The history of the peasant movement began during the rule of the East India Company, and then it did not stop. There was no oppression of the peasants, be it the time of the Mughal Sultanate or the princely states, but during the British rule, the peasants were forced to resist arbitrary farming and revenue collection. Be it as it may, they were not crushed by horse-tops and carts. After independence, the first Prime Minister Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru had kept farmers and farming in his priority.
He pledged to provide resources to the farmers for higher yield and dams, canals, fertilizers, proper land management. Promoted livestock and agro-processing enterprises along with agriculture, ushered in the Green and Milk Revolution. As a result, the condition of the farmers started improving. He emerged as a national power. The condition of farmers and agriculture has gone from bad to worse in the last decade. What is happening to the farmer now is going to tarnish the history of India. The son of the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs mounted his car on the protesting farmers. Even after the cited FIR, he stands unshackled. Instead of arresting the accused, Mr Ashish Mishra Monu, in this heinous crime case, the police sent him a (section 160 of CrPC) witness summons. When the nominated accused arrived after two summons, he was accompanied by the lawyer and the MP Representative of the Union Minister.
The police accompanied the magistrate to record the statement, which happens only when the accused confesses to the crime. In these circumstances, it is natural to question the investigation. As Advocates, Crime Correspondents, and Lawyers and Police Officers in the family, we have never seen such an investigation before. A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court also questioned the heartfelt action of the UP Police, whether the UP Police acts in the same way in all heinous cases?
In the Lakhimpur district, his son Mr Ashish Mishra Monu is accused in the case of killing the farmers who had come to protest against the statements of Union Minister Ajay Mishra Teni. Due to the actions of Mr Ashish, 9 people including a journalist died there. At the government level, neither the accused minister was immediately removed nor the named accused was arrested. Farmers are already agitating for the last year for three agriculture laws, in which more than 700 farmers have been martyred. If we look at the Government data, we find that on average 80 farmers commit suicide every month in the country. The number of which has increased significantly in the last one year. According to the report of the All India Rural Financial Inclusion Survey, 52.5 percent of the farmer households in the country were in debt in the financial year 2015-16.
According to other reports, this number is currently more than 60 per cent. According to the Agriculture Census 2015-16, 68 per cent of farmers have less than one hectare of land, while 86 per cent of farmers are marginal and small. According to NSSO, the average income of a farmer family in 2012 was around Rs 77 thousand per annum, which increased to Rs 1.22 lakh in 2019. During this, the debt on farmers was Rs 47 thousand, it became Rs 86 thousand. Not only this, the average number of indebted farmers and the debt has also increased by 57 per cent. Due to high inflation and an increase in cost by about 250 per cent, the net income of the farmers has remained only 36,000 rupees annually. In an era when the country’s GDP has increased by 52 per cent, while the real income of farmers has decreased, it should be a matter of concern.
The number of farmer families eligible for PM Kisan Nidhi is 14.5 crore. Government data on MSP shows that only 6% of the farmers in the country get MSP. This is the reason why the farmers are demanding the inclusion of the guarantee of minimum support price in the Act. Farmers are already suffering from contract farming in most of the states. Be it potato farmers in Punjab or apple and tomato farmers in Himachal, wheat farmers in Madhya Pradesh or paddy farmers in Haryana, all have been duped by contract companies. In such a situation, the government has created a crisis for both the land and the crop by making the contract farming act in support of the contractor. Even by handing over food procurement and storage to the free market, the government has put the food supply of the countrymen, including farmers, at risk.
Due to the dominance of the corporate in this, the life of the countrymen has also been in danger. This is the reason why farmers have been agitating for the last year to repeal these three laws. Hitherto and beyond, farming remains a business of losses. The inferno of farmers is continuously decreasing and the debt is increasing. Reverberating, they are stuck in an economic crisis. This is also the biggest reason for their suicides. The cost of farming has risen sharply, in comparison to that their income has not increased. Due to this, their losses are increasing perennially. The Government grant is not helping to compensate for that because the Government is not compensating for the loss of the farmer in comparison to the budget which is given to the insurance companies through all other means including the insurance scheme. Corporate companies are benefiting from the money of both the farmers and the government.
After this, the second crisis is that the farmers, who raise their voice on the injustice done to them, are crushed to death by vehicles along with eating sticks. We all remember that when the then Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar tried to bring the same Agriculture Amendment Bill in the UPA government, not only the BJP but also all the members of the Congress protested in the Parliament. As an aggregate, the Dr Manmohan Singh Government withdrew it.
This time these three laws were imposed without any discussion and debate, due to which there is bound to be opposition. Showing black flags and raising anti-slogans is not a crime in the democratic process. Carrying out and killing the farmers who are peaceful agitations is certainly the most brutal crime. Had our opposition not been serious and alert, the government might have suppressed the truth of this incident. The opposing voice has compelled him to act. Now, even the Supreme Court of the country has taken a tough stand. Even after this, the Government is adopting a relaxed attitude in the name of investigation.
The country expects the Government to save the farmers not only from debt but also from attacks. They should not adopt a dogmatic policy regarding laws that take away their rights but take action according to their wishes. When this happens, the farmer will be safe and the farmer will also be safe. If agriculture is in danger, then it is certain that the country will once again become a tramp for forage before the world after becoming a victim of starvation.
