and Punjab faces rapidly increasing groundwater depletion at a rate of up to 120 cm per year.
Nationwide, paddy and sugarcane use up half the country’s water resources, largely because procurement policies skew profitability and distort cropping patterns. For instance, maize uses only a fifth of the irrigation water of rice, but farmers are wary of shifting to a crop where remunerative prices are not guaranteed.
“Crop diversity is impossible without a guaranteed MSP. If all crops were procured, not just rice and wheat, then the average Punjab farmer would stop growing paddy and instead grow safflower, moong or chana dal,” said Singh. More than half of government procurement of wheat and paddy over the last five years has taken place in Punjab and Haryana, according to the Agriculture Ministry data. Over 85% of wheat and paddy grown in Punjab, and 75% in Haryana, is bought by the Government at MSP. No other crops receive such support.
The support could also help solve the bugbear of stubble burning that has darkened the skies of northern India. “Punjab farmers are well aware of the pollution caused by stubble burning as it affects them even more than the citizens of Delhi. But the solution is not to criminalise the burning of paddy stubble, but rather to provide financial incentives so that farmers can shift to other crops,” said Kavitha Kuruganti, convenor of the Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture, who is also one of the few women leaders in the SKM.
“The environmental degradation of Punjab because of the demands of the Green Revolution hurts all farmers. The drop in the level of groundwater is alarming,” said Darshan Pal, a senior SKM leader who heads the Krantikari Kisan Union in Punjab. “We will join the struggle for MSP not just on behalf of our brothers in other States who do not get remunerative prices for their crops, but in our own self-interest, so that we have sustainable choices beyond paddy,” he said, suggesting maize and oilseeds as the best alternatives.
