New Delhi: Farmers from 172 organizations on June 1 began a 10-day strike to draw attention to the ongoing agrarian crisis in India.
Strike leaders said the protesting farmers will not supply farm produce, especially perishables commodities such as milk and vegetables, to cities during the “gaon bandh” or village shutdown.
Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra are the most affected so far, according to Ramandeep Sangh Mann, a farmer leader associated with the Kisan Ekta Manch, an umbrella body of 62 farmer groups participating in the strike.
The major demands of the striking farmers are for a complete loan waiver, a minimum support price that is 50 percent higher than all input costs, and income assurance.
The Rashtriya Kisan Sangh (national farmers union), a platform for 130 farmers groups, another major participant in the strike, has also called on traders groups to join farmers in a Bharat bandh (India shut down) on June 10.
The federation has assured that farmers won’t block any roads, but they will sit on dharna along 30 major highways in the country.
Devinder Sharma, a food policy expert who is part of the coordination committee of the Kisan Ekta Manch (farmers unity forum), said the strike aims to wake up the government and urban elite about the plight of the farmers in villagers. The people in cities, he added, are completely disconnected from the agrarian crisis. “The nation must understand the importance of farmers,” he added.
He felt that some major cities would feel the pinch.
Meanwhile fresh produce from farms and thousands of liters of milk have ended up on streets on the first day of the protest.
The seven states where the protests are being held are: Haryana, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala.
Farmers in Punjab wearing green turban were seen in viral photographs throwing vegetables, fresh fruits and spilling milk on streets. Milk flowed on streets and tomatoes were dumped on a highway near Nashik in Maharashtra.
There was no supply in Punjab except for Amritsar. In Haryana, the supply was reduced by 40-50 percent. Milk supply is fully shut in Rajasthan’s Sri Ganganagar, Hanumangarh, Jhunjhunu.
In Madhya Pradesh’s Indore, prices of vegetables have gone up by 400 percent and in Bhopal prices are up by 70-80 percent. Only three trucks reached in Nashik mandi that gets 300 trucks of produce in a day.
The farmers are demanding immediate implementation of the Swaminathan Commission’s recommendation on minimum support prices; the price at which the government procures milk from them to be fixed at 27 rupees and a one-time loan waiver.
Shiv Kumar Sharma, president of the Rashtriya Kisan Mahasangh (national grand assembly of farmers) says the stir has become nationwide agitation.
“We have named the protest ‘Gaon Bandh’. We won’t go to cities, as we don’t want to disturb the normal lives of the people. We have decided to observe a Bharat Bandh on 10 June till 2 pm. We would request businessmen in cities to close their shops till 2 pm,” said and added that if anyone wants to buy vegetables and dairy products, they will have to drive to the villages.
The protest also marks the first death anniversary of seven farmers in police firing in Madhya Pradesh’s Mandsaur on June 6, 2017. “The government responds to the rightful demands of the farmers with lathis and bullets. June 6 is a black day for farmers. Nothing will be supplied by villages to cities for the next 10 days, neither will anything be brought from the cities during the period,” Aam Kisan Union chief Kedar Sirohi said.
Mandsaur was the epicenter of farmers’ protest last year when hundreds of farmers demanded better prices for their crops and loan waivers. The protests turned violent forcing the police to open fire to control the crowd. Five farmers had died on the spot, and two others died later. As protests erupted across the state after the firing, the Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan began what came to be dubbed a “peace fast.”
Fearing a repeat, the Mandsaur district administration has made elaborate security arrangements. Some farmers have also been made to sign surety bonds to ensure that they would not indulge in violence.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who was in Bhopal on May 31, however, dubbed the farmers’ agitation as an agitation of the Congress party. “The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state is working for the welfare of farmers and it has taken several big decisions in their interest,” he added.
Trashing the charge, newly appointed state Congress chief Kamal Nath said it is surprising that those who ordered firing at the farmers are now trying to shift the blame for violence on his party.
A few months ago, at least 35,000 farmers from Maharashtra’s Nashik district had walked 180 km in the blazing sun to reach Mumbai to present their demands before the state government. The Devendra Fadnavis government had agreed to the demands. But farmers in the state are supporting the nation-wide Gaon Bandh.