Departure from the Farmers’ Bill – Election Ploy - Early Times Newspaper Jammu Kashmir

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Departure from the Farmers’ Bill – Election Ploy

Mahadeep Singh Jamwal

11/20/2021 10:31:05 PM

The announcement of Prime Minister on Friday, 9 November 2021, that the three contentious agriculture laws; ‘Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020’, ‘Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020’, and ‘Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020’ introduced by the present government in the month of September 2020, amid raging COVID-19 pandemic will be repealed in the upcoming Parliament Session is not a voluntarily decision out of realization of putting bad laws that turned out to be cause of death of hundreds of innocent agitating farmers but realization of losing much in forthcoming elections in five states. The central government’s decision regarding repealing of the three new contentious agri-laws over which farmers across India have been protesting for nearly a year can be a good story for a common man but those who can critically analyze the gimmicks of the politicians can well understand that after maintaining arrogance for one year, that claimed hundreds of precious life, many committing suicide for the cause, it is the election strategy in view of forthcoming elections that predicted to be slipping from BJP folio. The BJP-led Central Government, have been maintaining that the new farm laws will bring better opportunities for farmers and usher in new technologies in agriculture but agitating farmers have been smelling corporate interest in these bills. The announcement of repealing the three antagonistic farm bills has ushered in that ‘this is proof workers can defeat corporate interests.’ The trickery of words of apologizing from the country men for the contentious farm laws along with repealing the announcement is a dangling exercise for exhibition of great heart but this toss will bounce back with negative results. But the move apparently does not testify the realization of farmers genuinely inspired by a change of heart but obligated by jitters of elections. The people have yet in their memories when BJP called some protesters taking part in the farmers’ agitation ‘’terrorists’’. None other than the PM have been taking jives at those steering the farmer’s agitation by branding them as ‘Andolan-Jivi’. There had been concerted efforts by rightwing propagandists to defame farmers protesting against the three agriculture laws by labeling them ‘Khalistanis’. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had been leveling that the Khalistani agenda was being propagated under the garb of the Punjab farmers’ agitation. The government’s agenda to quell the farmers’ protest by hook or by crook ultimately dashed to the ground and indicators of losing in the forthcoming elections in five states panicked the BJP cadre and announcement of repealing the contentious agriculture laws is a pomander to make political ground aromatic for the BJP. Several experts have opined that farm laws are a step in the right direction. However, there are many others who were not in support of the new laws. There has been arrogance in the power corridor and it never thought of bridging the gap between government and agitators that widened the gap of great communication failure on the part of the Centre to explain to the farmers how these laws could help them. It stuck to the principle of tyranny of the majority and pursued its own objectives. We know from the most rudimentary reading of history that some people are power-hungry in the extreme and they can go to any extent to grab power even by crushing the welfare of its own subjects and we cannot isolate the present scenario. For them their own words are absolutely right and they present themselves as Demi-Gods but in democracy it is the election time only that many political stalwarts, arrogant and hubris kneel down with folded hands before the voters and exactly the forthcoming elections in five states have brought arrogance to kneeling down position and to apologizing level.
But we have to introspect whether it is enough for those hundreds who lost their life for the reasons that appear genuine to these political hawks only when elections are round the corner in five states and apprehensions of losing them hovering over them.
The poor sections of the society are thrown out of the justice delivery system. Under these situations the word ‘Rule of Law’ strikes us that in simple words can be conceptualized as that the state is governed, not by the ruler or the nominated representatives of the people but by the law. More understandable that the people (including the government) should be ruled by the law and obey it and that the law should be such that people will be willingly able to be guided by it. The non-seriousness of this political party also trickles when such announcements that require pre-approval of Cabinet are made like someone attracting customers for his product on streets and is an eye opener that the ways the announcements of laws made and repealed without prior Cabinet approval doesn’t qualify the sanctity of democratic norms but the bad smell of dictatorship.

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