Dear Friends,

Despite the silly flag incident, a few unfortunate skirmishes, consider the magnitude of what happened in Delhi yesterday. Around 2 lakh tractors, at least 7-9 lakh famers asserted their right to walk into their national capital on the day we mark to renew our pledge to live by our Constitution. This with no damage to any person, private or public property.

While most of our ‘national’ media has surrendered so abjectly to the regime, true news now survives on local internet media and sometimes in international media.

FRANCE 24 journalist, Leela Jacinto wrote about what happened, interviewed me. I said:

On government:

‘Modi has harvested decades of agrarian anger with the farm laws. Today’s events show that the state underestimated the might of the people.’
On Sanyukt Kisan Morcha: ‘Nobody understood why the decision was made to route the protest by keeping farmers on the outskirts of Delhi. The SKM didn’t spend enough effort to make the people understand. I think the SKM also underestimated the farmers by deciding everyone should follow the route.’

Thank you Leela. Please read here …

Dear Friends,

The Quint also published a fact-check on the flag fiasco on Republic Day.

Please read here …

Dear Friends,

This is my full quote but for editorial reasons for AltNews, which I completely understand, could not be included.

On visual of flags on Red Fort:

Whether yellow or saffron, triangular flags with the Khanda – two swords – are Sikh flags. They are not Khalistan flags. In fact, there is no established or legitimate Khalistan flag. When a flag is hoisted as a symbol of regime change, the previous flag is brought down and the new flag is unfurled.

In this case, the Tricolour, the flag of India, continues to be hoisted. It has not been touched. There is no intention to touch it. The hoisting of Sikh flag means that the people of the nation want to assert their identity as well. They want to be counted. They want the rulers of the nation to not take them for granted. That is why the Sikhs hoisted their flags.

Must note, it was not part of any Union’s program. There was no call made for it.

History:

On 11 March 1783 the combined army of Baghel Singh of Karorsinghia Misl (military term: divisions or formations) with Jassa Singh Ahluwalia leading the Ahluwalia Misl and Jassa Singh Ramgarhia leading the Ramgarhia Misl defeated the Mughal army and captured Delhi. They detached the throne of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb (on which he sat and ordered the death of 9th Guru Teg Bahadur), tied it to elephants and dragged it to Darbar Sahib, Amritsar. Even today the slab is present at the Darbar Sahib in the Ramgarhia Bunga.

Places in Delhi such as Mori Gate, Tis Hazari, are named from that period of Sikh history. The Sikhs also established Gurdwara Rakabganj at the site where two followers of the Sikh Guru Tegh Bahadur – Lakhi Shah Banjara and his son Naghaiya – cremated his headless body, by setting their own house on fire.

Having done that, the Sikh armies retreated back to Panjab. The Sikh ethos is never to be an aggressor or oppressor.

Please see here …

Dear Friends,

On Republic Day night, Manpreet Dhindsa Sahota interviewed me for RedFM Canada on the Tractor Parade on Republic Day. In Panjabi.

Please listen here…

Day 62

#FarmersMarch

Test of the Republic.

Today is indeed a historic day. The question is: will the history that will be written today the same as of last 73 years or will it be a day the nation recognises itself as it citizens and not just its government. For context, the Independence Day that we all celebrate every year, draws a lump to Panjab’s throat (and I assume Bengal’s). We do not say it, yet our hearts break. For the day the nation considers itself free from foreign British rule, is the day that marks the loss of over 1 million of our lives, 14 million displacements in east and west of India – the Partition.

India’s birth was indeed bloody.

Similarly, today the farmers are marching to assert their right to celebrate the Constitution. They are asserting their presence in the making of the nation but are clear that they are not interfering with how the nation celebrates it through a parade of military might. We have been hearing about these intended celebrations since January 2. On January 17 the route was declared by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha – Delhi’s Outer Ring Road.

Yet, suddenly, three days back, the SKM agreed to a route which surprised us all – on the outskirts of Delhi. Given how peaceful the protest has been last 62 days, in fact 100 days in Panjab, we all fell in line in the larger, greater good. Yet the nagging question did not leave our minds: why? Why the compromise? Are we not in Delhi to challenge the government? to push for complete repeal of Farm Laws, the Republic day, though symbolic, is similar? In any case any nearest point from Outer Ring Road to Rajpath is 17 kms. What possible disturbance can the farmers Tractor March cause? I do not get the middle path argument. When government knows its Laws are wrong, it would be dignified to take them back. When government recognises its citizens are important, it would not interfere in their freedoms to celebrate the Republic Day.

Since the day before, and through a speech yesterday, one Union from Panjab, not part of SKM, but which has been operating independently, is part of 41 negotiators with the government, has asked this question openly and declared they will march on the Outer Ring Road.
The Majha based Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee declared they will march independently on the pre-declared, by SKM, Delhi’s Outer Ring Road. They gave an open call to everyone to join. Those who wish to demonstrate they are here to assert their right as citizens of the nation and those who wish to keep seeking compromises with the government.

KMSC leader Satnam Singh Pannu emphasised that these compromises in the ‘interests of the nation’ have never benefitted the farmers, the rural, the real India. He said the anger in farmers is against decades of mal-governance by multiple governments, right from the time of Independence, now harvested by Modi through the Black Farm Laws.

The place where the two marches – SKM and KMSC – will diverge and possible conflict could happen between the police and KMSC is 10 kms from Singhu, at Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar – Mubarka Chowk. This is where national highway 44 touches the Outer Ring Road. Here SKM wants the March to proceed rightwards towards Bawana, outside Delhi. KSMC will ask its union and those who act on their call to turn leftwards towards Azadpur/ISBT, into Delhi. Last night, police reinforced this site: dug trenches, erect barricades.

KMSC has declared their march will be peaceful and disciplined and if the state exerts violence, they will not retaliate. Instead, they will take the blows or bullets, lay down their lives but those killings will reveal the government’s real intention behind the Black Laws – that the government is anti-people.

KMSC has started its march at 8 am. In some minutes from now, KMSC will reach Mubarka Chowk. They are ahead of the Singhu/SKM’s Tractor March. If the police blocks them, exerts violence, there will be crowding and SKM folks too will not be able to go on their planned route.

Let us see if the nation considers its farmers its honourable citizens or exerts violence. If today remains peaceful, I will wish all the Republic Day. Else, I will agree, with what Panjab has deeply sensed for decades: ‘we are the food producing colony of India’.

“Land has a big role in the lives of peasants,” Manjit Singh said. “Land is their social status in the village, their bargaining power at political level, their source of income and survival, and cultural reality. For farmers, land is their lifeline and not a commodity like it is for urban folks, who buy and sell flats and plots. It is part of their kinship relations, their organic social life. For land, they will become martyrs.”

Dear Friends,

When I reached Delhi end of December to pay homage to the #FarmersProtests, Hartosh Bal from Caravan and I spoke. He said, ‘Aman, now that you are here, please visit the sites and tell me the anatomy of the protests.’ Since then, I have been working on this piece. I try to articulate the body, the mind, the heart, the arms, the legs of the protest – though not literally.

The protest is so wide, that one article or even a book cannot encompass everything. Yet, with my editor Surabhi Kanga, we have tried. We put out one piece last week. Here is the next one with pictures by the excellent Shahid Tantray, Randeep S Mdk.

Note, right now, the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee is asking the police why isn’t it allowing the Republic Day Tractor March on the earlier route: Outer Ring Road? They have announced they will march on the Outer Ring Road – absolutely peacefully.

In the piece, I also explain how the KMSC and BKU-EU, who are not part of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha work. Why it is important for a protest of this size and nature to have a decentralised leadership. How such leadership works to the advantage of the agrarian sector that subsequent governments have neglected for the last half century.

Sorry, this time the farmers are not here to compromise. The state has neglected them for very long. The protests are their ‘hond di ladai’ – battle for existence. This time the state better address their demands: repeal the Farm Laws, legalise MSP.

Happy Republic Day!

Please read here …

Day 61

#FarmersProtest

A day before the Republic Day Tractor March, at boiling point, water in the pan will bubble a lot – hopefully not spill.

Remember, had the government repealed the Farm Laws, all this would not have been necessary. The government is testing the people, they will respond.

A big question is on trollies not being allowed. Personally, I am unable to see a tractor as a solo vehicle. Not that it is not, but what is a tractor, out of the farm, without its trolley?

Yet, imagine the logistics.

More than 1 lakh tractors on the roads for 24-36 hours or more. Each route is 70 to 80 kms. It is cold, it will be windy, the route is unfamiliar, has bends, the drivers will need breaks. Then, unlike Rajpath cleared of regular traffic, on these roads on the outskirts of Delhi there will be some traffic. These roads are also narrower than Outer Ring Road, as asked by Unions earlier.

With trollies we will slow them down even further – 48-72 hours! Even without trollies, tractors will need to rotate drivers in say 4-6-8 hours shifts. In any case there will be tableaux depicting the farmer’s stories, historical scenes on trollies. It is Baba Deep Singh’s birth anniversary tomorrow. There would be aid and relief material on trollies.
The farmers on the Tractor March would need food – are being asked to carry pinnis and dry fruits – they will need loo breaks, some langars will be arranged, some machinery could breakdown, hopefully not, but some possible health issues – ambulances are being arranged. These are huge logistical challenges.

The farmers will certainly rise, but before we critique just project the ground reality of the Tractor March in your minds.

Chardi Kala!

From discussion with Sukhjit Singh.

Day 60

#FarmersProtest

Republic Day Tractor March

Last night we were all relieved that finally the Delhi Police, under Home Ministry, read government of India, has agreed to cooperate with the farmer unions on the already declared farmer Tractor March on Republic Day. The relief is primarily because for the last 60 days, talks between the farmer unions and the government on the repeal of Farm Laws and legalising MSP have failed.

The agreement on the Tractor March between police and unions is the first thaw in the relationship between the farmers and the government. It is a welcome step. In the protest sites, among lakhs of farmers who are pouring in and readying their tractors, the relief is that they do not have to remove the barricades. The police will remove them.

However, there is one thing I want to flag with due respect to unions and their decision. We need to note that as a diverse, multi-layered country, 364 days a year we live by the Constitution. On one day, Republic Day, we want to celebrate our Constitution. We normally trust the government to celebrate it though display of military might. This year, the farmers, the citizens of the country, want to celebrate the day through their own march.

The Republic Day is a symbolic event. The permission to march on Republic Day is also a symbolic gesture because the farmers were already ready to march. The route of the march is also symbolic: Rajpath for government, Outer Ring Road for farmers. Both are keen on national security. The minimum distance between the two roads is 17 kms.

However, if you look at the map of Delhi and keep in mind the requirement that each protest site must return to their site, it is nearly impossible for all five sites to create a route map on the Outer Ring Road. Instead, the routes now agreed upon between unions and police are:

- From Singhu to Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar – Bawana – Kanjhawala – Auchandi order – KMP back to Singhu.
- From Tikri to Nangloi – Najafgarh – Dasna Border – Badli – KMP back to Tikri
- From Ghazipur to Anand Vihar – Apsara Chowk – Transport Nagar – Mohan Nagar – Ghaziabad – Dohai – KMP to Dasna Border – back to Ghazipur
- From Shahjanpur to Massani Barrage – touch KMP – return to Shahjahanpur
- Palwal route yet to be decided.

The route the police has agreed to for the farmers Tractor March does not even touch the Outer Ring Road at even one place. To me, this is a disappointment. Not because the Tractor March is not touching the Outer Ring Road but because the Tractor March is being relegated to mostly the outskirts of Delhi.

I have always seen Delhi in terms of concentric circles. The innermost, Lutyens, being most powerful. The outer circles being more and more distanced from the centre of power. The paths of the Tractor March are inhabited by poorer, labour class folks. These routes are narrower roads, far more dense and congested. If you look at election results, these areas are a saffron bastion. I am wondering if the home minister is deviously pushing the farmers into their lair. Though the police is cooperating, if unfortunately some violence happens, we know what happened with North East Delhi riots in February 2020. How the narrative was inverted.

That is why, it is of utmost concern that the Tractor March remains proactively peaceful. It travels, so to say, on the razor’s edge of non-violence. At the same time, since these are the areas it would be travelling, the articulation of the Tractor March should change from it being by and for farmers alone to being to also defend the Essential Commodities Act from being diluted through new Laws.

The Tractor March must consider raising the point that if we all do not protest the new Farm Laws, our Ration Cards will soon become useless. 67 per cent of India is dependent on the Public Distribution System for its monthly rations. When the ECA is diluted, Mandis are privatised, where and how will the Food Corporation of India, already under debt of Rs 2.65 lakh crore, procure food for India’s poor?

The Tractor March thus must be converted into an opportunity to spread the message of the imminent threat to food security of India to its poor people. May the Tractor March stay peaceful. Personally, I am on tenterhooks until January 26th, Republic Day.