Sheer Politics
   Date :24-Nov-2021

Kisan Maha Panchayat_1&nb
 
 
THE announcement by the Kisan Maha Panchayat that it would continue with protests until all its demands are fulfilled shows that its actions are governed by sheer politics and not by farmers’ interests at heart. It is obvious that the protesters do not trust Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi’s personal promise that the Government is withdrawing the three controversial legislations. They also do not want to return home despite the Prime Minister’s personal request to do so. They are insisting that they would withdraw from the protest site only after the three laws are withdrawn following due parliamentary procedures. The protesters are not indulging in such a tactic only to leverage their stance to ensure repeal of the three laws. For they have enough reasons to withdraw the protests once the Prime Minister has made a promise. But they wish to go on with the agitation only because they have clear political goals to serve. Their interests lie not in seeking solution of a given issue, but in keeping the pot boiling.
 
That is being political. That is unfortunate. Yet, we cannot part with the case before concluding that the protesters are pawns in some big, dirty political game. We have reasons to believe -- not suspect -- that the people who were engaged in the year-long sit-in on the Delhi borders were not farmers per se. For, if they were only farmers, they could not have been able to afford to stay away from their agricultural activity at least for three seasons -- that is one full year -- which no farmer worth the name and salt would ever do. This leads to conclusion that the protesters are political operatives funded by some foreign powers in collusion with some domestic elements in the Opposition ranks. This awareness gets underlined by the events of the last three days following the Prime Minister’s announcement of withdrawal of the three laws. The most natural question that surfaces at this point, thus, is whether the Government has made a major blunder in agreeing to repeal the three farm laws.
 
We may wait for appropriate moment to arrive at such a conclusion -- particularly when we do not know the inner details and nature of political dynamics operating beneath the surface of the visible events. Despite this, we do not hesitate a bit in stressing that the people who indulged in the year-long sit agitation were hardly farmers; they were political operatives with an undesirable agenda aimed at hurting larger national interest. When the Prime Minister’s announcement of withdrawal of the three laws came, the protesters were happy -- with was evident from countless pictures of protesters dancing, shouting slogans, singing songs of victory, Some political parties also thought of organising victory rallies at various places. Countless media commentators also described the Government’s decision as an ignoble climb-down. And then suddenly came a surprising turn-around -- the protesters refused to budge; they put forward a new approach to the agitation (which they said was hardly over).
 
The political euphoria in the Opposition camp, too, seemed to have died down all of a sudden, all on its own. Instead came a set of demands differently phrased, and cloaked in some nonsensical reasoning that they wished to described as philosophy of farmers’ welfare. Why did such a change come over all of a sudden? ‘Politics’ is the answer. For, after the initial euphoria of so-called victory was over, most elements on the other side of the divide appeared to have realised that possibly the Government had taken them for a ride and has some secret counters. This suspicion suddenly made the Opposition sullen and sent the farmers sulking. From that uncertain state emerged the current strategy the protesters have adopted -- of keeping the issue hanging fire by forcing politically-driven demands in this or that manner. For, what appeared to be a victory suddenly turned into a sinking sensation that the Government had played smart. At no cost did they want that to happen. Hence the fresh push to the demands despite the government’s willingness to conciliate, to make amends. The protesters’ fresh demands, thus, expose their political games.