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To live in a faux democracy is to witness a thousand funerals of what democracy used to be.
Post the introduction of three agricultural bills in September 2020, there have been widespread protests across the country against the nature of the bill. While the government alleges that the reform bills will lead to the removal of the middlemen and rise in the earnings of farmers, many farmers believe that the introduction of the bills will lead to large corporations entering the agro sector and the loss of land holdings by small farmers. The bills also pose the threat of the farmers not getting a guaranteed minimum price for their produce, leaving them at the mercy of big corporates.
On Thursday, farmers from states like Punjab and Haryana marched to Delhi for their ‘Chalo Dilli’ march to demand loan waiver and better prices and protest the bills after two months of planning by over 500 farmer organisations. They had called for an All India General Strike along with various labour organisations that were protesting against the new labour laws that fail to safeguard the rights of labourers.
It’s noteworthy that both the bills were introduced amidst the pandemic induced lockdown restrictions. The protests on November 26 were met with extreme backlash from police officials who were carrying out the government’s orders of curbing the protest.
Water cannons, tear gas, barbed wires along with boulders and barricades to block the way of the marching farmers was used at the Haryana border. The Haryana Government alleges that the protests go against the restrictions (COVID-19 restrictions of social distancing) imposed to curb the Coronavirus cases as the state is facing a surge in cases.
Many found these claims baseless in light of the fact that Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala had recently carried out a political rally in the state that violated the norms of social distancing as well. The claims also seemed hypocritical when juxtaposed to the celebrations that were carried out by the Modi Government post the Bihar Elections’ victory. It’s also to be remembered that CM Yogi Adityanath has imposed section 144 in Uttar Pradesh so as to prevent assembly and protests against the labour laws introduced in the state.
“The police also set up barricades wrapped in barbed wire and sand-laden trucks to block the farmers’ path, and even dug up roads to act as trenches. Visuals from Thursday and this morning, when they reached the Delhi border, showed the two sides in scenes that wouldn’t look out of place in a war zone.” reported NDTV.
Swaraj India chief Yogendra Yadav, along with other farmers leaders, was detained in Gurgaon by the Haryana Police as they tried to enter Delhi.
Many claims are being made to discredit the grassroots movement with some news channels calling it a political campaign by the opposition and yet others calling it a Khalistani movement.
“There is no politics at play here ... no political party has any role in this. This is a movement by the farmers. Whoever says this is political does not have the welfare of farmers at heart,” one of the protesting farmers told NDTV.
The images from the protest reveal the consequences of living in a faux democracy where every attempt is being made to suppress voices and deter protests from taking place. This also violates the ideals laid down by the Indian Constitution and goes against Article 19 which confers upon citizens the right to freedom and expression, allowing them to protest and assemble peacefully without arms against the government’s action or inaction.
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