Government letter tests farmer patience

Any new demand related to minimum support price, which is out of the ambit of farm laws, is not logical to include in the talks, it said

Protesting farmers share peanuts at the Singhu border near New Delhi on Thursday.: PTI

Anita Joshua   |   TT   |   New Delhi   |    25.12.20  : The Centre on Thursday sent a fresh invite to the protesting farmers for talks at a time of their choosing but offered them little else apart from a statement that it was ready to find a “logical solution”, prompting the cultivators to express exasperation at “one more letter” and point out that the Narendra Modi dispensation was being tone deaf.

The three-page letter sent by the joint secretary in the agriculture ministry’s department of agriculture, cooperation and farmers’ welfare, Vivek Aggarwal, does not provide any indication of what a “logical solution” could be but makes it clear that there is no question of discussing any new demand relating to the minimum support price (MSP).

“Any new demand related to MSP, which is out of the ambit of farm laws, is not logical to include in the talks. As informed earlier, the government is ready to discuss all the issues raised by farmer unions,” Aggarwal wrote.

Along with the repeal of the three new farm laws, the protesting farmers have from the beginning been demanding a law to guarantee MSP for 23 crops, fearing that the reform-oriented legislation would eventually elbow out this protective mechanism.

Neither is there any indication in the letter that the government is willing to meet the farmers halfway, except for the perfunctory statement that it is willing to talk with an open mind.

The farmers had on Wednesday made it clear in writing to the government that they were not interested in having talks for the sake of talks without something concrete on the table to discuss, and that this had to be more than the amendments the Centre had offered.

The proposed changes have already been rejected by the Sanyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), the banner under which the protest is being undertaken.

Reacting to Thursday’s letter, Avik Saha of the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC), which had given the “Dilli Chalo” call — said in a broadcast message: “The reply unfortunately repeats what the government has been saying for the last month.”

As if this was not enough to upset the protesting farmers, agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar continued with the exercise of meeting farmers who claim to be in support of the new laws.

This has irked the protesting farmers considerably as they view it as a divisive tactic. In their letter to the government on Wednesday, the SKM had said: “In addition, the government is constantly trying to be divisive by holding parallel talks with so-called farmer leaders and organisations that exist only on paper.…”

Saha stated that if the new laws were reformist, these reforms were not for the farmers but for agricultural trading. He alleged that the government was refusing to bend to protect the “strongman” and “demigod” image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi “who can do no wrong”.

Seeing through the government’s agenda to tire them down, the protesting farmers have been maintaining that they have no option but to continue with their agitation as the new farm laws are a “death warrant” on them.

As the protest at Delhi’s borders — particularly at Singhu and Tikri — gears to complete a month on Saturday, support for the movement has been growing and farmers from other states have been moving towards the capital in batches.

However, according to the AIKSCC, the Uttar Pradesh government in particular is leaving no stone unturned in trying to stop the farmers as the government and the BJP want to present the agitation as Punjab and Haryana-specific and not a nationwide one.