Vice President’s Concern For Farmers: Voice Of The Heart Or The Hurt Voice? ----- JAG MOHAN THAKEN
VicePresident’s Concern For Farmers: Voice Of The Heart Or The Hurt Voice?
The
farmers of Punjab under the banner of Kisan Majdoor Morcha (KMM) and Samyukta
Kisan Morcha (SKM, non-political) are agitating for fulfilment of their long
pending demands, including guarantee for MSP for more than ten months, but not
to talk about the acceptance of their demands, the farmers are being stopped
even to enter Haryana for their ‘Delhi Chalo’ march by using teargas and water
cannon in the chilling cold of December.
The State
Committee of Bharatiya Kisan Union Ekta Dakoanda, in a statement issued to
media, strongly condemning the Haryana Police's repression of farmers who
started marching peacefully from Sambhu border to Delhi with a group of 101
farmers, referred that earlier many ministers and leaders of Bharatiya Janata
Party had said that farmers can go to Delhi if they do not bring tractors, but
now they are not being allowed to go to Delhi even on foot. The organization
said that this has exposed the fascist and anti-farmer face of the Bharatiya
Janata Party.
The
General Secretary of the All-India Congress Committee, former Union Minister,
and MP from Sirsa, Kumari Selja has also condemned the police action, “It is
condemnable to forcibly stop farmers marching peacefully to Delhi demanding a
law guaranteeing MSP (Minimum Support Price), by resorting to lathi-charge and
firing tear gas shells. The oppressive policies adopted by the government are
not the solution to farmers' problems. If the government genuinely wants to
resolve the issues faced by farmers, it should engage in dialogue with them.”
Here the noteworthy
thing is that the India’s Vice-President, Jagdeep Dhankhar himself is also expressing
his rage over the inaction of the government for neglecting the demands of the
farmers.
The Vice-President
comments with a disheartened voice – “There was a movement last year, there is
a movement this year too, the wheel of time is turning, we are not doing
anything. Farmers in distress and farmers in agitation do not augur well for the
overall well-being of the Nation.”
Supporting
the MSP demand of the farmers, The Vice-President warns, “We are not practical,
our policy making is not on the right track. Farmers need a law that guarantees
MSP. Look with an open mind, think with an open mind, and evaluate. And it
pains me that the well-wishers of the farmers are silent today, they shy away
from speaking. No power in the country can stifle the voice of the farmers. A
nation will pay a huge price, if it tries the patience of a farmer.”
Vice-President
Jagdeep Dhankhar’s address on December 3,2024, at the Centenary Foundation Day
of Indian Council of Agricultural Research -Central Institute for Research on
Cotton Technology (ICAR-CIRCOT), Mumbai has not only astonished the
political analysts, but also perplexed them. How and why the Vice-President
expressed his voice of heart which ripped to pieces the farmer policy of his
own government even in the presence of Union Agriculture Minister, Shiv Raj Chauhan?
Why did he changed his tune and tone irrespective of his staunch faithfulness
in the government, which throned him to the present chair? Whether his heart
really has lineage towards the aggrieved farmers or he has some other specific
agenda? Shocking thing was that he raised some conscience piercing questions.
Indicating
towards the Agricultural Research Institutes, the Vice-President said that in a
country of 1.4 billion people, a network of such institutions, dotting every
nook and corner of the country, covering every activity of agronomy, ‘What is
happening? Has the farmer's scenario changed? What is reaching the farmer?’
“If the
institutions were alive and contributing, this situation would never have
arisen. These are the questions before you and us.”
He asked,
“We need to look inside as to why we have not been able to do this till now. Is
agriculture not developing in the world? Is technology not coming? This is a
matter to think about.”
Mr
Dhankhar asserted, “Whatever is done for the farmers is less. Whatever you do
for the farmers will have an impact on the country, in a positive way. When I
look at the institutions and see where their impact is?”
Showing his concern towards the aggrieved farmers,
Vice-President said, “If farmers are protesting today, it would be a big
misunderstanding and mistake to assess that movement in a limited way. The
farmers who are not on the road are also worried and troubled today.”
Mr. Dhankhar warned the government for its
lethargic attitude towards farmers, “We cannot fight with our own people, we
cannot put our own people in a situation where they are wondering how long they
will fight. We cannot have the mindset that their stay will be limited and they
will get tired on their own.”
Quoting
farmer leader, Jagjit
Singh Dallewal’s message, the Vice-President asked the Union Agriculture
Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan, “Honourable Agriculture Minister, what did he
say, what is his message for me? His message is - why was the promise made to
the farmers not fulfilled?”
Mr.
Dhankhar further asked, “We all should know, was any promise made to the
farmers? Honourable Agriculture Minister, did the agriculture minister who was
before you make any promise in writing? If he did make a promise, then what
happened to it?”
The
Vice-President advised the agriculture minister, “The challenge for you is that
when any government makes a promise and that promise is linked to the farmer,
then we should never leave any stone unturned. The farmer is respectable for
us, he is worth remembering in the dawn, he is always revered. I myself am a
farmer's son, I know what all the farmer does not bear, and he is our provider
of food.”
Commenting
on ignoring the farmers’ demands, Mr. Dhankhar said, “Hey, instead of giving
reward, we are not paying what is due. We are being stingy even in giving what
was promised, and I don't understand why talks are not being held with the
farmers?”
“Can we
create a boundary between the farmer and the government? Why is this happening,
why is my farmer worried? Why is he suffering? Why is the farmer
stressed?” These lines seem to show that
the Vice-President is heartedly worried about the plight of the farmers, but
will the central government listen to the voice of his hurted heart?
The Vice-President’s
heart seems to burst, when he says, “The farmer is alone and helpless. He
doesn't decide what he can decide. Agriculture Minister, every moment of yours
is important. I request you and the person in the second position under the
Indian Constitution is requesting you to please tell me what was promised to
the farmer and what was promised, why was it not fulfilled and what should we
do to fulfil the promise?”
Now the
question arises, whether the central government will heed towards the painful
voice of the second highest throned person or will it remain unheard like a cry
in the wilderness (Nakkarkhaane Mein Tuti Ki Aawaaz)?
What a
surprise! Why and how the hardcore stand of the Vice-President suddenly
softened? Hardly the morning wet dried, the Vice-President changed his tone.
Though Mr. Dhankhar roared like a wounded lion in his address at ICAR, but just
within three days, he praised Shiv Raj Chauhan stating him ‘Kisan Ladala’ (farmers’
dear) in Rajya Sabha, but what made him to change his tone, is perplexing the
people. K P Malik, a Delhi based senior journalist raises his doubts, “The
barrage of questions that His Excellency Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar had
hurled at Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Chauhan three days ago turned out
to be just a farce. According to Dhankhar ji, perhaps all the problems of the
farmers on which His Excellency had raised questions were resolved in three
days. That is why he has taken a U-turn! Now what is the reason for taking a
U-turn? Has he received some dose or has Shivraj Singh solved all the problems
of the farmers? That is why His Excellency has given Shivraj Singh a new name
‘Kisanon ka Laadla’.”
The
All-India Kisan Sabha National Vice President Inderjeet Singh also smells some
doubts in the concerns shown by Mr. Dhankhar, “The so-called concern of VP
Dhankhar towards grievances of farmers is acceptance of the plight of peasantry
in the wake of deepening agrarian crisis. But his utterances should not be
taken on face value in the background of his abject silence all through the
13-month farmers agitation against three farm laws.
Apart from this he displayed very unsavoury
conduct while describing the concern of opposition party MPs as crocodile tears
when presiding over Rajya Sabha proceedings the other day.”
What the reality is? Will it come out with the passage of time or remain buried under the dark blanket of political helplessness? JAG MOHAN THAKEN EDITOR THE GROUND POST
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