In Surprise Turnaround, PM Modi Agrees to Repeal Three Farm Laws
Asia News Agency
In a major surprise policy reversal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday announced that the government has decided to repeal the three farm laws, which were at the centre of protests by farmers for the past year, and appealed to the protesting farmers to return home.
Farmers had been protesting and were encamped at Delhi's borders since November 2020 with a demand that the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, Farmers' (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 be rolled back and a new law made to guarantee MSP for crops.
Addressing the nation on the occasion of Guru Nanak ‘Jayanti’ (anniversary of Guru Nanak, founder of Sikhism), Modi insisted that the laws were for the benefit of farmers. “Today, while apologising to the countrymen, I want to say with a sincere and pure heart that perhaps there must have been some deficiency in our efforts, due to which we could not explain the truth like the light of the lamp to some farmers).”
Noting that it was the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev, he said it was no occasion to blame anyone. "I have come to tell you that we have decided to repeal the three farm laws. In the upcoming Parliament session starting at the end of this month, we will complete the constitutional process to repeal the three farm laws," Modi said.
"I would request all my protesting farmer friends, today is the auspicious day of ‘Guru Purab’ (celebrates the birth of the first Sikh guru, Guru Nanak), return home, to your fields and family and make a new beginning, let us move forward afresh," he said.
The goal of the three farm laws was to empower farmers, especially small farmers, the prime minister said and went on to list various steps taken by his government for the welfare of small farmers and pointed out that the agriculture budget had risen by five times with over Rs 1.25 lakh crore being spent annually.
The Centre, which has held 11 rounds of formal dialogue with the farmers, had maintained that the new laws are pro-farmer, while protesters claim they would be left at the mercy of corporations because of the legislations.
Committee on issues related to agriculture: PM Modi also announced the formation of a committee comprising representatives of the central government, state governments, farmers, agricultural scientists and agricultural economists to ensure decisions on various issues related to agriculture, including making the minimum support price (MSP), are more “effective and transparent”.
During its previous term, the Modi government had withdrawn a contentious ordinance which was brought to amend the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (RFCTLARR) Act, 2013, in view of stiff opposition during its previous term.
Reactions
SKM welcomes decision; remains firm on other demands: The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of 40 farm unions, has welcomed PM’s move saying it will hold its meeting soon and announce further decisions.
The farmers' body however, said “the agitation of farmers is not just against the repeal of the three black laws, but also for a statutory guarantee to remunerative prices for all agricultural produce and for all farmers. This important demand of farmers is still pending," it said.
The SKM added that the demand of the withdrawal of the Electricity Amendment Bill is still pending. The farmers' body also said that nearly 700 farmers have been martyred in this struggle. "The central government's obstinacy is responsible for these avoidable deaths, including the murders at Lakhimpur Kheri,” SKM said in a statement.
Protest will end when farm laws repealed in Parliament: Tikait: Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait however, Friday said the ongoing anti-farm laws protest will be withdrawn only after the contentious legislations are repealed in Parliament. "The protest will not be withdrawn immediately, we will wait for the day when the farm laws are repealed in Parliament. Along with MSP, the government should talk to farmers on other issues too," Tikait tweeted.
The Left parties, RJD, TMC and AAP have all welcomed the repeal of the three farm laws.
Congress: ‘arrogance bow its head’, Rahul Gandhi: The country's 'annadatas' (providers of food) have made "arrogance bow its head" through ‘satyagraha' (peaceful sit-ins), Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said and described the Centre's decision to repeal the farm laws as a "victory against injustice".
Difficult to believe his intentions, Priyanka Gandhi: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said sensing defeat in the upcoming polls suddenly the PM has started realising the reality of the country that it has been built by farmers. "It's difficult to believe your intentions and your changing attitude," she said.
"Six hundred farmers martyred, more than 350 days of struggle, Narendra Modi ji your minister's son crushed the farmers to death, you didn't care."
"Your party leaders insulted the farmers and called them terrorists, traitors, goons, miscreants, you yourself called them ‘andolanjeevi' (protestors), beat them with sticks, arrested them," the Congress general secretary in-charge Uttar Pradesh alleged.
"Now, sensing defeat in polls, you have suddenly started to realise the reality of this country -- this country has been built by farmers, it is a country of farmers, they are the real protectors of the country and no government can run the country by trampling upon the interests of the farmers," Priyanka Gandhi said in her tweet in Hindi.
Politcal motives
While no official reason has been cited, Harikishan Sharma (Editor In Chief · 4WEB MEDIA) writes “the decision comes just ahead of the Winter Session of Parliament that is scheduled to commence on November 29. In the last session of Parliament, the opposition attacked the government strongly over the laws, and it led to acrimony and impacted the functioning of the Houses.
“Also, the Prime Minister has made his announcement before the announcement of crucial Assembly elections in five states — Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Goa. The BJP’s performance in the civic polls in Punjab earlier this year, and in Assembly byelections in Haryana were dismal.”
The BJP will hope that the decision to repeal the three laws will cancel out the political headwinds it has encountered in Punjab and western Uttar Pradesh.
The decision will also help former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh in sealing his expected alliance with the BJP for the polls.
Impact on Punjab’s political scene
The surprise announcement, writes Ramesh Vinayak (Executive Editor, HindustanTimes) “is sure to impact the political dynamics in the poll-bound border state (of Punjab) where the assembly election is slated for early next year.” Vinayak explains.
- Reprieve for BJP: “A closure on the year-old agitation comes as a major breather for the saffron party, which was facing farmers’ ire on the ground in Punjab. The farm laws not only led to rupture of its 24-year-old poll alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), which walked out of the National Democratic Alliance government last year, but also made it the target of the wrath of the Sikh peasantry in rural Punjab. Now, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is expected to leverage Modi’s gesture, which came two days after the Centre’s move to reopen the Kartarpur corridor for Sikh pilgrims to Pakistan and regain the ground it lost in the Sikh constituency.”
- Congress claims credit: The ruling Congress in Punjab, which has consistently opposed the farm laws and passed assembly resolutions rejecting the central legislation twice has been quick to claim credit for ‘forcing’ the Modi government to relent……In the opposition space, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Akalis will be competing with the Congress in crediting the farmers for “victory”.
- Relief for Akalis: “The repeal of the laws has opened possibilities of new political alignments and alliances in Punjab. It is a major relief for the Shiromani Akali Dal…….The Akalis can now hope to recover the political ground they lost in their traditional bastion of farmers.” Political analysts do not rule out the possibility of the SAD and the BJP warming up to each other.
- Possible Amarinder Singh-BJP tie-up: “The repeal of farm laws opens up the window for a poll tie-up between breakaway Congress leader and former chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh who has floated a new party Punjab Lok Congress and hinted at seat-sharing with the BJP in case there is a resolution of the farm issues.”
- X-factor of farmer organisations: The 32 bodies comprising the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), most of them rooted in Punjab, will be in a triumphant mode over the repeal of the farm laws…” They “will be an X-factor at the Punjab hustings.”
Unrelenting farmers forced the decision
Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta (Deputy Editor at The Wire) presents arguments to suggest that the decision to repeal the farm laws was a result of pressure brought about by the farmer movement. “Until now had been unrelenting, with none other than Modi himself scornfully calling the protesting farmers “andolan jeevi (those who live off agitations)” in the floor of the parliament. The BJP machinery attempted to brand the farmers’ agitation as one led by Khalistani separatists and funded by terrorist groups…….At every stage of the agitations, the BJP-led government attempted to crush the farmers’ movement……..More than 600 protesting farmers died during the agitations. Several were booked under harsh laws. The government used its police machinery to disrupt the movement. The Singhu and Tikri borders of Delhi, where the farmers had been staging demonstrations, were practically turned into open prisons. Following the Republic Day march by farmers early this year, the police came down heavily on some of the farmers’ leaders. Yet, the farmers remained steadfast in their resolve to continue with the protests……..”
Mahaprashasta suggests the government’s decision to repeal the farm laws was a result of the pressure that the farmers brought about on it.
Movement brought together many communities: The other dynamic of the farmer movement was that “in the last few months, the farmers’ agitation progressed into becoming a political movement against BJP’s polarising tactics. It helped heal the tensions between Jats and Muslims – the two communities torn apart in the aftermath of 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots – in western UP. The movement became the platform for bringing together many communities.………”
There is obviously a political aspect - elections in UP and other states, argues Mahaprashasta “that triggered the decision of the government.”
