“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 …