Day 264

Toll 565+

Bihar

Ha! When the Farm Laws were announced last September, some over eager, gaslighting journalists started talking about virtues of the Bihar model that had undone the APMCs – Mandis in 2006. They were roundly rebutted.

On August 15 this year, Nitesh Kumar, the Bihar CM who abolished Mandis, the turncoat BJP ally and opposer, who famously claimed to listen his ‘antaratma’ – inner conscience, announced the revival of bazaar samities – market committees in Bihar. Market committee are the first step towards re-opening Mandis. They are antithetical to the Farm Laws and this announcement reinforces the stand of protesting farmers in favour of regulated markets.

That is BJP for you, its ardent allies taking stances against its own pro-corporate laws. It is a full circle and shows the farmers are correct in their demands.

On Independence Day, in solidarity with Indian farmers, sleep-out events were organised in different parts of the world by Indian diaspora. This includes Vancouver, London, San Jose, Seattle, Toronto, Vienna etc. In London, at the well-known Westminster Bridge over River Thames, a huge banner was unfurled that demanded Prime Minister Modi’s resignation.

To mark the completion of nine months of historic, continuous peaceful protests by lakhs of farmers, Samyukt Kisan Morcha has decided to hold a national convention on August 26th 2021. This All-India Convention will witness the participation of representatives of hundreds of farmers’ organisations which have been part of the ongoing protests locally, regionally and nationally.

Meanwhile more farmers keep coming to the protests. Hundreds of farmers from Tamil Nadu reached Singhu Border on Sunday. A contingent of farmers from Karnataka addressed the gathering at Ghazipur on Monday.