Farmers and Toilers in India Work Out How to Empower Themselves
Mahapanchayat in
Kheda Chobisi, April 16, 2024
Farmers in India are holding Mahapanchayats (mass meetings) and get-togethers in different parts of the country to discuss how to participate in the upcoming general election and raise their demands. In many areas they have launched campaigns based on the slogan Jawab Do, Hisab Do (Give us answers, we want accountability). When any politician of any party comes to a village, they ask them questions about what they have done to implement the farmers' demands and those of other toilers. In most cases, the politicians are not able to answer their questions and run away.
Another slogan which has been taken up is Chhaltantra Nahin Chalega (No more Deceptocracy). It can be heard when the politicians of the parties contending for office on behalf of private interests come to the villages. Farmers are pointing out that even if they defeat the present government, they will have to continue the fight because no matter which party comes to power, they have to implement the agreements signed by the Manmohan Singh government with the World Trade Organization, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund which opened the flood gates to hand over the lands of India to Adani, Ambani and others. Many farmers said that just because we are harvesting our produce, does not mean we will not continue our struggles. We will carry on our actions and prepare for coming battles.
April 17 marked the International Day of Peasant Struggles. Farmers across India held meetings and Mahapanchayats under the call Build Solidarity! Enough with the Genocide, Evictions and Violence! They declared, "Following our eighth international conference in December 2023, we, peasants, youth, women, men, and minorities, migrants, rural and landless workers, fisherfolk, and Indigenous Peoples, stand with renewed hope and strength, heightened awareness, unwavering commitment, organized unity, and determination to confront the multifaceted crises. United, we safeguard our Mother Earth against the grip of agribusiness multinationals, neo-colonialists, fascists, and repressive military forces. We will occupy the streets and all spaces to reaffirm our peasant path and strengthen food sovereignty."
Disinformation, deception and fraud in the form of election promises, manifestos, and guarantees by different parties of the ruling elite are filling the streets, airwaves and social media. Money is being spent by the ruling party as if there was no tomorrow. Prime Minister Modi proclaimed that India will become a world hub for all kinds of things. Nothing concrete. India Alliance is promising 10 million jobs. In a country where 83 per cent of the youth are unemployed, it's a cruel joke. Opposition parties are complaining about the heavy-handedness of the Modi government which is using state agencies to arrest and intimidate opposition candidates and parties. Many opposition party candidates have joined the ruling BJP because of fear of being raided. They are calling for free and fair elections and a level playing field.
In India, according to the World Inequality Report, 22 families own more wealth than 700 million people. The rule of billionaires has continued since 1947, no matter which party is in power or their slogans, be it socialism, secularism, liberalization, privatization, Third Way, Hindu Rashtra or others. The rich have grown richer and the poor have grown more numerous and poorer. What kind of level playing field is possible during elections in these conditions?
In liberal democracy, elections have never been and cannot be "free and fair" in the sense that people understand these words, nor can there be a level playing field because money speaks -- along with muscle, deception and disinformation. There is no enabling legislation that makes it possible for citizens to exercise their right to elect and be elected in a free and fair manner. The decks are stacked against them by money and muscle.
In the last general election in India political parties spent close to $8 billion to use the elections to disenfranchise, disinform and disempower the people. Various sections of the ruling elite complain of the lack of fair elections and a level playing field in order to capture the state for their own aims. None of these parties have any interest in empowering the people. Of course the people need an electoral system which empowers them but the ruling elite and their parties only talk to fool people by diverting them from drawing the warranted conclusion that the electoral process established by the British disempowers the people because their only role is to cast a ballot authorizing somebody else to speak and act in their name. Those people, authorized in this way, in fact speak and act for the rich.
The electoral process needs serious reform to democratize it. The system of first past the post has to go. Political parties should not be allowed to select candidates. People should select and elect candidates from their peers at work, in their neighbourhoods, offices, schools, etc. Elections should be publicly financed and no one should be allowed to spend money on elections. Mechanisms should be developed so that people can exercise their sovereignty without the mediation of representatives and parties over which they exercise no control and cannot hold to account.
This article was published in
Volume 54
Number 3 - April 2024
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2024/Articles/M5400326.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca