Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Aug 31: The protesting farmers staying put at the “Shambhu Border” on the Punjab Haryana border, had an unexpected caller on Saturday, the 200th day of their current agitation. The Olympian wrestler Vinesh Phogat walked up to Shambhu Border to express her solidarity with the agitating farmers to press for their long-pending demands including a legal guarantee for Minimum Support Price for their crops.
Extending her support to farmers, she said she, as a “daughter,” stands with them and prays to God so that farmers get their rights and justice. “I have come to extend support to my family (farmers)… the farmers of the country are in trouble, their problems should be resolved, in fact, it should be the first priority of the government to resolve their issues.”
Group of farmers under the banner of the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) and Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political) — the two umbrella bodies that are spearheading farmer’s agitation in Punjab have been, since February 13, camping at Shambhu-Ambala and Khanauri-Jind – the inter-State boundaries between Haryana and Punjab, after being stopped from entering Haryana.
They had earlier given the call for the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march to press for fulfillment of their demands, a legal guarantee for purchasing their crops at a Minimum Support Price (MSP) and a farm loan waiver are among the key ones. The farmers have been asking the Centre government to fulfill their demands.
Vinesh Phogat refused to be drawn into speculation about her entering the political arena and called herself an athlete and belong to the whole nation and had “nothing to do with upcoming state assembly polls.” “I am an athlete; I belong to the entire country. I have nothing to do with which state is going to the polls. All I know is that my country is suffering, farmers are in trouble. Their issues should be resolved and it should be the first priority of the Government to resolve this,” she said.
When reporters asked if she would contest the Haryana elections, if Congress offers her ticket, wrestler Vinesh Phogat said, “I will not speak on this, I will not talk about politics. I have come to my family. If you talk about this, you would waste their struggle and fight. The focus is not on me today. The focus should be on the farmers, I request this.”
“..The government should listen to farmers. The government after the previous farmers’ protest (referring to the year-long farmers’ protest on farm laws) made a few promises to them, which it should fulfill. If the people of the country keep sitting (for protest) on the road it’s not good for the country. It’s been 200 days that farmers have been in protest but, sadly, the government is not listening,” she said at Shambhu, where she was felicitated by the protesting farmers.
Pointing out that it hurts to see the farmers protesting for their legitimate demands, she added, “At times, we feel helpless at not being able to do anything for them. We represent the country at international levels but we could not do anything for our own family (farmers). I have come here to tell you that your daughter is with you. I request the government to listen to them.” Notably, multiple four rounds of meetings were held between the Union Government and farmer leaders before the Lok Sabha elections but it didn’t result in anything concrete.
The farmers are on the streets ruing that the primary issue of concern for them is that still no law on MSP has been enacted, and also the Centre government is turning a blind eye to their other demands despite repeated appeals. The MSP is the price at which the government promises, on paper, to procure agricultural produce from farmers. Farmers accuse that even as the Union Government promised to look into their demands during the earlier agitation on the controversial (repealed) farm laws, it has been going slow on its commitments.
It had been a topsy-turvy month for Vinesh who was also in the forefront during agitation by the top wrestlers last year protesting against alleged sexual exploitation of some female wrestlers by the then president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) Brijbhushan Sharan Singh, a former BJP MP. In the just-concluded Paris Olympics, even after she reached the final of the women’s 50kg event she still had to return to India empty-handed. On August 7, Sarah Ann Hildebrandt of the United States stood between Vinesh and the gold medal.
However, things went downhill after she was disqualified before the final after breaching the 50kg weight limit. A day after her heart-breaking disqualification, Vinesh announced her decision to retire from wrestling. She also made a plea to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to award her a joint silver medal. The CAS after several postponements finally rejected her plea even while admitting that the existing rules were too harsh for the athletes.