THOUGH the purpose here is not to raise a false alarm, enough signs can be sensed in the current protests of the farmers in Punjab that some elements may be gearing up to start fresh trouble in the country in the name of farmers -- as had happened during the agitation against the then new farm legislations. It is time, therefore, for the Government to take a proper notice of the protests and respond to it patiently and wisely. The allegation is that the Government is not paying compensation as per the farmers’ desire. This gives rise to a suspicion that the farmers’ demand may be impractical and the government’s rules may not be permitting payment of exorbitant compensation. One wonders if certain pro-Khalistan elements are not behind this new agitation in Punjab -- as was strongly felt during the previous farmers’ agitation that stretched beyond anybody’s imagination and impacted national politics.

What a time it was in those stretched out months! No logic prevailed, no sensible thought enjoyed any status. The Government was willing to discuss issues but the agitators were not ready to sit down for a patient discussion. More than a dozen rounds of talks proved inconclusive because the farmers’ had only one demand -- cancel the new farm legislations. With such an adamance, the farmers made it impossible for the Government to negotiate terms in any manner. Will such adamance be witnessed even this time as the Punjab farmers are seeking higher compensation for the land acquired for the prestigious Bharatmala project?

Yes, adamance is the actual issue -- mainly because of the possibilities of wrong elements instigating the farmers, pushing them very hard to put forward unreasonable demands. That was what happened during the earlier farmers’ agitation against the new farm legislations. The entire nation got the impression that the agitators were totally unreasonable and fully adamant. Despite that, various political parties supported the agitation that had a dangerous footprint. Similar situation had prevailed in the agitation against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) as well -- totally unreasonable and adamant. The Government kept stressing again and again that it was willing to discuss issues. Yet, the agitators wanted to avoid exactly that, though verbally they kept demanding discussion on the floor of Parliament.

The memories of agitation against National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the one at New Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh also come up in the parched mind as one reads the news reports of the farmers’ blocking of the rail traffic in Punjab.

It is most unfortunate that India’s domestic politics is dogged by such issues, such elements. They have no respect for logic and good sense. They also have no regard for national security and align easily with anti-national elements. In the current farmers’ protests in Punjab, things may not be all that bad. Yet, because of the similarities of some signals and symbols, a suspicion crops up in the mind if the nation is being pushed into something similar, something sinister. To protest against unfairness and demand for fairness in anything is a democratic right -- which all must admit. Yet, when the nation has seen intense unreasonableness on many issues, its mind trembles with the thought of yet another protest with a propensity to turn intense and without sense. Asking for high compensation for land, is okay so long as the demand is nor unreasonably high. But blocking railway traffic is something that is far more serious than any simple agitation -- particularly when it is taking place in a border State like Punjab that has had history of a major unreasonable agitation in recent past. There are enough grounds to suspect that the current protests of Punjab farmers may be having some hidden elements promoting the idea of Khalistan with the sole purpose of creating serious disturbances in the country’s otherwise tranquil society. Such a discourse in domestic politics is highly undesirable. The most urgent need of the moment is that the political community decides to make up its mind finally to avoid such issues that drive any agitation to an extreme. If such a resolve is made collectively, then domestic politics will stay clear of uncalled disturbances that take nobody anywhere.