(Written by Javed Iqbal Wani)
Over the past year, the farmers have demonstrated the power of popular determination against an arrogant and defiant government. The peasant movement has proved that the revolutionary spirit of the “peasant” was not diminished by the advent of new networks of capital. It has established that the “peasant consciousness” in the country remains intellectually sharp, socially sensitive and politically extremist. Contrary to the farmer’s image as a marginalized figure in history, recent peasant protests have proved that they are very central to the discourse of democracy in India.
The tone of the Prime Minister’s address on November 20, 2021, announcing the decision to repeal three agricultural laws, highlighted his unease with the farmers’ victory and refused to acknowledge that their persistence had dented their pride. Have given. The prime minister has repeatedly resorted to the ascetic (fakir) imagery to make his political posture acceptable to the wider public. He aspires to gain a better moral authority to hide the shortcomings of his short-sighted politics. The context of his own politics as tapasya (devotion/penance) requires some investigation. When a government fails to crush a democratic and popular movement with full power and authority, it speaks volumes of the discipline and dedication of the movement. In the spirit of democracy and justice, it was the peasants whose protest deserved to be called austerity, as it brought back many old structures of inclusive and democratic politics in the face of various difficulties. In the face of riots becoming an increasingly effective expression of collective action in India, the peasant movement turned to rights and inclusion in democratic decision-making as a source of energy for itself. Against endless negative publicity, police brutality and embarrassment in the name of religion, the farmers stood firm and responded with clarity, honesty and perseverance.
It is pertinent to note that the revolutionary sentiment of the peasantry was recorded by the ruling government as reactionary and anti-national only a short time ago. It is an improvement that the Prime Minister has recently declared them vacant. His recent address, announcing the repeal of three agriculture laws, put a burden of “misunderstanding” on farmers. If one pays attention to the layers of the Prime Minister’s political message, his delayed apology is not intended to address the plight of the farmers, but to appease the inability of his political power to achieve his goal. However, in the end, the determination of the democratic and popular far outweighed the arrogance of those in power.
The farmers have instilled our faith in some forgotten lessons in popular politics. The right of the people is never terminated by the government. Governments view popular protests as politically unfair and unfair. However, popular politics highlights collective responsibility as it demands a response from the people, civil society and the state. It gives agency to democracy because it activates the democratic and popular rather than simply “being there”, relying on an institution that is increasingly controlled and partial to the ruling system.
In contrast to the growing trend of populist politics, which is introverted and exclusionary in nature, democratic politics is extrovert and is not threatened by inclusion. In fact, inclusion is the moral of democratic politics. Reliance only on radical nationalism, where defining, classifying, humiliating and destroying perceived threats is the primary agenda, leads to the real challenges that politics face. In contrast, popular democratic rebellions, challenging the ethnic outlook of a nation, confront the narrow view that only a one-sided movement of institutional decision-making deserves legitimacy. Democratic politics takes people back to discourse by questioning legitimacy and authority, and celebrating diversity and difference. On November 27, 2021, with the passage of the Agricultural Laws Repealing Bill, 2021 and the important issue of MSP and various written assurances from the government on protection from punitive measures against the protesters, the victory of farmers was recorded in history. Of history By repealing the three agriculture bills, the farmers have done a great service to the nation by not only saving the farmers but also the democracy. Farmers protesting on the borders of Delhi and elsewhere have returned to their homes, leaving behind an assurance that democracy has finally defeated autocracy.
(The author is presently Assistant Professor at Ambedkar University, Delhi)
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