1 Year Since Landmark Victory, Indian Farmers Plan to Revive Stir
The DiplomatIndian farmers are showered with flower petals as they dance while leaving the protest site in Singhu, on the outskirts of New Delhi, India, Saturday, Dec. 11, 2021. Kolkata, the capital city of West Bengal state, was one of the 25 state capitals in India where the SKM, an umbrella group of over three dozen farmers’ organizations, organized rallies on Saturday to submit a deputation to the governor, the titular head of the state government who serves as a representative of the Union government. Responding to the SKM’s demands on the MSP, the Modi government formed a 29-member panel in July “to promote zero budget based farming, to change crop pattern keeping in mind the changing needs of the country, and to make MSP more effective and transparent.” The panel had provision for three members from the SKM, but the group boycotted the panel, alleging that the government had filled it up with pro-government agriculture economists and farmers’ organizations. One issue, analysts say, is that the movement represents mostly the interests of farmers in Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh – India’s original green revolution states. “It’s a very significant and interesting phenomenon that while on economic issues they are fighting the BJP government’s policies, on social issues the predominantly Hindu farmers in northern India are mostly aligning with the BJP.” He attributed the trend to a continuing ‘anti-Muslim prejudice’ among the Jat community living in Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh.