WHY ARE FARMERS PROTESTING IN DELHI

what happend?

Prior to 2014, in the event of any protest that took place, the media of our country questioned the government and asked what the government did wrong which caused the people to protest? After 2014, whenever protests take place in our country, the media questions the protesters and asks the protesters why they are so "misguided" that they are protesting against the government? Let us talk about the ongoing farmer protests in the country  More than 400 farmer organizations across the country have come together to protest against the farm bills passed against the government.

On November 26th, the farmers had announced indefinite strikes, having raised slogans of "Dilli Chalo" (Let us go to Delhi). The farmers have mainly come from Haryana and Punjab but some have come even from Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh to protest. The reaction of the government and the media in response to these protests has been extremely shocking . It raises a grave question on the country's democracy and freedom of expression. Why are these protests happening? Why are they so focused on Punjab? And how does it show the state of our media and our government? Let us try and find out in this article today.

The Current Protests

First of all- you must already be aware that these protests are taking place because the Modi government passed farm laws a few months ago. The laws did not appeal to the farmers across the country.

Ever since, these bills have become law, farmers have been protesting in different ways. And this "Dilli Chalo" march is their latest way of protesting against the government. The government tried their utmost to stop this march. They set up barricades, made use of water cannons and tear gas and in one place, they literally dug up the highway to prevent the farmers (who were coming on foot) to stop them from crossing it. Section 144 was imposed in many places in Haryana. Bus services were suspended There are even reports of more than 100 farm union members being arrested More than 500 farmers were arrested in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. 

                

In Fact, on 29th November, the Delhi government sought permission from the Delhi government to convert 9 stadiums into temporary jails so that farmers and protesters could be detained in it. But thankfully, it is the Aam Aadmi Party that makes us the Delhi government and not the BJP. And so they denied giving permission for this. Had there been a BJP government in power, the farmers might be locked up in these stadiums today. In Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP government is in power, the farmers were not allowed to gather and protest. The Uttar Pradesh government even put a stop on the printing of the pamphlets and posters that were in favour of the protests. But our farmers are extremely dedicated and determined on their intention of protest. They climbed atop the barricades wherever they were put up and marched ahead. The barricades were pushed aside in some places. In places where the highway had been dug up, they made use of their hands and some tools to fill it up. They filled up the pits so that they could walk over it. In places where the water cannons were used by the police, some protesters jumped atop vehicles and turned them off.

Albeit, the government has pressed charges of attempt to murder on the person who did this. This is the extent to which the government tried to physically stop the farmers, but it was not possible to physically stop them. In the end, the government was unable to do anything and our farmers reached Delhi to protest and carry on their march. But more dangerous than these physical attempts are the mind games being played by the sycophant media to defame the farmers.

Role of Indian Media

You might be able to recall the important role that was played by the media in the anti corruption movement led by Anna Hazare in 2011-12 in emboldening the voice of the protesters and raising their voice in favour of the common man. Today, the media is so sold out that it is playing the opposite role. I am not saying the media was not sold out back then . It might have been the same back then, but the extent to which it is sold out today has crossed all limits. Instead of bolstering the demands of the protesters, the media is busy in defaming the protesters. They are being branded with different names such as Khalistani, urban naxals and Congressi funded. We all know that BJP-RSS had a very important role in the anti corruption movement of 2011-12. But,  the media did not highlight that fact or exaggerate it to say that the protest was BJP funded or that the BJP supporters were protesting. It wasn't so, right?.

But today, if the Congress and the opposition parties are involved in the protest, then how can the protesters be labelled as "Congressi"?  Zee News was running a hashtag #FarmersProtestHijacked and #AandolanMeinKhalistan  and implied that it is being supported by ‘Khalistani people'. Times Now is running a hashtag #KisanKanoonClash said that opposition is “inciting the farmers'' and blamed the farmers for being responsible for another mass gathering that could lead to COVID increase. But they are least bothered about the spread of COVID19 when the BJP leaders assemble in Hyderabad for municipal elections in Hyderabad CNN News termed Dilli Chalo a ‘war cry’ and asked “Who is misleading farmers?”. In News18 India, Amish Devgan’s prime time  show carried taglines such as "Has the Congress incited the farmers?" The same was done by Arnab Goswami on  Republic TV In Fact the word "misled" was used very frequently on every news channel and it was put across that the farmers are protesting only because they have been misled and because they have been misguided by the Congress, the urban naxals and the Khalistanis. As if they do not have any reasoning if their own It is presumed that their protests mean someone must be misleading them. 

Social Media Propaganda

Similarly, fake news and propaganda was spread by the BJP supporters and the BJP IT cell on the social media in order to defame the farmers For example, this post went viral in which a person is seen wearing a green turban  and it was alleged that he was a Muslim who was disguising as a Sikh to participate in the protests against the government. This was shared by a Twitter user who is followed by Prime minister Modi . He attached a screenshot of the man’s Facebook profile which shows that his name is Nazeer Mohd. to show that the latter was a Muslim who was disguising himself as Sikh to participate in the protests. However, a fact check by the AltNews found that the Image being shared predates farmer protests. This way, completely fake news is being spread to discredit the farmers and instigate people in the name of religion. In another incident, BJP’s Priti Gandhi, who is the national in-charge of BJP’s social media  has tweeted a 15-second video clip from her official Twitter handle where a group of Sikhs are raising pro-khalistan slogans.  Mrs. Gandhi claimed that the video is from farmers’ protest and that they are raising pro Khalistani slogans.

              

Hence the protest is Khalistan sponsored for sure Several people believed that.  But in reality, this was an old video. And it was not even shot in India. It was shot in the UK Another similar fake news was tweeted by Kangana Ranaut that is- A photo of an elderly woman part of a farmers' protest with a false claim that she is Bilkis Bano (82) the daadi (grandmother) who was part of the Shaheen Bagh protests held in 2019, against the CAA. There was no relation between the two elderly women but since they looked similar, their images were shared to claim that the people that were protesting against the CAA NRC are also protesting in the farmer protests. This must be their conspiracy. Say, one or two people taking part in the farmer protests turn out to be Khalistan supporters,  then could this be a valid reason to discredit the entire movement? Especially when we all know that there is zero support for the Khalistan movement in India. This cannot be so. This is just a means to distract and to defame all the protesters In reality,  this is leading to the fall of democracy in the entire country.

Take a look at this chart prepared by "The economist" magazine that shows  that the indices of freedom of expression, civil liberties, academic freedom and rule of law in the country- have all seen India's rank dropping after 2014. In Fact, the situation is so dire today that they are comparable to the state that was prevalent under Indira Gandhi during the emergency. 

Latest Updates

So, the agenda is pretty clear- first of all, the farmers that are protesting are to be branded as Khalistanis, urban naxals, tukde tukde gang, anti nationals The same tags that they used during the protests that were held earlier, For example, people from all across the country were participating in the protests that were being held against the CAA-NRC  but there were attempts to show that only a specific section of the population was protesting  and that it was the "urban naxals and the liberals" that were protesting. Even in the case of student protests, there were attempts to color them as "opposition sponsored protests" and that the students were being misled. Apparently, when the doctors protest, they are being misled as well. This is essential for you to understand because tomorrow, if you question the government or protest against them for whatever reason then their machinery- the sold out media, their IT cell and their supporters will discredit you the same way and would use words like- anti-national, Khalistani, Tukde tukde gang etc for you Anything can happen!

According to the latest development, the Delhi police has finally allowed the farmers to carry out peaceful demonstrations within Delhi BJP has expressed its will to hold unconditional talks with the farmers to sort out the disagreements In  Rajasthan, Hanuman Beniwal leads a party called Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP), which is in alliance with the BJP. They have threatened to quit the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) if they do not pay heed to the farmers. This would be the second party to do so after Akali Dal. Akali Dal used to be in an alliance with the BJP in Punjab. They too, had quit the alliance after the farmers bills were passed. No matter how hard they try to discredit the farmers, the reality remains that it is these farmers that are helping to feed the police the same policemen that were charging at them with sticks. The photos of the farmers feeding the policemen have gone viral to imply that  the farmers protests have no links from outside and that they are protesting with their own wishes. 

Demand of Farmers

Another question that was raised was why are only the farmers from Punjab protesting? Another narrative is being circulated that since there is a Congress government in power in Punjab, people are falling prey to Congress conspiracy. But the reality remains that mostly the farmers from Punjab and Haryana are protesting because they are the ones that actually avail the benefit of MSP 70-80% of farmers from Punjab and Haryana avail the benefit of MSP while farmers in the rest of the states are not able to avail the benefit of the MSP . The demands of the farmers are simple- they want a written assurance of the MSP and the withdrawal of the recently passed three farm laws. 

conclusion

The farmers believe  that if these laws are applied, then the mega private companies would monopolize the agricultural sector gradually, over time. The procurement of the crops would come under the ambit of these companies and the farmers would be paid even lesser than what they are paid today. So many farmers in our country are facing tough days. Some of them even commit suicide. This would make their condition even worse.

I hope you would have found this article to be informative. We will meet again in the next article. Thank you! 

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