In Ambala’s Bharog village, located between wheat farms, Sukhjeet Kaur and Rajvinder Kaur, who are sisters-in-law and housewives, now run the house. They manage the farmlands and are raising their two sons too, ever since their husbands decided to sit at Shambhu border along Punjab and Haryana for more than 200 days demanding the Union government to fulfill their promises.
Sukhjeet, who sits on a wooden bed in the verandah, between a tractor and a sewing machine placed adjacent to each other, says: “It is difficult managing the house, but somebody has to fight for justice.”
While the smell of seepage is all over the house, and the walls are broken, the police have been visiting her house since February looking for Sukhchain. They come with notice and threaten her that he will be detained. They have even searched the house.
On some days, she tries visiting her husband, who sits at the protest site. In Bharog village, many people work on farmlands and are not bothered by the protest. Many have never visited the protest site in 2020 and 2021 too. The locals say they are not facing any issues.
Several farmers have been protesting since February this year, over various issues, including the demand for a statutory guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) for crops. Their fight is against the Union government, but the BJP also happens to be the ruling party in poll-bound Haryana.
Recently, the Supreme Court constituted a high-powered committee chaired by former Punjab and Haryana High Court judge, Justice Nawab Singh, retired IPS officer B.S. Sandhu, Mohali resident Devinder Sharma, Professor Ranjit Singh Ghuman and Dr. Sukhpal Singh, agricultural economist with Punjab Agriculture University, to amicably resolve the grievances of farmers. The court urged the protesting farmers to distance themselves from political parties and to not politicise the issue.
The Supreme Court also acknowledged that there was a “trust deficit” between the farmers and the government. However, nobody has come forward for talks with the farmers.
No concerns heard
On July 8, the farmers had submitted a memorandum about their demands to several MPs, and on July 24, Leader of Opposition and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi met with a 12-member farmer delegation. “In that meeting, he told us that he will raise the issue of MSP guarantee. After that, no politician came forward to talk to us,” the farmers said.
Among other farmers is Sukhchain, who sits on the mattress inside a temporary camp at the Shambhu border. He says the BJP managed to secure all 10 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, but this year the party managed to win only five seats in the general election. Meanwhile, in the Assembly elections in 2019 held within a few months of the parliamentary polls, the BJP managed to win 40 seats out of the total 90 constituencies.
“Now, the people of Haryana understand the issues farmers have been facing. We want a government that is ready to listen to our concerns. Going to Delhi is a right, raising a question is a right, being treated like criminals and name calling is not what farmers of this country deserve,” Mr. Sukhchain said, adding that there was once a slogan of ‘Jai Jawan-Jai Kisan’ that was raised by the government.
Preparation for elections
Farmers and their leaders have been preparing for elections at Khanauri border that separates Punjab and Haryana, located around 32 km from Kaithal. Around 1,000 tractors can be located on the entire stretch, with at least two farmers in each tractor.
Farmers from several States, including Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan, have camped at the border area since February this year.
Bharatiya Kisan Naujawan Union’s convenor Abhimanyu Kohar, who belongs to Sonipat, too has stayed at Khanauri border since February.
He says the people of Haryana, who primarily engaged in agriculture, are not happy with how the BJP government in the State has dealt with the farm issues and the protests, and how no talks have been initiated so far.
“Our protest is only moving upwards,” Mr. Kohar says. He adds that the farmers have now planned national-level mahapanchayat in parts of Haryana, including Jind and Pipli, to raise awareness about the demands, and to inform the public to make “informed decisions.”
From continuing the protest to door-to-door campaigning, and a massive social media campaign, farmers have been working to create more awareness across places like Ujhana, Datasinghwala, Pipli, Hamirgarh, Chatar, Udaipur, where daily programmes are being held.
‘Haryana BJP working for farmers’
Meanwhile, the spokesperson of the Haryana government, Jawahar Yadav told The Hindu that earlier, the government was procuring 14 crops, but now, it was procuring as many as 24 crops.
“Only the Haryana government can establish an environment for farmers that is equitable. While the AAP and Congress in other States haven’t helped farmers, we have helped farmers with water irrigation, and have worked on dried up water rescinded like rivers. The BJP government in Haryana has a vision for farmers, even the MS Swaminathan [Commission] report is being implemented in Haryana, step-by-step,” Mr. Yadav said.
Further, the party leader said that with elections inching closer, the State BJP unit will be working for a manifesto, which caters to the development of farmers, labourers and downtrodden people. “The manifesto will focus on improving their lives, unlike the governments in Delhi, Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh. Haryana wants their farmers to grow and flourish,” Mr. Yadav said.
Manifesto, a false promise
But protesting farmers say a mere mention in the manifesto will not bring a change, if the Union government has failed to acknowledge their issues.
Mr. Sukhchain says, back in 2014, the BJP had had mentioned doubling farmers income and increasing the MSP, among other things in its manifesto. “But what has been implemented? A manifesto is just a document that doesn’t guarantee anything. After these many years, why should farmers trust [the BJP]?”
Jagjeet Dalewal, president of Bharatiya Kisan Union Ekta Sidhupur, said the farmers protest began in February and the general election dates were announced in March, but no politician came forward for talks. Even after the election results, despite the Supreme Court’s intervention, no talks were initiated.
“Who are we fighting against?” asks Mr. Dalewal.
Published – September 13, 2024 02:35 am IST