The farmers of Punjab, motivated by vile anti-national forces have been turned towards Delhi to protest against the revolutionary farm laws passed by the Parliament during the Monsoon session early this year. However, what started as a demand by few genuine farmer groups to have a sensible discussion with the centre over the nuances of the Fram bill has now metamorphosed into a full-blown protest movement where the farmers and their voice has been hijacked by the political parties and their vendetta against the centre. The politically-charged groups are hiding amongst the farmers in plain sight and orchestrating a mass campaign that already in its shorts existence has shifted the goalpost several times
The entire purpose of Farm bills is to eliminate middlemen, who love to gobble up a commission from the clueless farmers. The middlemen system is fairly prevalent in Punjab and Haryana and hence, most of the protests are concentrated in these areas. The Farm Bill is not taking away the safety net of MSP from the farmers, albeit it is creating a market where any farmer through his free will is able to sell his produce without the pressure of Mandi Mafia’s or APMC. As mentioned earlier, the whole movement started with farmers demanding to have a civil conversation with the centre over the miscommunication of MSP.
Read more: Are only the famers of Punjab unhappy? The truth behind the manufactured malice in farmers’ protests
However, what started as a meek demand quickly turned into a cauldron of controversy where different political and non-political groups colluded and diluted the soul of the farmer’s protest. The first irrational consequence of the protests was that train services were suspended to Punjab since October 3, when the agitating farmers started the ‘rail roko’ aandolan.
According to an official release of the Western Railway, it was only last week that four cancelled trains and seven short-terminated trains were restored to operate on the route.
While marching towards Delhi, a number of alleged farmer groups had called to block 5 main entry points to Delhi i.e the several borders (Tikri Border, Gurgaon Border, Badarpur Border, Ghazipur Border, Singh Border). Threatening to cut off Delhi by blocking the borders is eerily reminiscent of Sharjeel Imam’s cut the chicken neck comments during the anti-CAA riots which eventually landed him in hot soup.
Instead of going to open jail in Burari, we've decided that we will gherao Delhi by blocking 5 main entry points to Delhi. We've got 4 months ration with us, so nothing to worry. Our Operations Committee will decide everything: Surjeet S Phul, President, BKU Krantikari (Punjab) https://t.co/aH5xm26WAi pic.twitter.com/2L0yL7vVmf
— ANI (@ANI) November 29, 2020
It is shocking how a vociferous anti-government campaign is being turned into an anti-national one due to the involvement of separatist elements. In fact, in more instances than one, such elements did not shy away from coming in front of the media and making outrageous declarations.
In one of the videos from the protests, one of the demonstrators can be seen threatening PM Modi with dire consequences if an immediate solution is not reached at in the upcoming meeting between the farmers and the Centre on December 3 over the farm laws.
An alleged farmer is heard saying, “December 3 ko meeting hai, agar hal koi hua toh thik hai nahin toh…aap jaante nahin…hamareshaheedUdham Singh ne goroko Canada me jakethoka…Indira thok di…Modi kichhatimein…”(If no solution is reached at in the December 3 meeting, you don’t know, our shaheedUdham Singh shot the colonisers in Canada. Indira Gandhi was taken down. Similarly, in Modi’s chest…”).
Farmer protest or Referendum 2020? Listen and decide. pic.twitter.com/qisMGoXo9Z
— Facts (@BefittingFacts) November 27, 2020
And then there is one ‘scholar’ named Deep Sidhu with his heavily accented English looking to bring revolution and Inquilab in the geopolitics of entire South East Asia. Sidhu gained overnight fame on social media platforms by espousing verbal diarrhoea in front of an on-duty police officer, only to be taken apart, rather innocuously by none other than but BarkhaDutt who tried her level best to bring Sidhu under the Lutyen’s narrative but failed in front of Sidhu’s radicalness.
Deep Sidhu unlike the chameleon ‘left’ stuck to his version and refused to call Bhindrenwala a terrorist. Therefore, it can be easily inferred that Deep and several other Khalistani supporters masquerading as Farmers had hijacked the movement for their ulterior motives, much before the protests reached the borders of the national capital.
Set off to interview Deep Sidhu, Punjab actor with great expectations after seeing him in viral video negotiating at the barricades. Ended up in a massive fight. I believe his words have really hurt the Farmers Cause. Full conversation on @themojo_in here: https://t.co/zUqACfdFKO pic.twitter.com/OayTNbRdBH
— barkha dutt (@BDUTT) November 28, 2020
The so-called protestors marching towards Delhi, who call themselves free-minded individuals/farmers protesting for their rights under no party umbrella whatsoever, are openly sitting in camps prepared by an opportunistic party like AAP, who is sponsoring these protests and looking to gain a major foothold in Punjab for the 2022 Assembly elections. In its debut assembly elections in Punjab in 2017, AAP had bagged 20 seats, way below the expectations of the party, and therefore what better way to rectify the mistakes of past than by igniting the farmers to go on an offence against the centre.
The Delhi government welcomed the protesting farmers as their “guests” on Friday and made elaborate arrangements for their food, drinking water, and shelter. Just the way a rabid ShaheenBagh was allowed to prosper by the Arvind Kejriwal-led AamAadmi Party—the anti-national forces, not the actual farmers are being protected by the Delhi government. And if a power-hungry Kejriwal continues to tread this path then another siege-like situation is waiting to occur in the capital. The kudrati biryani has once again being prepared in the capital and distributed with fervour.
Biryani time at Ghazipur farmers protest spot#DelhiChalo #DelhiFarmersProtest pic.twitter.com/iziM5Q3vWE
— TOI Delhi (@TOIDelhi) November 30, 2020
And then, there are individuals who have no iota of knowledge about why the protests are taking place but because the money is allegedly being channelled by opposition political parties, they have joined the farmer’s cause as proxies to inflate the numbers. Large swathes of the crowd look good on camera and thus individuals like Vinay Kumar, a Ph.D. scholar who has no idea about the head or toe of the farm bill is seen giving sermons on camera to an NDTV journalist.
Fans of such clueless idiots then mock others as being WhatsApp university grads. Inse toh WA bhi nahi padha lagta hai pic.twitter.com/eI1DzbnsCV
— Rahul Roushan (@rahulroushan) November 30, 2020
Protesting without any clue?
"What are you protesting against?"
"We're here to protest against the three black laws!"
"Which laws?"
"That I do not know!"
"Then what about the laws?"
"I came here for employment, let farmers & laborers see to it.."#FarmersProtests #FarmBills2020 pic.twitter.com/VaJSW7ZAt0— Know The Nation (@knowthenation) November 28, 2020
Who are these protesting?
– He's not a farmer
– Says he is jobless, but is receiving salary
– Says laborers are going hungry, despite receiving salaries
– Says COVID19 is a mythNothing makes sense!
On asking about the #FarmBills2020 he displays ignorance.#FarmersProtests pic.twitter.com/yWD5AJOztn
— Know The Nation (@knowthenation) November 28, 2020
From willing to talk to the government, to not willing to talk to the government to threaten to cut off Delhi to using political parties to fund the protests—it has been a big hullabaloo of vested interests of different ideologies that have taken the sheen away from the genuine concerns of the farmers. And thus if this situation turns any dire, it will be parties like Congress, AAP, and the entire left-liberal cabal that will be blamed for fanning the protests and leaving the farmers in the middle, misguided and misled.
Fine – but on the other hand, it looks like the Govt. has not learned a single lesson from the anti CAA protests. Wait until a few more states (WB, Maha, TN, Telengana) send groups of protesters, the Mohammedan groups who will gladly join, Bhim Panthers or whatever it is they call themselves these days, “liberal” students from JNU and other asssorted “Universities” – you will have Shaheenbagh*100 on your hands.
As a first step, the Govt should carry out full page ads on all major dailies – both in English and local languages; buy ad time on prime TV and reiterate the major clauses. Next, Modi should take the fight to his political enemies – have him hold a few farmer rallies in Punjab, New Delhi, Maharashtra and Haryana. This is a political battle and it must be fought on the political front. Third, the HM should find out the source of “biriyani money” and choke that passageway. Fourth, start a whisper campaign pitting Kejriwal against the Akalis and CongI’s. Haven’t Modi and co (who make such loud noises about ancient India) heard of mitrabheda?
If this protest is not nipped in the bud, it has the potential to rip this country apart in a huge way.
Yes, I agree with your views. This is a dangerous “protest.” If indeed it is caused by misunderstanding, why did the govt not clear that misunderstanding forcefully and clearly. Even I have not really seen any clear refutation by the government. This is not a good sign.
There are too many anti-India forces who are only waiting for such things to happen. Khalistanis are first and foremost (and as of today, Khalistani is just a proxy for the Pak ISI, since all Khalistani leaders are paid by ISI, and Khalistani protestors in west are paid to appear at anti-India rallies at the rate of $250 per appearance—this I have verified myself by talking to one of them, he was given $250 + transport ticket to appear). Then there are the Muslim fronts, and finally some misled Dalit groups. All are backed by the leftists. Why give the opportunity to these opportunists to create havoc in India.
The real problem CG is facing is their dependency on Modi to do all the communications. The above comment is valid but the PM has several things to focus on and opposition can derail his work and pull him into petty political battles if he starts addressing rallies etc and miss out on the bigger picture.. What BJP at the centre is lacking is a more charismatic communicator who could do the politicking against the opposition. While Mr. Shah has a mass base his appeal is not independent of the PM. Mr. Nadda again is an organization man but the mass appeal is missing. The nearest political leader with strong mass appeal after Modi is sitting in Lucknow and there is one in Assam. In south Surya seems to hit the chord but I doubt his growth may compete with the political ambitions of the CMs son. Modi will have to balance out by bringing more politically stronger (yet saner) voices within the ambit of CG so that the burden of communication does not entirely rest only on him. Home Minister is still being seen as somebody successful in handling elections.. Despite success in 370, failures in handling Anti-CAA agitations, and now with what is beginning in Delhi in the name of farmers, HM is losing his sheen like that of a strong leader and that may not bode well to his heir apparent image.
All very good points Sir.