By Matters India Reporter
New Delhi: A national association of Catholic theologians in India has expressed solidarity with farmers protesting against three new farm laws on the borders of the national capital for the past 70 days.
“We the members of Indian Theological Association firmly support the cause of the farmers and all those who strive relentlessly for peace founded on justice. We demand that the government listens to the voice of the poor and repeals the controversial laws,” the theologians assert in a statement issued on February 3.
The association points out that the farmers started the Delhi protests on November 26, 2020, demanding the repeal of the new farm laws and legal guarantee for minimum support price for their agricultural produce.
The Indian agriculture acts of 2020, often referred to as the Farm Bills, are three acts initiated by the Parliament of India in September 2020. They are: the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, The Essential Commodities Act (Amendment) Bill and the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill.
The Lok Sabha, the lower house of the parliament, approved the bills on September 17, 2020, and the upper house Rajya Sabha passed them three days later. Indian President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent on September 27, 2020.
“The laws have made Indian farmers, most of them own less than one acre, even more vulnerable by giving the levers of power to the big agri-business companies,” the Indian Theological Association (ITA) said in.
Protest against the laws was launched by farmers from Punjab and Haryana in September 2020. The protests gained momentum as people from across the country supporting the farmers.
Tens of thousands of farmers belonging to more than 40 unions came to the outskirts of Delhi on November 26, 2020. Their agitation entered 71st day on February 4.
The Catholic theologians see the new farm laws as “a blatant attack on the Indian democracy” by the federal government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“The corporate-friendly federal government neither had any consultations with the many farmer unions across India nor with the opposition parties in the Parliament. The central government unabashedly, manipulating its majority in the lower house of the Parliament executed the bills. Further, by trespassing into a state subject, agriculture, this government has weakened the federal structure of the Indian Union.,” alleges the ITA statement signed by the association officials led by President Father Vincent Kundukulam.
The farmers have endured biting cold and rain at the protest sites. Their endurance highlights how the controversial farm laws would help the corporate firms to make huge profits at the expense of famers’ sweat and blood, says the ITA statement.
It quotes the farmers lamenting that the farm laws will impoverish them further as they would lose their lands eventually.
The farmers stress that they have no legal protection vis-à-vis the big agro-business companies they are pitted against, if disputes arise.
The theologians say the government has given “a free hand” to big companies to hoard food stuff and make huge profits. “This step will push millions of poor people to abject poverty,” the theologians say pointing out that no marginal farmer can fight the multinationals.
This was the reason, the theologians point out, why the farmers have rejected the government offer to postpone the farm laws for some months. They see it as a deliberate attempt to weaken their movement.
The farmers will not end their agitation until the farm bills are repealed, the ITA statement says.
The theologians bemoan the death of more than 70 elderly farmers because of the severe cold wave. “The government has turned a blind eye on the suffering of the farmers and has turned stone deaf to their cries for justice,” the ITA statement bemoans.
According to the theologians, the farm laws are yet another deliberate attempt to weaken the Indian democracy.
“The right-wing Hindutva groups’ dream of establishing an ethnic Hindu State would be possible only by replacing the sovereign, secular, democratic, socialist republic established by Constitution of India,” the ITA statement explains.
Demonetization, the abolition of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, and enactment of Citizenship (Amendment Act) that discriminates people against one another in terms of religion are the other significant moves to destroy the Constitutional democracy of India, it adds.
“It is in this context, one finds the determination and courage of farmers in the face of brutal power of the government remarkable. They are fearless to speak the truth in the corridors of power. Their patience and perseverance are outstanding. It is inspiring to see how thousands are fed in the camps by ‘langar’ (community kitchen) and cleanliness and order maintained everywhere.“
Observing that they have heard “the cry of the vulnerable” at the protest sites, the theologians assert that God listens to the oppressed and stands with them in their struggle for justice.
“The farmers are not seeking charity from the government or from their cronies. They demand their rights. We hope that the farmers who feed the nation will succeed in their struggle for justice. We believe that God who stands with the vulnerable will lead them to victory,” says the ITA statement
The elected representatives of the people in the opposition should make their points clear in the Parliament. Instead, they are simply wasting theirs and nation’s time by just shouting and creating ruckus in the House. Shame on them. Agriculture produce such as vegetables and fruits have very low shelf life. Massive investments would therefore be needed to buy up and store them up in refrigerated warehouses and trucks. All these require huge investment. Every year it is reported that 25 to 30% farm produce gets wasted. Only the people with deep pocket can make those investments. Instead they are viewed as enemies of farmers. Genuine farmer should be happy to have around them with those facilities.
Following Republic Day, it became clear it is not about the farmers but they are merely made a front by anti-nationals to ensure that Modi goes. Let us see how it is going to pan out. Genuine farmers need our sympathy as many commit suicide in India due to crop failure or excess of production with no storage facility.