Farmers hold their Kisan Sansad
(Farmers Parliament) in Jantar Mantar in New
Delhi.
The fight of the farmers in India to repeal
three anti-farm laws and for their rights
continues unabated with more and more
initiatives being taken by the farmers, while
the government's attempts to defeat them meet
one failure after another.
On July 22, the farmers inaugurated a Farmers
Parliament (Kisan Sansad) near the Indian
parliament in Delhi to discuss in the open the
problems of farmers and the anti-farmer laws.
The Farmers Parliament started with a moment of
silence to pay tribute to more than 560 farmers
who have died during the protests at the
encampments. The farmers have announced that a
memorial to the more than 560 farmers who have
died on the borders of Delhi in the last eight
months will be built at the Singhu border.
The farmers then explained one of the laws
clause by clause and how it goes against the
farmers. Speakers pointed out that these laws
will bring misery to all people by making food
out of their reach. Representatives of the
farmers said that this parallel parliament of
farmers and peoples is deliberating on the
concerns of the people, while the parliament
across the street is acting against the
interests of farmers and others. Every day 200
farmers belonging to 40 farmers' unions come
from their encampments to participate. The
Farmers Parliament will continue as long as the
monsoon session of parliament continues, they
say.
On July 26, the Farmers Parliament was convened
by 200 women from all parts of India. Wearing
the colours of the farmers, they deliberated on
the Essential Commodities Act which
allows for unlimited storage of essential
commodities and leaves all the people at the
mercy of big monopolies who buy cheap, hoard
food and sell it at very high prices. The women
analyzed the consequences of this law and
condemned it.
Women convene the Kisan
Sansad, July 26, 2021.
Farmers also announced Mission Uttar Pradesh
and Uttarakhand, to take the farmers' movement
to the villages of these two states. They will
organize public discussions about the farm laws
in each and every village and call on people to
defeat the ruling party.
Even in the pouring rain, the Farmers
Parliament continues deliberating on the
concerns of the people and the anti-farmer laws,
while the parties of the ruling elite carry on
their circus inside the parliament buildings,
the talk shop of the rich.
After farmers issued a "peoples whip" to
members of parliament belonging to opposition
parties, these parliamentarians shouted slogans
in parliament in support of the farmers at the
opening of the monsoon session, which was
adjourned for a day. Farmers have raised a
slogan Chuppi Chhodo Ya Kursi Chhodo (Break
Silence or Vacate the Seat). In order to
hoodwink people again, the leaders of the Akali
Dal, the Congress Party and others protested
outside the entrance of parliament under the
pressure of the farmers' movement.
Non-Resident Indians in many countries around
the world organized sleep-outs in support of the
farmers in India. Hundreds of people spent the
night outdoors in Times Square, New York, in
Trafalgar Square, London and in many other
cities. Every day of the week rallies, meetings
and manifestations are taking place across the
globe. In Boston, a rally is being held every
Saturday to support the Indian farmers.
A study conducted by a former chief economic
adviser to the Modi government, who is on the
faculty at Harvard University, reported that
COVID-19 deaths in India may be 10 times higher
than officially reported. "True deaths are
likely to be in the several millions not
hundreds of thousands, making this arguably
India's worst human tragedy since Partition and
independence," the report said. Disinformation,
fraud and deception are the standard operating
procedure of the Indian government. A minister
in Modi's cabinet claimed in the upper house of
Parliament that no one has died in India due to
lack of oxygen.
On July 31, the
farmers and Non-Resident Indians around the
world commemorated the 81st anniversary of the
martyrdom of Shaheed Udham Singh. Udham Singh
was hanged on July 31, 1940 in Pentonville Jail
in England for killing Michael O'Dwyer known as
the butcher of Punjab. O'Dwyer was Lieutenant
Governor of Punjab when he ordered the massacre
in Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar in 1919, killing
thousands of people in cold blood. All across
the world, the life and work of Udham Singh
continues to inspire the youth and others in
India, and in other parts of the world.
After killing O'Dwyer, Udham Singh surrendered
to the police saying, "[...] For full 21 years,
I have been trying to seek vengeance. I am happy
that I have done the job. I am not scared of
death. I am dying for my country. I have seen my
people starving in India under the British rule.
I have protested against this, it was my duty.
What greater honour could be bestowed on me than
death for the sake of my motherland?"
Udham Singh's statement to the court was
classified by the British government after the
trial and only declassified in 1996. He said in
court, "I am standing before an English jury. I
am in an English court. You people go to India
and when you come back you are given a prize and
put in the House of Commons. We come to England
and we are sentenced to death. [...] But when
you dirty dogs come to India there comes a time
when you will be cleaned out of India. All your
British Imperialism will be smashed."
"Machine guns on the streets of India mow down
thousands of poor women and children wherever
your so-called flag of democracy and
Christianity flies.
"Your conduct, your conduct -- I am talking
about the British government. I have nothing
against the English people at all. I have more
English friends living in England than I have in
India. I have great sympathy with the workers of
England. I am against the Imperialist
Government."
"You people are suffering -- workers. Everyone
are suffering through these dirty dogs; these
mad beasts. India is only slavery. Killing,
mutilating and destroying -- British
Imperialism. People do not read about it in the
papers. We know what is going on in India."
The farmers in the encampments around Delhi
commemorated the anniversary of Udham Singh's
martyrdom by paying tribute to his life and
work. Many farmers called upon people to follow
the determination of Udham Singh.
July 28 marked
the 51st anniversary of the assassination of
Baba Bujha Singh at the ripe old age of 82. He
was killed by the Indian state in a fake
encounter in the late hours of the night. Bujha
Singh was leader of the farmers, communists and
Ghadar Party. To this day no one has ever been
punished for this state-sanctioned murder.
Thousands of young men and old leaders were
killed by the Congress government in Delhi in
the 1970s in fake encounters. Institutionalized
by the Congress Party, these have been carried
out by CPI(M), Akalis, BJP and other party
governments as well. Genocide in Punjab in the
1980s and 1990s was supported by the entire
party system of government. Many people noted
the parallels between Father Stan Swamy's murder
in early July and Baba Bujha Singh's killing.
Farmers paid tribute to Baba Bujha Singh at a
memorial meeting held in his village, where a
monument stands in his memory.
July 28 was also the 49th anniversary of the
custodial killing of Charu Mazumdar, General
Secretary of the Communist Party of India
(Marxist-Leninist) before it split into many
factions following his death. He was killed in
prison by the Indian government after being
arrested in Kolkata without any charges laid or
trial held. In the mid 1960s Charu Mazumdar
wrote eight articles analyzing the Indian
society and state that inspired millions of
peasants, who rose up against their oppression
and were brutally crushed. He analyzed that the
people of India who shed torrents of blood for
freedom from the British, did not achieve what
they had fought for. The anti-people Indian
state is in the service of big monopolies and
big landlords, he pointed out. To their shame,
today some who claim to be followers of Charu
Mazumdar shout that the democracy in India is
the "greatest achievement of the independence
movement."
This article was published in
Volume 51 Number 8 - August 1, 2021
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2021/Articles/M5100814.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
