Day 76

Toll 219

Missing 123 (official, could be 300-500)

Jailed 128 (not reconciled with above 123)

#FarmersProtest

Tikri’s Andolanjeevis

In all the hullabaloo from Singhu and Ghazipur – Samyukt Kisan Morcha and Rakesh Tikait – news of all these Mahapanchayats, communities across religious and caste lines rising, just remember the third vertex of the protests – Tikri.

Farmers at Tikri are mostly from BKU Ekta Ugrahan, BKU Chaduni, Haryana Khaps, and others. While tenacity, resourcefulness and fatalism are defining characteristics of farmers in general, the Tikri ones are shaped through long years of struggle against various state policies and atrocities. They know that instead of expending energy on daily newsy stuff, they need to conserve energy for the long haul.

In BKU EU’s view, this protest – ghol in Panjabi – is not just about Laws and MSP or Human Rights violations, but stands in opposition to the entire structure of the neo-liberal state apparatus. That is why the struggle is not until October 2nd as Tikait said, or 2024 as Pandher said. The real struggle is much longer though it will keep changing tactics and strategies. For now, BKU EU has dug in its heels and when all this hullabaloo settles you will still see it standing – pahad warge honsle, said Kanwar Grewal in a song. Courage like mountains!

Grewal’s song Ailaan, which had garnered 13 million hits, seems to have been taken off YouTube. It has again been uploaded by the producers. I feel such pity for those who believe they can control the voice of those struggling. Not only have they not learnt anything from history, they also suffer the worst delusion – invincibility. Ailaan or other songs have sunk into public consciousness, they live in the hearts of protesters. What will the powers do? Remove the hearts? Decimate memory? Just like they have done to themselves?

It was the same approach in Parliament yesterday when Modi coined a new term Andolanjeevi. Overnight the term has been spoofed so much. It is amazing how since BJP was formed in 1980, has been in power in the Centre for nearly 15 years (Congress has been in power 22 years) suddenly BJP now labels any Opposition to itself in the same trope as anti-national. Whether it was its parent organisation RSS or Jana Sangh, they were always in Opposition to the Congress view of India. They did not even adopt the Tricolour until Vajpayee convinced them to use it early 2000s. Now suddenly those who oppose your sell-out of India to corporates have to be labelled?

During the Freedom Struggle, the freedom fighters were andolanjeevi while BJP parent organization leaders were writing mercy petitions to British; during Emergency the Janata Parivar, from which BJP split – along with Akalis whose contribution they do not acknowledge – were andolanjeevi. 40,000 out of above 1 lakh arrested and jailed during Emergency were Akalis. Unlike RSS who wrote pardon letters to Indira Gandhi, the Akalis refused any compromise and Panjab suffered greatly as a consequence in 1980s-90s. Yet, Modi has the gall to term the farmers who sustain the nation as andolanjeevi.

The core issue, as revealed by 7 years of mis-rule, is that Hindutva has no talent except clever usage of language. Now the earth on which they stand has challenged them and they are clueless on what do with the burgeoning voice rising against them. Hence, these silly language games. That is all they know, inversion of language. But truth is beyond language. They can maul history, create new terms, but the earth speaks, the winds are blowing. Sadly, their arrogance does not allow them to feel or listen.

These language games won’t work. This censoring never worked. It just shows the obstinacy of those in power. The more rigid they get, the greater will be their fall. We shall all watch that happen.