The Farm laws saga in Delhi goes into 49 days…
It all started on a positive note with three Farm laws getting President assent on 27th September 2020. Everything looked normal and it was also seen that the farmers in parts of the country welcomed the laws by celebrating. The laws were made to eliminate the middlemen and give the farmer’s complete freedom in deciding the place of selling and price of selling. But, the farmer’s in certain states especially from Punjab and Haryana showed their dissatisfaction on the new laws and wanted the laws to be rolled back. The opposition since the day laws got passed were dissenting by calling the calls ‘anti-farmer’.
HM Amit Shah called for a meeting and decided to amend the laws. But slowly the issue got escalated and farmers turned aggressive. Then came the intervention from the Govt of India calling for talks. The talks have been continuing and its 9th round of talks scheduled on 15th of January 2021.
While the Govt of India is promising and assuring MSP which is the key demand of the farmers, farmers still seem unhappy. Not just that, Farmers managed to amend parts of the laws during the talks with the Govt. Still, the farmers are not satisfied as their ultimate demand is to fully repeal the laws.
The nation is witnessing the longest protests from farmers in recent times. While it is understood that there are two sides of the coin for anything, there is a third entrant into the whole issue. The apex court of India believes that the time taken to manage the farmers and control the protests by Govt is too long. SC said it will hold the laws and set up a committee to look into the pros and cons of the laws. As always, the committee would sit for months, prepare a report and then submit it to the Supreme Court. The wise know what the committee does… just a waste of time…
Here are my views on the ongoing protests:
While the Govt is planning to open up the Agriculture market in the country and let the farmers decided the buyers and price, the farmers are defying the laws. There are in no hurry to accept the laws. Which is why we are about to see 9th round of talks. Interestingly the laws that were proposed by Congress in their term are now opposing the same, why? Because it is the BJP who are bringing in the laws. Yesterday the SC stayed the laws and suspended them, today they formed a committee. The opposition was happy yesterday but today they seem to be frustrated. Opposition calls the action by Supreme Court just another drama. Now only opposition will decide what is drama and what is not… anyway…
I was unhappy yesterday and I am unhappy today.
The sole reason for it is the involvement of the Supreme Court in the Farmer’s laws and the protest. I agree it’s the apex court and they have every right to intervene in anything they want to, but there must be a logical reason. After all, we are looking at the highest court of the largest democracy. Wouldn’t it sound better, if SC says I see something wrong in these laws and list the points? Rather the SC is acting as a strict parent who is expecting results to come in quick time. Remember, agriculture is never been treated as a business in India, it was always like a donation or charity.
When the Govt of India wanted to make it business people brought in the concept of capitalism, Amabanis & Adanis got into the picture out of nowhere. Even after the Reliance got vocal on them not entering contract farming, the opposition is firing at these companies. Multiple farmers unions, tractor rallies, rasto rokhos etc were the activities of farmers at the time where the farmers had to in farming activities. Now that the committee is on, the headlines will hopefully change….
Having said this, this is a big loss of face for the Govt of India.
PM Modi has personally endorsed the laws and went on to talk on the number of the law of times giving it a personal touch. Now with the intervention of Supreme Court, the promises and confidence by PM Modi got shaken a bit. All of this might change in a few days, the govt might get what they want but the time to bring the changes will exceed the timeline of Govt. A rising fear is every time a committee is formed, the changes proposed are more than required…
Finally, to conclude, was it right move by SC to involve in the legislature of the Country? The constitution gives them the power, but there is a boundary and the three pillars must respect each other’s boundaries. With this thought let’s wait and see where will the SC take this farmers saga…
