Save Agriculture, Save Democracy Day: Protests marred by detentions and lathi-charge!

Union and state governments in BJP-ruled states detained protesters across India, assembling in response to a call by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) to observe ‘Save Agriculture, Save Democracy Day’ on June 26, 2021.

Following seven months of nationwide protests, thousands of farmers marched to Raj Bhavans in different states as an expression of solidarity. As per farmers’ reports, a similar rally was carried out in Massachusetts, USA as well. However, unlike the Indian diaspora, dissenters in Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and other regions were barred from marching or submitting a memorandum addressed to the President or the Governor.

“Where was the need to stop protestors, when the administration already knew about SKM plans? It was only a matter of handing over a memorandum to the Governor and not allowing even this much is a reflection of the undeclared emergency and authoritarian times we are going through,” said SKM leader Balbir Singh Rajewal in a press release.

Citing specific instances, farmer leaders talked about the approximately 40,000 Punjab and Haryana farmers in Chandigarh who faced water cannons on Saturday.

Members had organised two separate 7-8 km long farmers’ rallies in Chandigarh and Punjab to present the memorandum. The Punjab front broke through police barricades and faced batons and water cannons.

In Uttarakhand’s Dehradun, Karnataka’s Bengaluru and other cities, Telangana’s Hyderabad, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal, police picked up protesting farmers from their assembly points.

Meanwhile, in Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow, a delegation of farmer leaders presented the memorandum to a designated official of the Raj Bhavan. Similarly, farmer representatives from Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha also successfully handed over memorandums.

In the national capital, Delhi protestors were initially not allowed to meet the Lieutenant Governor and taken to the Wazirabad Police Training Centre. Nonetheless, leaders succeeded in handing over the document after a virtual brief meeting. Earlier in the day, Coordinator of Delhi For Farmers was confined to her home even though Delhi Police had informed Coordinator Poonam Kaushik beforehand that the group could hold a dharna at Civil Lines Metro Station.

Other organisations like the AIDWA-SFI-DYFI jointly participated in the protest jatha at the Singhu border. A joint jatha of more than 70 members of AIKS-AIDWA-DYFI came to the Singhu border from Amritsar. The jatha marched through the border shouting slogans against “the anti-people Modi regime.” The public meeting was addressed by CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP from Kerala and AIAWU Joint Secretary V Sivadasan, Bachchan Singh, Mariam Dhawale, V P Sanu and Ranjit Kaur.

Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) leaders demanded the withdrawal of the three contentious farm laws and opposed petrol price hike during protests. They also demanded implementation of recommendations mentioned in the Swaminathan Report.

All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC) and the SKM parties also assembled in Kolkata, West Bengal. Leaders like Amal Haldar, Kartik Pal, Sameer Puttund condemned the central government for “handing over the agricultural marketing and storage and supply of essential commodities to the exclusive capitalists without consulting farmers

“The government wants to give legal recognition to contract farming for the purpose of enslaving farmers. As a result of all these laws, the agricultural system will be destroyed, black market will increase. There will be unlimited price increases. The misery of the poor and common people of the country will not end,” said the AIKSCC.

The SKM condemned the Centre, stating, “Instead of resolving this movement in a democratic way, the Modi government wants to destroy this movement in an undemocratic way and by force. Arresting protesters and supporters, disrupting social media and harassing them in various ways. In this case also the law is not being followed.”

Leaders lamented how intellectuals who are critical of the central government, are also not left out from this fate. They called it a state of undeclared emergency where agitators and supporters are labelled as traitors, Khalistani, Corona Super Spreader. However, farmers asserted that they will not end their struggle until their demands are met.