After
the jan-sansad on Jantar Mantar by farmers and a two day dharna
by Anna Hazare in protest of the proposed Land Acquisition Bill in the third
week of March, Congress too has jumped in, albeit quite late, to shed its
crocodile tears for the Indian farmers. This week huge hoardings of Sonia and
Rahul came up at every nook and corner of the NCR, appealing farmers to
assemble at the Ramlila Ground tomorrow (19th April)- “Kisanon
kee aawaaz na dabee hai aur na ise hum dabane denge” (Voice of farmers
have never been muzzled nor will we let anyone muzzle it)- resolves the party.
However, the resolve carries no weight among people, far less among the
farmers, for whom it is meant, as I could judge from the mood and reaction of
general public. The show is destined to be a damp squib. People are not
interested in this rally as they know that it more of a re-launch event for Rahul
(version 2) post his 58 days hibernation, rather than show of solidarity for
the farmer’s issues. That the “rajkumar” has returned from a well spent
holiday on foreign shores in the garb of self introspection is also well known
to public. Congress is completely cut off from ground realities. It’s a pity
that it refuses to come out of its safe cocoon and has turned a blind eye to the
fact that today they are on a different turf and in a different time. You can
fool some people for some time but not all the people for all the time. How can
they still take people for granted is what amazes me. Do they really consider
people so stupid?
Farmers
and issues related to farm automatically becomes the favourite political tool of
the party in opposition- this is understood by even the most innocent of farmer.
In the Hindi-heartland farming is pursued only by them who don’t have a better
option. No wonder there is large scale exodus of farmers from Hindi heartland
to metropolitan in search of jobs, since farming no longer remains a profitable
and sustainable career. This is a serious poser for our policy makers, who
need to look into the issue that is marring the Indian Agriculture and forcing
farmers towards suicide. Neither the previous regime nor the present regime has
been able to tackle one single issue of farmers’ suicides, let alone addressing
other grave issues that the Indian agriculture faces today. The Ministry, institutions
like ICAR and State Agricultural Universities and the NGOs associated with
agriculture and agricultural research have not been able to come up with one
single techniques of sustainable agriculture that makes agriculture a
sustainable career so as to check farmers’ migration to metropolitan in search
of a livelihood or that addresses the issue of farmers’ suicide. The nation’s image is built up internationally
not on what our leaders have to say on international forums, but on how they
succeed in tackling issues back home. And the failure of successive Governments
in controlling and stopping farmers from committing suicide puts the caliber of
our leaders and the pride of our nation in the dock, internationally and makes
them a butt of ridicule. It only reveals the extent of our poverty- poverty of
the nation in economic terms as well as poverty of leaders in terms of vision to tackle national problems.
A slogan such as “Jai Jawaan Jai Kisaan” no longer infuses any positivity
in farmers. We need to do something substantial for their welfare.
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