Sukhjit Singh's Blog, page 7
December 11, 2020
SAMWAD
Stage is set. In his elements – he has a stage and a devoted audience – he is in full flow.
“Guru Nanak Devji ne, aur badi sateek baat kahi hai, Guru Nanak Dev ji ne bhi kaha hai, jab lag duniya rahi ai nanak kichhoo suniye kichhoo kahiye. Yani, jab tak sansar rahe tab tak samvad chalte rehna chahiye.”
Samwad - Discussion, Dialog, Conversation.
What he wants to say to you farmers, hiding behind Nanak’s words, is that please continue with the discussions.
Where was Samwad when at the height of the pandemic, the ordinances were brought it?
Where was Samwad when despite opposition from the farming community, and opposition in the parliament, these bills were bulldozed though without a proper vote?
Where was Samwad when the elderly sat on railway tracks, and roads for over two months?
Where was Samwad, when the govt issued ultimatum that no goods train (and hence no fertilizers for farmers) without allowing passenger trains?
Where was Samwad when the tear guns were fired, and water cannon jets launched?
Dear farmers, what he wants to say to you, hiding behind Nanak’s words, is that please continue with the discussions, while every possible resource at the state’s disposal - mainstream media, Joseph Goebbels of our times the BJP IT Cell, govt ministers and party members – continue to discredit you, your movement, give it a color of separatism, and in general wait for you to tire and go back.
Whoever advised him to use Nanak’s words – should have looked at what Nanak said just one line before.
naam khasam kaa chit na kee-aa kaptee kapat kamaanaa.
The deceitful person does not remember the Lord's Name; he practices only deceit.
15 DAYS. 15 MARTYRS.
“The farmers’ struggle is not a picnic with lavish langars or macho songs, it is a battle being waged at a high cost. In the past two weeks, on an average, one dead body is coming back every day to Punjab from the Singhu and Tikri borders of Delhi, but the government is lingering on the issue.” The Tribune (10 Dec 20)
ਯਾਰ ਮੇਰੇ ਜੁ ਇਸਆਸ ‘ਤੇ ਮਰਗਏ
ਕਿ ਮੈਂ ਉਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਦੇਦੁੱਖ ਦਾ ਬਣਾਵਾਂਗਾਗੀਤ
ਜੇ ਮੈਂ ਚੁੱਪ ਹੀਰਿਹਾ ਜੇ ਮੈਂਕੁਝ ਨਾ ਕਿਹਾ
ਬਣਕੇ ਰੂਹਾਂ ਸਦਾ ਭਟਕਦੇਰਹਿਣਗੇ ।
ਕੁਝ ਕਿਹਾ ਤਾਂ ਹਨੇਰਾ ਜਰੇਗਾ ਕਿਵੇਂ
ਚੁੱਪ ਰਿਹਾ ਤਾਂ ਸ਼ਮਾਦਾਨ ਕੀ ਕਹਿਣਗੇ ।
My friends who died with this hope,
That I will remember their sorrows in my songs,
If I stay silent, if I don’t speak up,
Their spirits will wander forever astray.
If I speak, how can the darkness stand,
If I stay silent, what will the torchbearers say?
#StandWithFarmers
#SpeakUpForFarmers
SPEAK UP FOR FARMERS
‘What a waste of money?’ I would think whenever a tractor would pass, with speakers and sound system to compete with DJs, leaving meaningless words of meaningless songs in its wake.
How wrong they have proved me!
The words are changing. The beats are changing.
The same speakers are now singing the songs of revolution.
Welcome to Revolution 2020.
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ਕਿਰਤ ਦੀ ਲੁੱਟ, ਸਭ ਤੋਂ ਖਤਰਨਾਕ ਨਹੀਂ ਹੁੰਦੀ
ਸਭ ਤੋਂ ਖਤਰਨਾਕ ਹੁੰਦਾਹੈ, ਮੁਰਦਾ ਸ਼ਾਂਤੀ ਨਾਲ ਭਰਜਾਣਾ
ਨਾ ਹੋਣਾ ਤੜਪ ਦਾ, ਸਭ ਕੁਝ ਸਹਿਣ ਕਰ ਜਾਣਾ
Robbery of our hard work, is not the most dangerous act
The most dangerous act is to be filled with dead silence,
Not feeling any agony against the unjust and bearing it all.
-Paash
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Farmers have so far protested peacefully, graciously and with tremendous heart. But mainstream media and ‘the IT Cell’ will speak their master’s language only.
Please be the farmer’s IT cell and question, challenge, counter the IT cell propaganda.
BJP IT Cell is the new Joseph Goebbels. Question, Challenge, Counter it.
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#SpeakUpForFarmers
December 5, 2020
THE GREATER COMMON GOOD
For decades, millions of faceless, voiceless, powerless citizens of this country have done their part for the greater common good - the forest dwellers when the nation needed minerals under their homes, the tribes and villages falling in the floodplains of ‘temples of modern India’ – dams, the farmers whose agricultural lands and homes fell in the path of ‘highways’ and ‘towns’ to development – the list is long. And as these millions left their homes to walk towards uncertain futures, the intelligentsia, perched up in their ivory towers, consoled their rapidly dying consciences with their belief in greater common good.
And now, as the farmers surround Delhi, some of the same intelligentsia are rushing to point out their problems with the farmers’ demands, their disagreement with the farmers’ methods, their apprehensions on national security, etc. etc. To the same intelligentsia I say this – if you don’t agree with farmers, so be it. But look around, try to see if that conscience still exists inside and see the bigger problems – the threat to the social fabric of this country, the threat to the scientific temper of its citizenry, the threat to the constitutional values of this republic - and then try to comprehend the real reasons of why this fight matters – of how it is bringing its citizenry together to fight a well-oiled, well-sponsored machine that divides, of how it is fighting and pushing back the state that only believes in bulldozing anyone that challenges its actions, of how the young and old, men and women, of all castes and creeds stand shoulder to shoulder serenading awake the conscience of this nation. And once you have taken a good look – shut up. Shut up for the greater common good.
#FarmersProtest
#SpeakUpForFarmers
BHARAT MATA KI JAI
Seen her?
Probably, in the usual places they make you look. The one in paint by Aabindranath Tagore. Or, the one in stone, in many temples dedicated to her. Or, most likely, the one on every ‘akhand bharat’ poster where she stands beautifully erect, next to her lion.
Or, maybe, Mother India Nargis ploughing the fields?
Mohinder Kaur remembers her age as 80-85years, a few years shy of what real life Nargis would have been today. In the video below, the interviewer asks her, “Thodi dhooyi vich kub kiven pai geya?” ‘How did you get a bent back?’
Mohinder Kaur – ‘Khetibadi karde rahein. Kirsani. Bande nu saah ho janda. Bachche niyane si. Fer mainu moohre lagna peya.” ‘Doing farm work. Husband had asthma, kids were young, so I took the lead.’ When asked what all she used to do, she remembers with excitement making mud channels to water her fields and harvesting wheat and cotton with her hands.
She dismisses the unnecessary controversy created around her photo from a protest she participated in against the farm laws.
Interviewer – “Hun thoda Delhi jaan da koi vichar hai?” ‘Do you have any plans for going to Delhi?’ Watch her straighten that bent back, an energy courses through her body, and a passion enter her words “Main ta hun tur joon delhi.” “I will march to Delhi right now.”
She has no lion. She walks with the help of a stick.
“Desh di seva hi kar diye.” “Let me serve my country.”
“Apni Khushi naal gayi saan…. Kirsana di… Bacheyan di.. Sewa layi” ‘I go happily to serve farmers and my children.‘
Don’t go looking anywhere. Bharat Mata walks amidst us in flesh and blood.
#FarmersProtest
#SpeakUpForFarmers
December 3, 2020
LOK NAYAK JP KE WAARIS
Those, and there are many, who have learned India’s history via Prime Minister’s speeches in last 6-7 years would know how BJP in general and Prime Minister in particular claim to be the torchbearers for carrying forward the legacy Lok Nayak Jay Prakash Narayan. Our beloved PM has a gift of gab and can appropriate anyone and everyone to his cause.
Only a couple of month’s back, on JP’s birth anniversary PM tweeted "I bow to Loknayak JP on his Jayanti. He valiantly fought for India's freedom and when our democratic ethos was under attack, he led a strong mass movement to protect it…. “
Only he seems to have forgotten who, how and what of JP’s struggle. In a major political gathering at Ram Lila Maidan in June 1975 while calling for ‘total revolution’ JP read a poem of Rashtrakavi Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, a legendary poem that became a symbol of the power of people in Indian democracy. Few lines from the poem he read –
आरती लिये तू किसे ढूंढता है मूरख,
मन्दिरों, राजप्रासादों में, तहखानों में?
देवता कहीं सड़कों पर गिट्टी तोड़ रहे,
देवता मिलेंगे खेतों में, खलिहानों में।
फावड़े और हल राजदण्ड बनने को हैं,
धूसरता सोने से श्रृंगार सजाती है;
दो राह,समय के रथ का घर्घर-नाद सुनो,
सिंहासन खाली करो कि जनता आती है।
As the farmers surround Delhi, it is probably too much to expect our PM to understand and see the irony of it all.
PS – It is as if that call for 'Sampooran Kranti' in Dinkar’s words in JP’s voice still echo at Ramlila Maidan, still challenging the powers that be. No wonder they are so afraid of letting the farmers reach there.
#FarmersProtest
#SpeakUpForFarmers
A New Enemy
Today’s politics and politicians thrive on othering. By pitching one against the other. By making some ‘other’ an enemy. Prime minister and his buddies have needed an enemy in everything they have tried to sell. For demonitisation it was kaladhan. For CAA-NCR it was the illegal termites in our country. It is a long list including China/ Pakistan/ Congress/ Nehru/ local opposition parties and leaders /NGOs /writers /activists /students /universities. Recently they have discovered a new enemy of the masses. Joining the ranks of China and Pakistan is the much maligned Artiyah (Bicholiya or Middleman as he is being labeled).
A mandi is a designated marketplace where a farmer brings his produce and sells it in an open auction. Mandis have a market committee – which looks after all affairs and takes care of interest of all stakeholders including farmers, agents, traders, labor, govt agencies, etc. Commission agents (Artiyah) is a licensed dealer who acts as an agent for the farmer. He gives farmer space to keep his produce, helps in basic cleaning, sorting and display of produce, conducts an open auction and pays the farmer. He receives money from the buyer (govt authorities or private buyers) including the levies (taxes/cess) and his commission for all the services he provides.
Why I am boring you with this? See the thing is, when Prime Minister or his buddies declare someone/something an enemy, the main stream media of today, the even more powerful IT cell of BJP and most of government machinery and institutions of today go in overdrive to prove that the declared enemy is an existential threat and needs to be dealt with strictly and immediately. That ‘enemy’ generally stands no chance against this Tsunami.
A friend from South India, who is sympathetic with farmer’s cause, received a forward on WhatsApp. It is such a beautiful piece loaded with ‘alternative facts’ and a beautiful ‘post truth’ ring to it. Long write-up but in essence saying the ‘Adhatis (Money Lenders)’ are sponsoring these protests so that they can continue ‘looting the farmers, the consumers, the taxpayers’ as these ‘6000 filthy rich Adhatis’ of ‘Punjab and Haryana’ don’t want to let go of the ‘6500 crores’ they make in APMC every year ‘without doing any work.’
Once the supreme leader declares an ‘enemy,’ the followers put all out effort in proving that ‘other’ the ‘enemy.’ So once again, why I am boring you with this? So, that we can see how this particular bicholiya, the artiyah, is or isn’t the enemy. The farmers don’t have an IT cell – they rely on you and me.
It’s already a long read and I haven’t even started on the topic! Bear with me. Infact, walk with me. For some real-life examples.
Let’s start with a quick walk in the fields. Mere desh ki dharti sona ugle – remember?
The gold laden paddy stands tall. Combine harvester enters the field (my mother’s field, she is the farmer, I am here just to help her with the harvest). Smell the fragrance of crushed wet straw as the harvester moves through the field. Nearly five months of effort. Last few hours of suspense. Will the yield be good? With every tank that the harvester offloads into the trolley, ma asks me to run an estimate on yield. I keep her humored with my calculations. It’s all a guesswork anyways, till the gunnybags are filled, weighed, and counted. At the end of the three days’ work, final calculation is 35quintal per acre. She is happy. That’s the best in the area. This lady farmer (whose children speak and write English, wear jeans and (what the hell!) wear 2000 rupee shoes!) is quite competitive, you know.
I digress! Let’s get back to the case of Artiyah. He stands in the witness box. Waiting the verdict!
The trolleys reach the mandi. This is govt procurement of paddy on MSP. Our Artiyah has space at village mandi. Within 2kms the produce is at the mandi (for us, others bring it from further away, upto 8-10kms). The labour hired by the Artiyah offloads the paddy. (He sent a private bus to a remote place in Bihar this time, as there wasn’t an easy convenience for the labor to reach). He brings a moisture meter and checks. We are among the last to harvest and have ensured all grains are sufficiently dry. Jeet uncle harvested early and had to spend 2 days at mandi drying the paddy to reach the right moisture content (which means additional labor cost on farmer). Moisture content ok, we wait for the fans to clean the paddy. It’s a bad day for power supply so the Artiyah gets the DG set started and gets the fans going. A few hours later (with a fan belt broken, replaced, fan restarted) the day’s produce is clean and ready for weighing and bagging. The weighing scales are rolled in. He shows me the calibration details (which he got done before the harvest started) and checks the weight setting – 38.3kg. 37.5k paddy and 800gm of the gunny bag (bardana in mandi-speak). Another few hours and all the bags are done. I count. Aartiya counts. The crop is now officially buyer’s (in this case of MSP procurement, one of the many rice mills appointed by state). Artiyah issues a receipt with the number of bags. Writes INR1888/quintal (that is the MSP for paddy this year). Next day the bags are stitched and loaded onto the trucks of the buyer by the labor. A few weeks later the money reaches ma’s account.
What did the Artiyah make in this transaction? The buyer – which in this case is state, pays him 2.5% commission (Punjab’s number, varies from state to state), pays the mandi taxes/cess (again vary from state to state), pays for the gunny bags and a part of payment for the labour. Farmer (us) pay a part of the payment for the labour - about 20 rupees per quintal. The Artiyah like any other shopkeeper pays all his overheads of running an establishment.
Note – the cess that the mandi board collects from buyer (in this case govt of India), which these days is close to around 2000crore for Paddy procurement goes into maintenance and upgrades of mandis and connecting rural roads. %age varies from state to state. Punjab has a higher percentage, which also means Punjab has a grain (anaj) mandi within 8-10 kms reach for every farmer.
MSP is the minimum support price govt announces for 23 crops every year. By definition, it implies there are other buyers who will procure at higher price. Of years of selling grains at mandis I haven’t seen anyone offer more than MSP. There is no auction in this instance, as there are no bidders above MSP.
In an MSP procurement – neither the bichauliya (Artiyah) nor the buyer made a killing by looting the farmer. Farmer got his MSP. Artiyah got his commission from buyer. Not an enemy in this case.
(Artiyah in the witness box wipes sweat of his forehead. He relaxes a bit. The hearing goes on…)
A few years back Ma experimented and grew basmati. Basmati isn’t procured under MSP (only high yield paddy varieties are supported). Since the private buyers don’t visit the village mandi, the produce had to be taken to the market at town – 10kms away in our case. Same thing – we get the produce to our Artiyah’s space at town. Now we wait. For buyers. The year before basmati had gone upto 6000per quintal, the reason for Ma’s experiments. She used to be a marginal farmer (less than one hectare of land) but she isn’t a marginal farmer now (one of the reasons I can afford those 2000 rupee shoes!). So, she has the bandwidth to experiment. But just like the mutual fund disclaimer there was the market risk. The produce lay there for the buyers to come, look at the grains, and offer a price. For two days no one offered more than 2500per quintal. It wasn’t a good year for basmati. Eventually, I just let it go at that rate. Basmati yields per acre are much lower than standard paddy – so that year per acre earning of basmati was way under paddy earnings. Not that basmati to end users (you the city dweller Madam) was any cheaper that year. So, someone made money. Was it Arhtiyah? What did the Arhtiya make in this transaction? His commission@2.5% for providing the usual services. This buyer or the one he sold to or someone in that chain leading to consumer made a killing!
Note, some Artiyah’s do buy crop, act as aggregators and sell to a big buyer. But these are only few of them and for a few crops (could be basmati, maize, sunflower seeds, etc. crops that can be stored for some time).
(Reasonable doubt is the traditional, and highest, standard of proof that must be exceeded to secure a guilty verdict in a criminal case in a court of law. So far, all doubts remain. The atmosphere in the courtroom is getting tense for the majority party – the accusers in this case).
Let’s look at vegetables. Vegetables and fruits go to Sabji Mandis, which are typically different from Anaj Mandis. The Artiyahs of one mandi typically don’t operate at the other. It’s a separate license. We haven’t grown vegetables for many years so let me take you to our neighbour’s fields. Two of them actually. First gobhi, then aloo.
After months of hardwork and incurring of all the costs, the plastic bags are stuffed with gorgeous looking gobhi. Each plastic bag weighs 23-27kg. The tempo is loaded and off it goes to Jalandhar mandi – that’s about 55kms. Neither the village mandi, nor our town mandi, nor our district mandi has buyers for this quantity (there are sabji mandis there, for a small qty we go there, but today I take you to the mandi from where the produce would reach you big city dweller, processes are same at all sabji mandis irrespective of the size). So - Jalandhar it is. The tempo reaches mandi early morning. Like real early morning. By 4am, mandi is teeming with shouts of auctions everywhere. There are hundreds of farmers with their produce. First few auctions might follow last evenings trend. As the supply-buyer equation adjusts so does the rate - could go up or down any moment. One year he leaves one plastic bag of 25kg gobhi at INR50 only (Rs 2per kg) and one year he might get Rs 20per kg. (in a year when PM announces demo – he just ploughs most of his produce back into soil, there are no buyers and it isn’t worth the cost of labour to get it to mandi). Sitting in Delhi? Don’t worry - Rs 2 per kg is Rs 25-30 for you, Rs 20per kg is Rs 100 for you. No matter what the farmer makes (profit or loss) or what the buyer makes in the deal (little profit or a lot of profit) the Artiyah makes his usual commission for his usual services. For vegetables/fruits in Punjab sabji mandis they make 5% commission – the buyer pays it as well as the mandi cess/taxes.
(Are we anywhere close to proving the Artiyah as the enemy number 1? The defense lawyer bangs his table. Apologies My Lord, he quickly offers as the judge glares at him.)
Aloo. Batata. Potato. A farmer could take this to sabji mandi and follow above procedure. Or he can pool with a few farmers and put up a large pile in a field. There are private buyers who know where aloo is grown and go and make purchase in the field. The Artiyah isn’t involved here. These buyers give a price to farmers and some years the farmer makes good money, some years they make little money and some years they lose money (you do hear those news bites on farmers dumping there produce on highways!). The buyers (or the chain of the buyers) typically always make a lot of money.
So - In his role as a procurement agent/aggregator the Artiyah doesn’t loot the farmer. He enables the sale of his goods and receipt of his money.
It is the buyer that decides farmer’s fortunes. There isn’t really a price discovery mechanism for farm produce. Even for crops where MSP is announced most of the procurement in India happens below that. The current protests are inherently for a demand for an assured income (which means assured price for their crop) for farmers.
But this post (this court hearing) is to decide if the Artiyah is the enemy. We are nowhere close to it yet.
What is the role where Artiyah faces maximum flak (My Lord)? In his role as a moneylender. In Punjab there are nearly 50000 registered commission agents (not the 6000 filthy rich Adhtis in Punjab and Haryana as the IT cell forwards will have you believe). In Punjab nearly half of the registered Artiyahs are farmers themselves who have taken this additional work to supplement their incomes. Still, most of the Artiyahs do act as moneylenders to their clientele.
The reason we have evil moneylender in our society is because the poor of our country which includes 70% of all farmers have very poor access to institutional credit. Credit availability to farmers is a much larger issue. “Non-institutional sources like arhtiyas financed 66.74 per cent of loans in unbanked villages and 54.45 % of loans in areas that had a bank in Punjab, a study by Centre for Research and Industrial Development (CRRID) on rural indebtedness found.” State has failed to ensure credit availability. What little is available isn’t enough. Just an example – for a flat in a city the home loans go upto 75-85% of property value. When farmer’s go to a bank to get loan against land – it is about 10% of the land value. Plus, farmers earn every few months when there is harvest, so they need money in between. Banks aren’t such an easy credit provider to the poor and marginal. In words of Late Sushma Swaraj Aartiyah is a farmer’s traditional ATM, who gives money on a relationship of trust. She questioned the corporotisation of agriculture and the claim ‘sab bicholiye khatam ho jayenge.’ “Who will buy directly from farmers? New agencies will come up. New middle-men will crop up? So to say that you will remove middle-men is an outright falsehood.” She questioned if the corporates will give farmer money on a moment’s notice when he needs it? “Will the corporate talk to the dhoti clad farmer? Nahi, corporate office walon ko usmein se badboo aayegi.”
Let’s assume that we have a perfect credit facility to all farmers and all money-lenders disappear. Automatically, the Artiyah’s side business of money lending will disappear. The parties left between a farmer’s produce and its sale will be 1) Artiyah in his role as a service provider and 2) buyer.
The artiyah makes his fixed commission and provides a service. So, the buyer is the boss now. He (and market risks) decides what price farmer gets for his produce. Where is the assurance the farmer is protected from the greed of the buyer (and markets risks)? With the new laws removing limits on storage (in other words hoarding) even the consumer will be at their mercy. Any which way – the artiyah doesn’t come out as the enemy here, the market risks and big buyers who can hoard and control market are. Repeating again, the present struggle is to get govt to commit to minimum prices, some minimum assured income.
Now, lets assume that all mandis are open and no Artiyahs exist. Will the big corporates buy farm produce directly from farmer one by one? Of course not. They will employ intermediaries – another name for bicholiya. As Late Shushma Swaraj said – naye bicholiye aayenge. Now these bicholiyas won’t be governed by mandi laws. They will be governed by corporate objectives. Maximise revenues, minimize costs. Which means sell at maximum and buy at minimum possible. These new bicholiyas will work for whose benefit? Will they not be the enemy?
I stayed a few years in Delhi and then a few years in Bombay. The autowalahs in Delhi refused to go by meter and there was a ferocious bargaining for every ride (what with them being north Indians and us being north Indians). Compared to that auto rides in Bombay was makhan malayi. You stopped an auto, you stepped in and at the end of the ride you paid as per meter (and the driver returned your change, to the last rupee). Artiyahs at the moment are those metered autos. You know what the charge will be. When there will be no artiyas, and the next generation of bicholiyas take over - they will be those unmetered autos. The ride will be expensive and full of heated negotiations, and one that small and marginal farmer will never win.
Swaminathan reports in an urgent wake up call (this was 2005-2006) state “The acute agricultural distress now witnessed in the country, occasionally taking the form of suicides by farmers, is the symptom of a deep seated malady arising from inadequate public investment and insufficient public action in recent years. The precise causes of the agrarian crisis are many and varied, but there are five basic factors which are central to the present crises. These are: unfinished agenda in land reform, quantity and quality of water, technology fatigue, access, adequacy and timeliness of institutional credit, and opportunities for assured and remunerative marketing.”
The farmers are fighting for the last - assured and remunerative marketing.
In five big red flags he highlights lack of access, adequacy and timeliness of institutional credit (the reason farmer needs moneylenders).
In his five reports covering two thousand printed pages he spends a significant time on how govt should be addressing the shortcomings in access, adequacy and timeliness of institutional credit.
In all those reports he uses the word ‘commission agents’ only three times. The individual our Prime Minister wants to declare as enemy number 1 is mentioned three times and that too in passing reference.
Swaminathan gives a long list of enemies in that report. Artiya isn’t one of them.
My Lord, defense rests its case.
There are flaws in the current system, like there are bound to be in any system. But Artiyahs in their basic role as commission agents provide a service, which when they disappear will be handled by some other agent, some other bicholiya. As long as there is trade there are bound to be those who will be traders. Bichauliyas are even needed by our Politicians to garner votes (or to buy our elected representatives). Bichauliyas will never go away.
And that is why the farmers are asking for what Swaminathan recommended - assured and remunerative marketing.
Farmers don’t believe in the promises of jumla expert. They are asking for their rights in writing. Whoever believes in promises made by swearing on Ganga ka pani, note this. In Noida the water that is supplied to the residents officially changes its name from water to Ganga water after passing through Jal Board’s treatment plant. So, ganga water runs in the taps of the whole city. And every household uses water filters before consuming it. So, consume the promises made such by applying sufficient suitable filters.
#FarmersProtest
#SpeakUpForFarmers
JO BOLE SO NIHAAL
1997. Border - J. P Dutta’s magnum opus on 1971’s Battle of Longewala is released. Theatres all over India are jampacked for weeks. In one of the scenes, as the battle is about to start, Sunny Deol as Major Kuldip Singh Chandpuri leading about a hundred soldiers thunders Wahegur ji ka Khalsa, Waheguru ji ki fateh. The actor playing the officer leading the Pakistan attack says with a surprised look - we have wrong intel, there is full battalion of 600plus here. The Indian audiences feel the patriotic fervor take them, they clap and whistle and can barely remain seated. Khalsa’s greeting here invokes passion and patriotism.
1999. Kargil. Operation Vijay. Brigadier Ravindra Singh who led one team narrates ‘after an attack by us and few counterattacks by Pakistani soldiers, there came a time when we were running low on ammunition. Subedar Nirmal Singh (posthumous Vir Chakra) came and said ‘Sahab, no need to worry. We will now say jaikara of Sikh regiment and you will see the power of its words, the enemy will cower and there will be no counterattack. And that’s what we did. The whole valley rang with the war cry ‘Jo Bole So Nihal, Sat Sri Akal’. The sound gave fresh vigour to our soldiers, even those who were tired and injured and the enemy was too afraid to counter-attack.’
Sikh regiment’s War Cry: Jo Bole So Nihal, Sat Sri Akal. ‘Sat Sri Akal’ (Truth is eternal) shouted in unison, responding to the call, ‘Jo Boley So Nihal’ (whosoever pronounces shall prosper) is a call to action, or an expression of ecstatic joy or an invocation for Divine help.
JP Dutta helps again. In his 2003 release LOC Kargil, as the Indian soldiers launch the final assault, they keep the josh with the war cry. Jo Bole So Nihal, Sat Sri Akal.
Khalsa’s clarion call (jaikara) here provides strength to our soldier’s. it uplifts them with the spirit of divine and takes them to their victory. To us, the audience, it gives goosebumps of patriotism.
Maybe we don’t have to go this far back. Only to the beginning of this year and Galwan Valley clash. Following the clash Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visited some of the forward posts. At a forward post near LoC in Kupwara the soldiers of Sikh Regiment greet him with their war cry. He joins them in the shout and after the soldiers had followed up with Bharat Mata ki Jai, Rajnath Singh asks the soldier’s - ‘Ek baar Sat Sri Akal jara fir se.’ And the mountain’s echo with Guru Gobind Singh’s clarion call.
The nationalists got goosebumps of patriotism when Rajnath Singh tweeted the video captioned ‘Jo Bole So Nihaal.’ They saw it as a loud message to China – not to mess with us.
Every Sikh prayer ends with this jaikara. Before we start on any important work, a prayer is organized and concluded with jaikara. Not only soldier’s the sportsmen uplift themselves with the jaikara. So, this clarion call is part of the culture and when the whole community marches out in protest to fight for their rights one is bound to hear the jaikara. And when on their march they encounter hurdles erected by state – then they will invoke strength with these words of power.
So, when those self-declared nationalists declare those shouting the jaikara as separatists, take a moment to pause and think.
May be that little pause will be sufficient to convince you that in future when you hear Jo Bole So Nihal, Sat Sri Akal, you will be hearing the sound of valour, of love for the land, of true patriotism.#FarmersProtest
#SpeakUpForFarmers
A SINCERE QUESTION
‘These laws are for their benefit. Why these protests?’ a friend asked (sincerely). ‘Removal of mandi system will allow them to get best prices.’
Swaminathan commission report (popular name for national commission for farmers) which looked at agrarian crisis in detail and formulated reports that are to form the basis of improving the livelihoods and income of farmers suggested many solutions. But one key aspect of its recommendations was - govt cannot experiment at the risk to farmers. You want to adopt new tech, new solutions, anything - do it at govt risk, not farmer risk. Remember demonitisation? A large number of marginal farmers lost their standing crops as suddenly the cash disappeared. So no buyers in markets! Many haven’t recovered from that one crop loss (because every crop is sowed and taken care on credit or whatever little savings they had). That is an example of a policy where the maximum risk is on the shoulders of the most marginal (which in our country is a very large percentage).
Swaminathan says that govts are supposed to ensure MSP for farmers. He gives a formula to calculate it - input cost x 50% profit. There are 3 parts to the input costs. None of the govts has ensured that the MSP gets calculated at this level. We are currently at a stage where only two parts are considered (and that too not 100%). Why are protests primarily only in Punjab, Haryana and western UP (although rest of the country is slowly waking to it) - because at present only 6% of farmers in India have access to MSP and that too for about 35% of their produce. So, in a way only 2% produce gets MSP. So, neither have the MSP been given at what is recommended by national commission for farmers nor it is given for all the crops (to start with there are only about 23 crops on the official MSP list but mostly only wheat and paddy is implemented). Swaminathan reports defines a per square kilometer range in which there should be a mandi. Presently we are about 25-30% of that number. So, neither have we provided access to get to a mandi. Now where is reasonable access to mandis? Answer- where there is reasonable access to MSP. Which is Punjab, Haryana and western UP primarily.
Let’s consider what happened when what govt is now trying to implement all over India was implemented in Bihar (they removed the mandi system and let private players in). This was around 2005-06. Was it a success? Well the number of labourers who leave Bihar every harvest to come and work in North India is answer to that. They sell their crop to private players at about 1100-1300 per quintal when MSP for same wheat or paddy is about 1800-1900. Did breaking mandis help them increase their incomes? Govt knows the answers. A world renown agriculture economist Devinder Sharma did an analysis. He presented data on income growth. Govt employees vs farmers. Starting 60s-70s till a few years back. In that time govt salaries increased 150-200 times whereas farmers income increased 10-15 times. Govt employees get over 100types of allowances as part of salary. Farmers are not given the right formula to calculate their input costs.
But mainstream media will tell you govt is not abolishing MSP. Well farmers say very good. Put it in the laws. Say any purchase below MSP will be a criminal offence. Govt refuses to do that (giving away their long term intentions).
The protests are primarily to force the govt to commit to MSP and if they wont then to take back these three laws.
The thing is free market is a noble idea - but free and fair are two whole different things all together.
Maximum number of farmers in India are marginal - which means they own less than one hectare. They don’t have resources to take their produce to next town, forget the next state! Instead of giving them more mandis this system will ensure that established mandis are being taken away from them.
When they say private players will pick produce from your doorstep - remember when instead of giving access to banking to rural India we allowed Sahara Shri to be their doorstep bank? Millions are still looking for their life savings. So, a free market and a free and fair market are altogether different aspects.
The current mandi system is maintained and expanded using the cess/taxes govt collects. With there being no taxes outside the APMCs the business will move there to start with and then slowly these APMCs will disappear. And all that will be left is free market! It could be another Jio story - cut the competition first, cut throats later. There being a difference between free and free+fair.
There are many other points that farmers are protesting, but all they have demanded to check the govt intentions is that put in black and white that there will be no procurement below MSP.
#FarmersProtest
#SpeakUpForFarmers
SARBAT DA BHALA
He stands wearing his riot gear. It has been 72 hours since he left his post at the shopping mall checkpoint to rush to police station, grab whatever he could from the stores for the gear and reach the border. The body armour is torn at many places, the shoulder straps and the belt just about holding it together. The helmet is beginning to feel like a load. The shield and the cane are the supports he stands against for now.
His back is beginning to give trouble. He has been meaning to visit a doctor for a check-up, but the one day he was away from checkposts and chowki in last two weeks, he was assigned a VIP duty. Why can’t they just stay inside even during corona, he thought. His wife is worried sick with all the news of policemen catching corona. When did he go home last?
His cousin Binder called yesterday. He is coming with the group from his village to protest. He hopes Binder isn’t at the forefront where they have been firing tear gas since morning. All that noise has given him a severe headache. He rubs his temple. Gopal, his colleague, fainted this morning – what with all the standing since God knows when! He looks around, he sees tired faces. When is he going home, when is this getting over?
‘Attention.’
An officer is speaking. He tries to focus on the words. He can’t make out orders. He will do what those standing next to him are doing. He is a robot anyways. In times like these maybe all of them are. They follow orders even when their heart is not in it. Basic animal instincts of survival take over. Adrenaline helps.
And when it is quiet again, he will reflect. The journey from the village, selling his share of the land for that payment to get the job, a daily struggle to stay afloat amidst never ending duty and a hope, that maybe his children will fare better. Binder’s son got the visa. Binder sold a part of his land to pay the agents. His own daughter wants to go as well. How will he arrange the money? Maybe his PF?
‘Look sharp. Sahab is here.’
He straightens is spine. That pain! And he stinks. When was last he had a bath?
