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blindpig
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Re: India

Post by blindpig » Mon Jun 28, 2021 1:31 pm

Farmers Observing June 26 & June 30 – Import of SKM’s Call
in India — by Sandeep Banerjee — 26/06/2021

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On June 26, lakhs of farmers and farm-workers will assemble in various border points of Delhi will observe “Save Democracy, Save Farmers” day. On that date three important occasions are coinciding — (i) completion of 7 months of the historic continuous sit-in protest of lakhs of farmers around Delhi on the border points; (ii) 7 years of first swearing in of Modi led BJP/NDA government; and (iii) 46 years of declaration of Emergency by the then PM Ms Indira Gandhi. And on June 30, they will observe “Hul Kranti day” – observing the day of the beginning of the great Hul, or ‘Santhal Rebellion’, 166 years ago. The farmers unions through their coordinating body Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) issued the call.

But what do occasions like Modi’s first swearing-in day or Ms. Gandhi’s declaration of Emergency have to do with the present fight of the farmers? And how does Santhal rebellion relate with this movement of farmers? Farmers are only fighting for repeal of the 3 farm laws that are anti-farmer and anti-people. Moreover, the farmers are demanding to make MSP of farm produces something mandatory for the governments, something like a law of MSP. Why are the farmers unions bringing politics into a farmers movement with farmers’ own demands! 12 opposition parties have issued a declaration of their support towards farmers observing June 26, and it was very polite from their part, because several of the signatories, 12 parties, were in support of promulgation of Emergency 46 years ago. And those opposition parties cut short their support there, they did not yet extend support to the SKM call for observing Hul Day on June 30.

The farmers have been gaining valuable experiences through their 7-month long struggle and months of preparation period for this movement. Among those experiences we take 2 sets of such experiences and learning for this study.

(1) The Farmers knew that they are not only fighting the BJP govt over its 3 new agricultural laws and MSP. They have been fighting corporate take over of agriculture all along. They have been encircling Delhi, the seat of power, and also stopping operations of Reliance malls, petrol pumps, and other outlets, Adani’s dry port. They would have been forcing close down of Direct Foreign Corporate powers like Hindustan Unilever (HUL), Pepsi, Nestlé had those been working in a big scale regarding agricultural produces in Punjab, the epicentre of this movement. The farmers knew that the BJP led NDA govt is acting at the behest of those foreign and native capitalists in their quest of subjugating Indian agriculture – capitalism-imperialism dictating policies of BJP led govt, BJP/NDA politics, legislations and actions through the ‘state machinery’ like arbitrary arrests under black acts, dividing the people by their divisive politics, doping the people with anti-Muslim anti-Pak anti-China (and also, at times, anti-Sikh) hyperboles. The bourgeoisie led media, on their part, are magnifying those BJP propaganda. A big political fight is going on against this farmers movement. At times, BJP is using its Haryana State govt also in their game, like its covert and cunning tactic of concentrating farmers efforts inside Haryana by instigating farmers there. To jeopardise that political tactic, the farmers unions too made a political tactic – they asked farmers to continue boycott of BJP leaders and MLAs on their govt or political activities, but not during their family rituals, like observing rituals after the death of member of extended family or kinsfolk; and thus, averted build up of tensions along clans/village or caste line. 7 years ago, PM Modi of NDA govt was first sworn in on this very date, June 26, and started a regime that has moved away from the minimum constitutionally guaranteed democratic atmosphere, for the last 2 years people are experiencing an undeclared Emergency, that Emergency that was promulgated by Ms Indira Gandhi in 1975 also on this very date June 26, the date when this farmers’ continuous protest sit-in around Delhi will complete 7 months. This way this movement of farmers is connected with, integrated with, a bigger political movement countrywide, movement for Democracy against Fascism. This realisation is being expressed by the call to observe “Save Democracy, Save Farmers” day on June 26, 2021.

(2) On June 17 police opened fire on Adivasi villagers who were protesting land-grab without sanction from Gram-Sabha for making yet another CRPF camp near Silgar village, Sukma, Chhattisgarh. The central govt and state govts of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, etc are grabbing forests, land, rivers of this Adivasi hinterland at the behest of various capitalist-imperialist corporate powers, so that those can ‘clear’ forests causing deforestation, can dig up earth to plunder mineral resources, to pollute land, water and air. This is continuing for years, and Honourable Ex-President K.R. Narayanan during his presidency in one Pre-Republic Day address to the nation, warned against this exploitation and loot of Adivasi people and Nature! It reminds farmers the Hul Rebellion, led by Sido, Kano, Bhairab, Chand and their sisters Fulo, Jhano, one of the great anti-imperialist revolutionary war efforts against the Company Raj of British East India Company by the Adivasi people that took place before the so-called “sepoy-mutiny” or Independence War throughout British India. That rebellion started on June 30, 1855. And what a coincidence, June 30 is coming soon. In that Hul, many non-tribal lower-caste working men like peasants, iron-smiths, cow and buffalo keepers, milkmen, and also people from the cleaner (dhangar, methar), dom, etc castes, joined. Today the political climate of the country is pushing farmers, farm-workers, Adivasi people, workers of industry, construction, transport, communication and service sector, all toiling and exploited people to come together and join hand to resist the unsaid Company Raj of today. So, the farmers sent invitations to the suffering and fighting people of Sukma and also from other places to join them at border points around Delhi to observe “Hul Kranti Day” together on June 30. Farmers put themselves and their fight in the string of political struggles of history of modern India.

Such a gesture from the farmers as expressed by their unions was unthinkable just 6 months ago and hence it is an advance. Consider an event on December 10. The largest of the fighting farmers’ union, BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) was observing International Human Rights Day at Pakoda Chawk, Tikri Border. They demanded unconditional release of all political prisoners detained under UAPA etc black acts, the prisoners mostly from the intelligentsia, who are friends of the struggles of suffering people all over India, for example, Sudha Bharadwaj, Varvara Rao, Sharjeel Islam, Umar Khalid, to name a few. On that occasion none of the farmers unions inside SKM, not even CPI-CPIM led AIKS made any move; rather some unions openly criticised BKU (Ekta Ugrahan). In these decades after so-called the “End of History”, fall of actually existing socialisms and triumph of imperialists, the term ‘politics’ causes nausea among many; they refer to it as dirty politics. Apolitics, anti-politics, try to steer people away from politics. Media took a leading role in this. Yet forces of history compelled. The logic – why and how farmers’ struggle is connected with politics, and more than that, the political onslaught of ruling class against this farmers struggle and the farmer-leaders’ political replies – all these experiences taught many important lessons, of which only two were discussed here. The farm-workers struggle for wage-rise in Punjab and the ways adopted by farmers and workers unions, in which meetings of all villagers together – all these brought the question of classes and class contradiction within country side, question of class-caste relationship, question of handling non-antagonistic contradictions, all came up. Farmers and farm-workers all learning through life experiences. It may be a fact that these lessons are not yet formulated and digested. It may be a fact that these observations and experiences have not yet developed into notions or ideas in the realm of consciousness. But surely history is moving in this direction. These lessons need to be taken to the working class, peasantry and all toiling people of all castes, nations, nationalities and tribes of India. It is, however, really embarrassing for an inexperienced and less knowledgeable person like this present author to comment like this, hence the author prays to be forgiven.

https://countercurrents.org/2021/06/far ... skms-call/

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‘Paid news’ and ‘paid social media’ in India: looking for legal attention
in India — by Dr Ahmed Raza — 27/06/2021

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With the implementation of new Information Technology act 2021 mandating the social media platforms legally under compliance, the ongoing controversy between social media and digital sovereignty seems to an end as the appointment of the grievance redressal officers and nodal officers are mandated in India in compliance with the new rules. Though, another big challenge to our democracy remains the same if the usages of ‘paid news’ are left uncontrolled and untracked as media reach every one, whereas social media platforms Twitter, Facebook, Whatsapp could make a limited user only due to the digital divide in India. It would be an irony of democracy that the media, which is known as the fourth pillar of democracy, now, seems to be under harsh criticism due to displacement of its own goals. Now, ownership of most of the leading media companies lie in the hand of capitalists who prioritize TRP (Television Rating Point, a tool used to know about the popularity of a programme) over truth and sponsored news over the reality of the society. As the capitalists tighten their grip on the media, the character of the media becomes more and more business model. Therefore, a gap widens between the true picture of the life of the common people and their presentation in the media.

Unfortunately, numerous types of paid news have evolved over the period, posing a threat to the nation, but still exist in our political system due to a nexus between capitalism and political parties. Creation of public opinion in favour of a political parity pre and post election phases by the media in lieu of monetary agreement, promotion of particular ideology, future business prospects etc have become a common trend in our system. Undoubtedly, paid news is being used as a weapon to cover up the truth so as to divert the people’s attention from the core basic necessities and services if policies are not delivered effectively.

What is ‘paid news’, how it works and why it is unrestricted?

‘Paid news’ has been defined by the Press Council of India (PCI) as any news or analysis appearing in any media (print & electronic) for a price in cash or kind as consideration. The modalities of ‘paid news’ appears to have misled the people, both formally and informally, legally and illegally. No legal definition of the issues of paid news could be formalized. According to a report of Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology published in 2013, ‘paid news’ includes only advertisements camouflaged as news, denial of coverage to select electoral candidates, exchanging of advertisement space for equity stakes between media houses and corporate. Unfortunately, such ill practices still exist in our political system, which not only hampers the ability of voter to form a correct opinion but also makes the government unaccountable and irresponsible.

Nowadays, the systems of ‘paid news’ are becoming more ruthless and shaping as a form of corruption, unethical and professional misconduct in which media outlets and the political parties coordinate and complement each other in lieu of monetary agreement and political image building. The evolutions of such trend of paid news happen to be more threatening to our democracy as people’s voting behaviour are rigged in favour of the existing government, despite of the policy lacuna, policy-paralysis and mal-administration. Most of the India’s leading media are now being guided in accordance with commercial interest of the companies instead of seeking truth. Many incidences have been associated with ‘paid news’ for the last a couple of decades, for instances, publishing pre-poll survey showing victorious to a political party on account of financial agreement, providing ample coverage to a political party campaigning, framing and highlighting any weakness of a political party etc. For the last decade, the electronic media will become themselves as an eye witness of ‘paid news’ if the title of the news-show, its contents, lists of guest speakers, allotted time for specific program etc. are seriously examined. Though, it would be very difficult to prove whether the particular news shown on a channel or the news published in the newspaper is paid or not. Till now, no success has been achieved in tightening the noose on paid news.

What is ‘paid social media’, how it works and why it is unrestricted?

The latest paradigm in the evolution of the ‘paid news’ has emerged as a form of ‘paid social media’ in which IT experts, professionals and other voters are monetarily engaged by the political parties for spreading any agenda, setting a narrative for or against the policies, trolling the governments or opposition parties etc. For the last few years, opposition’s parties are seen playing a high level of politics by exposing the government for their own political gain and vice versa under the purview of the social media users. Such immoral, unethical and dishonest practice by the professionally hired social media users help the political parties to create a strong public opinion by creating a biased survey, portraying the political leaders as an ideal, fake publicity of policies etc. A huge amount of financial resources is spent by political parties as a part of a winning strategy for an election in the name of social media led to the origin of ‘paid social media’. In order to achieve the political desired objectives, the practices of ‘paid social media’ are also ideologically systematized by creating fake accounts of social media platforms so as to create a narrative for or against the government. In 2020, the Maharashtra government claimed to have scrutinized over 1.5 lakh of fake Twitter accounts which were engaged inside and outside the nation to tarnish the image of government. Likewise, another revelation from a report of online news portal named ‘The Print’ which identified the number of accounts that served as sources of misinformation and propaganda for both the BJP and Congress. Though, it seems to be a tough for fixing them accountable as either account may be created due to their own political affiliations or something a strategy of political parties. Unfortunately, the law of the land could not take seriously this kind of paid social media as much as now the government is fervently pressurizing the social media platforms to keep them under compliance in line with new Information Technology act 2021.

In conclusion, though, the government deserves to be highly applauded for putting the social media platforms under compliance in order to place the digital sovereignty above the Twitter, Facebook, what-sup etc, but the practices of the ‘paid news’ and ‘paid social media’ has appeared to be a part of the political process and election campaigning. Such issues of ‘paid news’ and ‘paid social media’ would be more challenging for India if not countered legally or institutionally as more people from rural areas may be misled in the future as soon as digital divide gets reduced. Now, it’s high time for government to prioritize by legislating against the ‘paid news’ and ‘paid social media’.

https://countercurrents.org/2021/06/pai ... attention/
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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Re: India

Post by blindpig » Thu Aug 12, 2021 11:34 am

CP of India, Our Independence and India Today
8/11/21 1:21 PM
India, Communist Party of India En Asia Communist and workers' parties
D RAJA, General Secretary, CPI

On this day of August 15, more than seven decades back, in 1947, our nation began her tryst with destiny. The political independence achieved by us is the result of decades of struggles by the people of our country. Recognising the exploitative nature of the British rule, people in various parts of our country started resisting the exploitation by colonial masters themselves much before organised platforms or political parties to lead them came into existence. People fought against British forces along with their native collaborators simultaneously at times. These spontaneous uprisings were ruthlessly suppressed leaving an indelible print on the collective memory of the people.

The struggles during this period were multifaceted. There was no singular method nor one universal demand. If there was anything in common, that was the urge for freedom. But this freedom meant different things for different sections of our society. For women it was freedom, self-respect and liberation from patriarchal subjugation of all kinds. For Dalits and Shudras, freedom meant liberation from thousands of years of exploitation and torture by Manuvadi Brahmanical hegemony. For tribal communities it was the freedom to claim forest land as theirs and freedom from ruthless forest contractors. Freedom from constant fear of displacement in the name of development.

For the minority religious communities, it was freedom from the fears of subjugation from majoritarian communalism and a right to practise their faith. There was an underlying stream of clear understanding that colonial rule was basically exploitative, constantly draining the country and drying out all its resources.

In the initial decades of the 20th century, when the movement for liberation was bringing communities closer, we saw Mohammed Ali Jinnah standing in defence of Tilak in sedition case and Bhagat Singh strongly arguing against communalism, Hindu majoritarianism or Hindutva. People saw Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar making every effort to make his struggle for liberation from caste-based exploitation inclusive of women's liberation and against feudal economic exploitation by landlords. Dr Ambedkar led anti-feudal struggles in Konkan and other regions were so inclusive that the exploited from upper castes too participated in huge numbers and were beneficiaries when struggles led to successful outcomes. All these struggles should be seen in totality contributing to the freedom 75 years back apart from mass struggles led by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Congress and from militant class struggles led by nascent communist movement and other radical revolutionary organisations and activists.

Independence of India from British rule was understood by the freedom fighters as not only freedom from British rule but also freedom from all forms of exploitations and oppressions which remained deep within the social structures indigenous to India. There was constant resistance from within to anything progressive, anything democratic, anything secular and anything against patriarchal Manuvadi social order. This resistance came from the orthodox and obscurantist sections of the society in a coalition with organised institutions of power like zamindars, feudal principalities or riyasats joined by the newly emerging affluent in colonial India.

All those who were against any movement even remotely progressive, democratic and inclusive have got one thing common — their loyalty towards British masters. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or the RSS that came into existence in 1925 has led to consolidation of all these reactionary, communal, Manuvadi forces in a big way. The RSS can be considered the largest pro-British and anti-people grouping of that time.

During the debates in constituent assembly, the attack on democratic values was carried out in different forms on different occasions. There was constant pressure from Hindutva forces to get India declared as a Hindu state. Examples from Ireland and other countries were constantly cited in support. Dr Ambedkar stood like a rock against all this. Dr Ambedkar emphatically rejected theocracy and warned that “if at all Hindu Rashtra becomes a reality that will be calamity for the nation.” The struggle of Indian people against the forces of reaction became more acute after independence. Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated by Nathuram Godse whose links with RSS and Hindu Mahasabha were well established. Gandhi's assassination is the beginning of consolidated and organised assault on secular values.

The staunch adherent of secularism that Dr Ambedkar was, he framed our Constitution in such a way as to protect the interests of all sections of the society. Starting from the Preamble itself, the values of our freedom struggle were enshrined in all parts of the Constitution and we got Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State Policy to protect us from arbitrary state action contrary to the spirit of the freedom movement and to guide our legislatures towards a welfare turn with non-discriminatory foundations thereby the Constitution makes it mandatory that Indian State should remain a Secular and Welfare State.

The able leadership of Dr Ambedkar had gone a long way to steer through the intricate, complex sometimes heated debates of constituent assembly and making a Constitution on time possible and at the same time not allowing the final outcome deviated much from the cherished goals of decades long freedom struggle that is democracy, secularism, anti-feudalism and egalitarianism. He outlined a path to develop our country along the lines of inclusiveness with social justice and socialism. It was not a mean achievement. The credit goes to Dr Ambedkar and his team for this singular achievement.

Let us remember also that on August 15, 1947 power to administer areas under direct British rule only was transferred. There were significant parts of country under the native rulers totaling more than five-hundred and included significantly bigger and contentious ones like Hyderabad under the Nizam and Kashmir under the Dogra ruler Hari Singh. From 1947 to 1950, founding leaders of our nation were occupied with the twin tasks of bringing all these into one country apart from shaping a Constitution. The constituent assembly of India was elected by the provincial legislatures and the then clandestine and largely underground Communist Party got little representation in it.

However, communists made them heard and shaped the agenda of the constituent assembly through militant mass struggles outside. As Sardar Patel himself once remarked to Chari, the famous lawyer from Bombay that the militant mass struggles led and organised by communists literally left not many options to the princes, Rajas or nawabs except accepting accession to Indian Union. The contribution of communist movement in the evolution and integration of Indian nation state can never be forgotten.

The communists were also at the forefront of shaping the demands of the independence struggle and their ambitious agenda for the Indian people expanded the horizon of the independence movement significantly. It should be noted that the communists were the first to raise the demand of ‘Complete Independence’ from the British, radicalising the entire agenda of the struggle. Hasrat Mohani, the chairman of the reception committee of the first CPI Conference in Kanpur first raised the demand for complete independence in a Congress session.

He also coined the inspirational slogan ‘Inquilab Zindabad’, popularized later by martyrs like Bhagat Singh. The demand for a constituent assembly was also raised first by communist M N Roy. It was the militant mobilisation led by communists that resulted in the Congress adopting complete independence as part of its agenda. These glorious contributions to the building of the Indian nation are still our inspiration in our unflinching struggle against the new forms of imperialism.

Freedom from British colonialism didn't mean the end of all nefarious designs by capitalist interests as they wanted to continue their stronghold on developing nations including India and their markets, resources and labour force. After the Second World War ended, the formal end of colonialism resulted in the beginning of a new phase of imperialist onslaught in collaboration with the rightwing forces of India. This attack is also multi-pronged. The imperial design in the region is on one hand trying to pressurise India by exposing it to external threats and by trying to constantly add fuel to any kind of divisive trends within country. The sustained imperial support for rightwing forces in country has enabled them to widen the fault lines of our society.

During the last three decades we have seen a constant process of privatisation, commercialisation and liberalisation of our labour and capital markets, constant process of yielding to pressures of WTO or other such bodies and bringing disastrous economic changes to suit the dictates of finance capital. The current RSS-BJP combine regime is moving or literally galloping towards complete corporatisation of everything from agriculture to education to health. This regime is forcing India into an irreversible strategic partnership with America, thus killing everything progressive and democratic in our foreign policy. The Marxist emphasis on the inseparable nature of economics and politics proves correct in this context as the growth of finance capital in India has been concurrent with extreme polarisation on religious and caste lines.

We see chaos and all-pervasive crisis around us as we approach the 75th anniversary of our independence next year for which the government has made an elaborate committee. The constitution of such committees remains a façade when the state is eating away day-by-day our independence, the Pegasus incident just being one recent example. The current regime has done so much to undermine our precious independence and values attached with it that we need to wage a new freedom struggle to take back our freedom from the RSS and its Hindutva agenda. We should prepare and commit ourselves to that struggle as the Left has done during the freedom struggle. Our heroic past of committing ourselves wholly to the service of the nation and organising its workers and peasants against imperialism is a source of inspiration for us and all the others who are fighting against new forms of domination facilitated by the RSS-BJP. The struggle is an ideological one to get our freedom back. It has to be waged from the grassroots to the Parliament and that is going to be the true independence struggle for the people of India. The communists and Left will play the leading role in this as the Left is the consistent, uncompromising force fighting the rightwing-fascist assault.

http://solidnet.org/article/CP-of-India ... dia-Today/
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Re: India

Post by blindpig » Thu Sep 16, 2021 2:06 pm

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Smashing the Heads of Farmers: A Global Struggle Against Tyranny (India)
September 16, 2021 orinocotribune COVID-19, Farm Law Protests, India, Muzaffarnagar, Narendra Modi
By Colin Todhunter – Sep 13, 2021

According to Reuters, more than 500,000 farmers attended a rally in the city of Muzaffarnagar in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh on 5 September. Hundreds of thousands more turned out for other rallies in the state.

Rakesh Tikait, a prominent farmers’ leader, said this would breathe fresh life into the Indian farmers’ protest movement.

He added:

“We will intensify our protest by going to every single city and town of Uttar Pradesh to convey the message that Modi’s government is anti-farmer”.

Tikait is a leader of the protest movement and a spokesperson of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Indian Farmers’ Union).

Since November 2020, tens of thousands of farmers have been encamped on the outskirts of Delhi in protest against three new farm laws that will effectively hand over the agri-food sector to corporates and place India at the mercy of international commodity and financial markets for its food security.

Aside from the rallies in Uttar Pradesh, thousands’ more farmers recently gathered in Karnal in the state of Haryana to continue to pressurise the Modi-led government to repeal the laws. This particular protest was also in response to police violence during another demonstration, also in Karnal (200 km north of Delhi), during late August when farmers had been blocking a highway. The police Lathi-charged them and at least 10 people were injured and one person died from a heart attack a day later.

A video that appeared on social media showed Ayush Sinha, a top government official, encouraging officers to “smash the heads of farmers” if they broke through the barricades placed on the highway.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar criticised the choice of words but said that “strictness had to be maintained to ensure law and order”.

But that is not quite true. “Strictness” – outright brutality – must be imposed to placate the scavengers abroad who are circling overhead with India’s agrifood sector firmly in their sights. As much as the authorities try to distance themselves from such language – ‘smashing heads’ is precisely what India’s rulers and the billionaire owners of foreign agrifood corporations require.

The government has to demonstrate to global agricapital that it is being tough on farmers in order to maintain ‘market confidence’ and attract foreign direct investment in the sector (aka the takeover of the sector).

The farmers’ protest in India represents a struggle for the heart and soul of the country: a conflict between the local and the global. Large-scale international agribusiness, retailers, traders and e-commerce companies are trying to displace small- and medium-size indigenous producers and enterprises and restructure the entire agrifood sector in their own image.

By capitulating to the needs of foreign agrifood conglomerates – which is what the three agriculture laws represent – India will be compelled to eradicate its buffer food stocks. It would then bid for them with borrowed funds on the open market or with its foreign reserves.

This approach is symptomatic of what has been happening since the 1990s, when India was compelled to embrace neoliberal economics. The country has become increasingly dependent on inflows of foreign capital. Policies are being governed by the drive to attract and retain foreign investment and maintain ‘market confidence’ by ceding to the demands of international capital which rides roughshod over democratic principles and the needs of hundreds of millions of ordinary people.

The authorities know they must be seen to be acting tough on farmers, thereby demonstrating a steely resolve to foreign agribusiness and investors in general.

The Indian government’s willingness to cede control of its agrifood sector would appear to represent a victory for US foreign policy.

Economist Prof Michael Hudson stated in 2014:

“American foreign policy has almost always been based on agricultural exports… It’s by agriculture and control of the food supply that American diplomacy has been able to control most of the Third World. The World Bank’s geopolitical lending strategy has been to turn countries into food deficit areas by convincing them to grow cash crops – plantation export crops – not to feed themselves with their own food crops.”

On the back of India’s foreign exchange crisis in the 1990s, the IMF and World Bank wanted India to shift hundreds of millions out of agriculture. In return for up to more than $120 billion in loans at the time, India was directed to dismantle its state-owned seed supply system, reduce subsidies, run down public agriculture institutions and offer incentives for the growing of cash crops to earn foreign exchange.

The drive is to drastically dilute the role of the public sector in agriculture, reducing it to a facilitator of private capital and leading to the entrenchment of industrial farming and the replacement of small-scale farms.

Smashing protesters’ heads
A December 2020 photograph published by the Press Trust of India defines the Indian government’s approach to protesting farmers. It shows a security official in paramilitary garb raising a lathi. An elder from the Sikh farming community was about to feel its full force.

But “smashing the heads of farmers” is symbolic of how near-totalitarian ‘liberal democracies’ the world over now regard many within their own populations.

The right to protest and gather in public as well as the right of free speech has been suspended in Australia, which currently resembles a giant penal colony as officials pursue a nonsensical ‘zero-COVID’ policy. Across Europe and in the US and Israel, unnecessary and discriminatory ‘COVID passports’ are being rolled out to restrict freedom of movement and access to services. And those who protest against any of this are often confronted by a massive, intimidating police presence (or actual police violence) and media smear campaigns.

Again, governments must demonstrate resolve to their billionaire masters in Big Finance, the Gates and Rockefeller Foundations, the World Economic Forum and the entire gamut of forces in the military-financial industrial complex behind the ‘Great Reset’, ‘4th Industrial Revolution, ‘New Normal’ or whichever other benign-sounding term its political and media lackeys use to disguise the restructuring of capitalism and the brutal impacts on ordinary people.

This too, like the restructuring of Indian agriculture – which will affect India’s entire 1.3-billion-plus population – is also part of a US foreign policy agenda that serves the interests of the Anglo-US elite.

COVID has ensured that trillions of dollars have been handed over to elite interests, while lockdowns and restrictions have been imposed on ordinary people and small businesses. The winners have been the likes of Amazon, Big Pharma and the tech giants. The losers have been small enterprises and the bulk of the population, deprived of their right to work and the entire panoply of civil rights their ancestors struggled and often died for. If a masterplan is required to deliver a knockout blow to small enterprises for the benefit of global players, then this is it.

Professor Michel Cossudovsky of the Centre for Research on Globalization says:

“The Global Money financial institutions are the ‘creditors’ of the real economy which is in crisis. The closure of the global economy has triggered a process of global indebtedness. Unprecedented in World history, a multi-trillion bonanza of dollar denominated debts is hitting simultaneously the national economies of 193 countries.”

In August 2020, a report by the International Labour Organization (ILO) stated”

“The COVID-19 crisis has severely disrupted economies and labour markets in all world regions, with estimated losses of working hours equivalent to nearly 400 million full-time jobs in the second quarter of 2020, most of which are in emerging and developing countries.”

Among the most vulnerable are the 1.6 billion informal economy workers, representing half of the global workforce, who are working in sectors experiencing major job losses or have seen their incomes seriously affected by lockdowns. Most of the workers affected (1.25 billion) are in retail, accommodation and food services and manufacturing. And most of these are self-employed and in low-income jobs in the informal sector.

India was especially affected in this respect when the government imposed a lockdown. The policy ended up pushing 230 million into poverty and wrecked the lives and livelihoods of many. A May 2021 report prepared by the Centre for Sustainable Employment at Azim Premji University (APU) has highlighted how employment and income had not recovered to pre-pandemic levels even by late 2020.

The report, ‘State of Working India 2021 – One year of Covid-19’ highlights how almost half of formal salaried workers moved into the informal sector and that 230 million people fell below the national minimum wage poverty line.

Even before COVID, India was experiencing its longest economic slowdown since 1991 with weak employment generation, uneven development and a largely informal economy. A recent article by the Research Unit for Political Economy highlights the structural weaknesses of the economy and the often desperate plight of ordinary people.

To survive Modi’s lockdown, the poorest 25% of households borrowed 3.8 times their median income, as against 1.4 times for the top 25%. The study noted the implications for debt traps.

Six months later, it was also noted that food intake was still at lockdown levels for 20% of vulnerable households.

Meanwhile, the rich were well taken care of. According to Left Voice:

“The Modi government has handled the pandemic by prioritising the profits of big business and protecting the fortunes of billionaires over protecting the lives and livelihoods of workers.”

Michel Chossudovsky says that governments are now under the control of global creditors and that the post-Covid era will see massive austerity measures, including the cancellation of workers’ benefits and social safety nets. An unpayable multi-trillion dollar public debt is unfolding: the creditors of the state are Big Money, which calls the shots in a process that will lead to the privatisation of the state.

Between April and July 2020, the total wealth held by billionaires around the world has grown from $8 trillion to more than $10 trillion. Chossudovsky says a new generation of billionaire innovators looks set to play a critical role in repairing the damage by using the growing repertoire of emerging technologies. He adds that tomorrow’s innovators will digitise, refresh and revolutionise the economy: but, as he notes, let us be under no illusions these corrupt billionaires are impoverishers.

With this in mind, a recent piece on the US Right To Know website exposes the Gates-led agenda for the future of food based on the programming of biology to produce synthetic and genetically engineered substances. The thinking reflects the programming of computers in the information economy. Of course, Gates and his ilk have patented or are patenting the processes and products involved.

For example, Ginkgo Bioworks, a Gates-backed start-up that makes ‘custom organisms’, recently went public in a $17.5 billion deal. It uses ‘cell programming’ technology to genetically engineer flavours and scents into commercial strains of engineered yeast and bacteria to create ‘natural’ ingredients, including vitamins, amino acids, enzymes and flavours for ultra-processed foods.

Ginkgo plans to create up to 20,000 engineered ‘cell programs’ (it now has five) for food products and many other uses. It plans to charge customers to use its ‘biological platform’. Its customers are not consumers or farmers but the world’s largest chemical, food and pharmaceutical companies.

Gates pushes fake food by way of his greenwash agenda. If he really is interested in avoiding ‘climate catastrophe’, helping farmers or producing enough food, instead of cementing the power and the control of corporations over our food, he should be facilitating community-based and led agroecological approaches.

But he will not because there is no scope for patents, external proprietary inputs, commodification and dependency on global corporations which Gates sees as the answer to all of humanity’s problems in his quest to bypass democratic processes and rollout his agenda.

India should take heed because this is the future of ‘food’. If the farmers fail to get the farm bills repealed, India will again become dependent on food imports or on foreign food manufacturers and lab-made ‘food’. Fake food will displace traditional diets and cultivation methods will be driven by drones, genetically engineered seeds and farms without farmers, devastating the livelihoods (and health) of hundreds of millions.

This is a vision of the future courtesy of Klaus Schwab’s (of the elitist World Economic Forum) dystopic transhumanism and the Rockefellers’ 2010 lockstep scenario: genetically engineered food and genetically engineered people controlled by a technocratic elite whose plans are implemented through tighter top-down government control and more authoritarian leadership.

Since March 2020, we have seen the structural adjustment of the global capitalist system and labour’s relationship to it and an attempted adjustment of people’s thinking via endless government and media propaganda.

Whether it involves India’s farmers or the frequent rallies and marches against restrictions and COVID passports across the world, there is a common enemy. And there is also a common goal: liberty.

https://orinocotribune.com/smashing-the ... nny-india/

This guy seems a bit on the 'anti-authoritarian' side of the spectrum, which is suspect, but there is a point to be made in the opposition to lockdowns. Basically, rich countries can weather a lockdown well, particularly if they are socialist. The weakest economies cannot, as witness the hardships above. But even a socialist oriented poor country can make a good showing. Cuba made a good showing for a while but the cumulative effects of the genocidal blockade necessitated a premature re-opening which, combined with the delta variant has thrown them for a loop. Still, their percentages are considerably better than the US. And of course China got a handled on the situation before vaccines were even available and continues to squash small outbreaks with admirable efficiency.

Nicaragua, not suffering from as extreme a sanctions regime as Cuba(yet...), but with less resources too, has done an admirable job controlling the pandemic through social means as their access to vaccines has been very limited to date.

One wonder though how things fare in the state of Kerala, which has been run by socialist/communist alliances for decades and is by all accounts the most worker-friendly government in the neighborhood...

*************************************

Marxistindia, Attacks in Tripura
9/14/21 3:09 PM
India, Communist Party of India [Marxist] En Asia Communist and workers' parties

The BJP in Tripura backed by the state government has unleashed a reign of terror and intimidation against all activities of the opposition in Tripura focusing their anger and frustration against the CPI(M) and the Left Front.

It has also attacked media houses who report the truth. It is as though the Constitution of India, the democratic rights guaranteed to the people by the constitution and the norms of functioning in a parliamentary democracy have all been suspended in Tripura under the leadership of the BJP Government. It is deplorable that the Chief Minister himself has made the most provocative statements, threats and outright lies justifying the attacks against the CPI(M). From 2018 when the BJP assumed power, to the present, 21 supporters and members of the CPI(M) including a woman have been killed.

In many of the attacks on September 7 and 8th, by BJP mobs, shouting Jai Shri Ram and armed with iron rods and petrol bombs, the police were either bystanders or refused to respond to calls regarding the attacks on homes and party offices. Some BJP leaders and Ministers have also made provocative statements encouraging the attacks.

On September 7 and 8, 44 party offices (42 of the CPI(M), 1 RSP and 1 CPI(ML) have been attacked, burnt, party property destroyed. In an unprecedented display of criminality, the State office of the CPI(M) in Agartala was attacked, sought to be burnt, mobs entered the premises and vandalized the bust of veteran tribal leader and former Chief Minister Dasrath Deb. The CRPF guards deployed at the office were mysteriously withdrawn an hour before the mob attack. 67 houses and shops of CPI(M) supporters have been burnt or looted. Scores of supporters have been physically attacked of whom at least ten required immediate hospitalization.

Patronage is provided to the attackers while the police are filing false cases and making arrests of CPI(M) supporters.

It is symbolic of the brazen nature of the attacks under state patronage that the leader of the opposition and four-time Chief Minister of Tripura Manik Sarkar was prevented and blockaded by the police from visiting his own constituency on September 6. The modus operandi to prevent the leader of the opposition (LOP) from fulfilling his constitutional duty is to gather a few persons from the ruling party to oppose his programme and provide a pretext to stop it. On September 6 while Manik Sarkar was going to attend mass deputation to the BDO of Kathalia Block largely falling under his constituency the police refused and put up barricades to stop him. He called their bluff and insisted on his right to visit his constituency where hundreds of people were waiting for him. Earlier on another occasion the police remained bystanders when the care he was travelling along with other MLAs and Party leaders to Shanti Bazar was physically attacked. Obviously the administration and police were being given instructions by their bosses in Government.

While the media has widely reported the attacks on CPI(M) offices and supporters including the State Committee office, it is significant that the country's Prime Minister and Home Minister are silent. It is an indication of the central support of the Tripura Government that details of the attacks on the CPI(M) sent to the Prime Minister by the CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury have not even been acknowledged. This is in sharp and stark contrast the attitude to the Centre when they receive complaints, often manufactured, from BJP leaders in opposition ruled States.

These are the latest phase of attacks which started on the morrow of the victory of the BJP in the State Assembly elections in 2018. Since March 2018 to June 2021, 662 party offices, 204 offices of Left mass organisations, 3363 houses of CPI(M) members and supporters, 659 shops have either been gutted, ransacked or looted and 1500 livelihood centres such as fish ponds, rubber trees and so on have been destroyed. Barbaric crimes against women are increasing in a shameless manner. False cases are being imposed in a bid to intimidate and silence CPI(M) leaders.

The attacks have increased and intensified because of the growing discontent of the people against the State Government. Three years after it came to power, the BJP Government has utterly failed to fulfill its promises. On the contrary it has destroyed and reversed the welfare schemes for all sections of people and also the pro-tribal policies of the Left front Government.

Today in Tripura there are starvation deaths, hunger has grown, joblessness has increased, criminals are given a license, RSS is busy trying to sow the seeds of hatred and division. When media reflects the reality they are being attacked. More than 30 media persons have been physically attacked. In this phase, 4 media houses critical of the BJP Government were attacked. The increasing participation of people under the banner of the CPI(M) and the left in Tripura has made the BJP desperate.

This attack on the opposition and particularly the Left in Tripura and the attack on the independent media is also part of the growing intolerance and all out assault on democracy that is happening all over India. This all out attack on democracy must be condemned by all democratic minded people and political parties.

The CPI(M) demands that the attacks and violence against the CPI(M) Left and all opposition parties should stop; attacks on media should stop and they should be allowed to function freely; the miscreants responsible must be arrested and prosecuted; compensation must be given to those whose homes, shops and other property destroyed; false cases against opposition party leaders and workers should be withdrawn.

http://solidnet.org/article/Marxistindi ... n-Tripura/
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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Re: India

Post by blindpig » Tue Sep 28, 2021 1:37 pm

Indian Farmers Lead Country-Wide Shutdown
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on SEPTEMBER 27, 2021
Peoples Dispatch

Image
Photo: Newsclick

A day-long peaceful country-wide shutdown was organized in India to mark 10 months of the farmers’ agitation. The shutdown lasted from 6 am to 4 pm and was called for by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella organization of around 40 farmers’ unions. They were backed by a number of trade unions and political parties.

The farmers have been demanding that the government at the center, led by the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), repeal the three agriculture laws enacted on September 27 last year. The contentious laws, farmers argue, will allow for the increased role of corporates in agriculture besides driving down the price for their produce.

These, however, are not the only demands the farmers have. Over the course of the 10-month agitation, they have taken up wide-ranging issues afflicting the common people of India. The increase in fuel prices, inflation, unemployment and crackdowns on dissenters are some of the issues they have highlighted.

A wide section of the society came out in support and suspended work for the day. It was backed by a majority of opposition parties, trade unions, employee federations, student, youth and women organizations. Some non-BJP State governments, such as Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab, lent their support to the shutdown.

Reports of protests, demonstrations, highway and rail blockades by farmers, backed by other sections of society, poured in from several states through the day. Emergency services, such as ambulances, were not being stopped, the farmer unions said.

The last round of talks between the farmers and the right-wing government at the center was held in January when it unceremoniously came to an end. The government has refused to engage with the SKM, going as far as painting them enemies of the country.

The government then had offered to suspend the law for 18 months, till the dispute is resolved. Farmers’ unions rejected the proposal saying they will not call off the agitation until the three laws are repealed.

SKM highlighted that the overall mood across the country is anger and frustration with the Modi government’s policies which it is enforcing by curbing basic freedoms and democracy and consequently, putting most citizens on the path of struggle for survival. “It is patently clear that the people of India are tired of Modi Government’s adamant, unreasonable and egoistic stand on protesting farmers’ legitimate demands, and anti-people policies in numerous sectors”, said SKM.

Opposition parties, including the Communist Party of India (Marxist), hailed the successful shutdown

CPI(M) extends hearty congratulations to all sections of the people who made the Bharat Bandh called by Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) a grand and historic success.

— CPI (M) (@cpimspeak) September 27, 2021

With inputs from Newsclick.


Bharat Bandh: 10 Hours That Could Shake Modi Govt, as Support for Farmers Gets ‘Bigger, Wider’

Newsclick Team
Image

Monday’s countrywide strike call by SKM saw road, rail blockades, protests and sit-ins in several states, with most Opposition parties and more sections of the society joining in.

New Delhi: Sending a strong message to the Narendra Modi government, the 10-hour peaceful countrywide shutdown or Bharat Bandh to mark 10 months of the farmers’ movement against the three farm laws, saw protesters across sections blocking highways, rail tracks, holding protests and demonstrations in several state in support of farmers.

The bandh call was given by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of over 40 farmer unions, and was backed by a majority of non- Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) parties, trade unions, employee federations, student, youth and women organisations, Indian diaspora and even some non-BJP state governments, such as Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab.

“The response to the bandh call was more widespread than before…It was unprecedented and historic,” said the SKM in a statement, adding that “the people of India were tired of the Modi government’s adamant, unreasonable and egoistic stand on the protesting farmers’ legitimate demands.”

SKM also said the bandh was unfortunately marked by the death of three farmers and “more details were being collected.”

Punjab & Haryana: Almost Complete Shutdown

There was an almost shutdown in Punjab with transport services staying suspended and shops, commercial establishments and educational institutions remaining shut at most places during the bandh.

National and state highways in several districts, including Amritsar, Rupnagar, Jalandhar, Pathankot, Sangrur, Mohali, Ludhiana, Ferozepur, Bathinda, were blocked by the protesters.

in neighbouring Haryana too, the bandh evoked a good response at many places where shops, educational institutions, commercial establishments and ‘mandis’ remained shut.

The protesters blocked national highways in Sirsa, Fatehabad, Kurukshetra, Panipat, Hisar, Charkhi Dadri, Karnal, Kaithal, Rohtak, Jhajjar and Panchkula districts.

The bandh, however, failed to evoke much response in Chandigarh, which is the common capital of the two states and where life remained normal.

At many places in Punjab and Haryana, protesting farmers used their tractor trollies to block the roads. Farmers also staged protest demonstrations raising slogans against the Union government demanding repeal of farm laws.

The protesters also squatted on railway tracks at many places in the two states. However, in view of the inconvenience faced by passengers, some farmers and other volunteers organised ‘langars’ serving food to them at Karnal, Patiala and few other places.

Ferozepur’s Divisional Railway Manager Seema Sharma told PTI that some passenger trains had been cancelled while some other services had been rescheduled.

Farmers squatted on railway tracks at many places in the two states, including at Shahbad near Kurukshetra, Sonipat, Bahadurgarh, Charkhi Dadri, Jind, Hisar, Amritsar, Patiala, Barnala and Lalru near Derabassi.

Expressing solidarity with the protesting farmers, Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi urged the Centre to repeal the three “anti-farmer” laws while state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu said the PPCC firmly stands by the farmer unions’ “Bharat Bandh” call.

Hundreds of farmers blocked the Ambala-Delhi National Highway. They put barricades on roads leading to the Shambhu border near Ambala and squatted in the middle of the road. The traffic towards Delhi was diverted to alternative routes.

Protesters also blocked Hisar-Delhi, Jind-Patiala, Jalandhar-Pathankot, Chandigarh-Ambala, Zirakpur-Patiala and several other national highways.

Most of the grain markets of Ambala district, the wholesale cloth market, Sarafa Bazaar, educational institutions and several commercial establishments remained closed.

Shops also remained shut at some other places in Haryana, including in Karnal, Kurukshetra, Rohtak, Sonipat and Sirsa districts.

MP: Support Grows for Farmers

Bhopal: The Bharat Bandh called by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), a coalition of 40 farmers’ unions, to mark the first anniversary of the enactment of the three farm laws, got massive support in Madhya Pradesh which was missing previously.

Markets remain closed from 9 am to 2 pm in districts of Gwalior-Chambal, Malwa-Nimar, Vidhya region and adjourning districts of state capital Bhopal including Raisen, Vidhisha and Sehore.

However, the Bharat Bandh had no major impact on day-to-day and commercial activities in the state capital Bhopal and commercial hub Indore. The overall Bandh was peaceful in the State, said SKM State Convenor Badal Saroj.

The Bandh got major push in MP after the Congress extended its full support and many senior Congress leaders took to the streets.

Image

In a gathering of over 400 people Singh said, “Even during the British era, when farmers were forced to pay Lagaan, they were allowed to go to the court which is prohibited by the Modi government in three farm laws. These laws are not only against farmers but also against consumers as the important duty on eatable oil has been hike by almost 5 % which will profit corporate houses.”

In Gwalior, National Highway 3 was blocked for almost two hours. Markets were close after a tractor and bike rally of over 1 km marched in the city roads urging the shopkeepers and transporters to support the Bandh. In other districts of Gwalior-Chambal region, such as Bhind, Morena, Sheopur, the Krishi Mandis were completely shut and markets were partially closed till 2 pm.

In Vindhya Region districts such as Rewa, Satna, Sidhi, mashal Yatras were carried out on the evening of September 26.

“We were creating awareness through Nukkar Natak from last a week and it paid off,” said Subhash Pandey of Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Mahasangh, adding that the Bundh was partially successful in the region.

In Central MP districts like Vidisha, Raisen, Sehore and Harda, the farmer leaders claimed that the common man and shopkeepers extended their support and kept their shops shut by 2 pm. “Over 14 rallies (Tractor and Bike) were carried out in Raisen and Sehore only as the farmers took to the streets,” Said Irfan Jafri, State convener of Jagrut Kisan Sanghatan.

“The farmers of over 10 villages have given separate memorandums addressing President demanding withdrawal of the farm laws,” He added

The districts of Malwa-Nimar region of the State have also witnessed impact of Bandh. In Mandsaur, Ujjain, Neemuch districts, Krishi Mandis were entirely closed and markets were shut till 2 pm.

Kashif Kakvi in Bhopal

TN: Farmers, Workers Block Rails and Roads

More than 50,000 workers and farmers hit the streets in Tamil Nadu in solidarity with the protesting farmers.

While the DMK government had declared support for the bandh, it was members of Left organisations who came out in huge numbers. All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), Labour Progressive Front (LPF), Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS) and other central trade unions participated in the rail blockade and road rokos.

P Shanmugam, general secretary of Tamil Nadu unit of AIKS said, “The BJP government is continuing to betray the farmers by refusing to withdraw the three draconian farm laws. These laws will push the farmers deep into crisis. ”

“The union government is removing food grains, cooking oil, onions and dal from the list of essential commodities. The BJP government is trying to help hoarders by such moves and push the common public to pay more for basic goods”, Shanmugam added.

Image
The state secretaries of CPI(M) K Balakrishnan, CPI R Mutharasan and N K Natarajan of CPI(ML) led the protest in Chennai along with leader of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), Thol Thirumavalavan MP.

S Venkatesan, CPI(M) MP led the protest in Madurai and demanded the withdrawal of the three farm laws and expansion of MGNREGA to 200 days. “The union government should stop the process of selling national assets to the private sector. The PSUs are the lifeline of the country”, he posted in his social media handle.

Rail blockade by the farmers and trade union members took place in KizhVelur, Tiruttani, Mayiladuthurai where thousands were detained.

The protesting workers, farmers and women flayed the BJP government’s policies leading to high fuel and LPG prices and increasing unemployment.

Neelambaran A from Chennai

West Bengal: Huge Response in Rural Areas

New Delhi: Sending a strong message to the Narendra Modi government, the 10-hour peaceful countrywide shutdown or Bharat Bandh to mark 10 months of the farmers’ movement against the three farm laws, saw protesters across sections blocking highways, rail tracks, holding protests and demonstrations in several state in support of farmers.

The bandh call was given by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of over 40 farmer unions, and was backed by a majority of non- Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) parties, trade unions, employee federations, student, youth and women organisations, Indian diaspora and even some non-BJP state governments, such as Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab.

“The response to the bandh call was more widespread than before…It was unprecedented and historic,” said the SKM in a statement, adding that “the people of India were tired of the Modi government’s adamant, unreasonable and egoistic stand on the protesting farmers’ legitimate demands.”

SKM also said the bandh was unfortunately marked by the death of three farmers and “more details were being collected.”

Punjab & Haryana: Almost Complete Shutdown

There was an almost shutdown in Punjab with transport services staying suspended and shops, commercial establishments and educational institutions remaining shut at most places during the bandh.

National and state highways in several districts, including Amritsar, Rupnagar, Jalandhar, Pathankot, Sangrur, Mohali, Ludhiana, Ferozepur, Bathinda, were blocked by the protesters.

In neighbouring Haryana too, the bandh evoked a good response at many places where shops, educational institutions, commercial establishments and ‘mandis’ remained shut.

The protesters blocked national highways in Sirsa, Fatehabad, Kurukshetra, Panipat, Hisar, Charkhi Dadri, Karnal, Kaithal, Rohtak, Jhajjar and Panchkula districts.

The bandh, however, failed to evoke much response in Chandigarh, which is the common capital of the two states and where life remained normal.

At many places in Punjab and Haryana, protesting farmers used their tractor trollies to block the roads. Farmers also staged protest demonstrations raising slogans against the Union government demanding repeal of farm laws.

The protesters also squatted on railway tracks at many places in the two states. However, in view of the inconvenience faced by passengers, some farmers and other volunteers organised ‘langars’ serving food to them at Karnal, Patiala and few other places.

Ferozepur’s Divisional Railway Manager Seema Sharma told PTI that some passenger trains had been cancelled while some other services had been rescheduled.

Farmers squatted on railway tracks at many places in the two states, including at Shahbad near Kurukshetra, Sonipat, Bahadurgarh, Charkhi Dadri, Jind, Hisar, Amritsar, Patiala, Barnala and Lalru near Derabassi.

Expressing solidarity with the protesting farmers, Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi urged the Centre to repeal the three “anti-farmer” laws while state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu said the PPCC firmly stands by the farmer unions’ “Bharat Bandh” call.

Hundreds of farmers blocked the Ambala-Delhi National Highway. They put barricades on roads leading to the Shambhu border near Ambala and squatted in the middle of the road. The traffic towards Delhi was diverted to alternative routes.

Protesters also blocked Hisar-Delhi, Jind-Patiala, Jalandhar-Pathankot, Chandigarh-Ambala, Zirakpur-Patiala and several other national highways.

Most of the grain markets of Ambala district, the wholesale cloth market, Sarafa Bazaar, educational institutions and several commercial establishments remained closed.

Shops also remained shut at some other places in Haryana, including in Karnal, Kurukshetra, Rohtak, Sonipat and Sirsa districts.

MP: Support Grows for Farmers

Bhopal: The Bharat Bandh called by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), a coalition of 40 farmers’ unions, to mark the first anniversary of the enactment of the three farm laws, got massive support in Madhya Pradesh which was missing previously.

Markets remain closed from 9 am to 2 pm in districts of Gwalior-Chambal, Malwa-Nimar, Vidhya region and adjourning districts of state capital Bhopal including Raisen, Vidhisha and Sehore.

However, the Bharat Bandh had no major impact on day-to-day and commercial activities in the state capital Bhopal and commercial hub Indore. The overall Bandh was peaceful in the State, said SKM State Convenor Badal Saroj.

The Bandh got major push in MP after the Congress extended its full support and many senior Congress leaders took to the streets.

Former Chief Minister and Rajya Sabha MP, Digvijay Singh along with the members of other political parties and farmer leaders demonstrated at Bhopal’s Karondh Krishi Upaj Mandi for almost two hours.

In Gwalior, National Highway 3 was blocked for almost two hours. Markets were close after a tractor and bike rally of over 1 km marched in the city roads urging the shopkeepers and transporters to support the Bandh. In other districts of Gwalior-Chambal region, such as Bhind, Morena, Sheopur, the Krishi Mandis were completely shut and markets were partially closed till 2 pm.

In Vindhya Region districts such as Rewa, Satna, Sidhi, mashal Yatras were carried out on the evening of September 26.

“We were creating awareness through Nukkar Natak from last a week and it paid off,” said Subhash Pandey of Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Mahasangh, adding that the Bundh was partially successful in the region.

In Central MP districts like Vidisha, Raisen, Sehore and Harda, the farmer leaders claimed that the common man and shopkeepers extended their support and kept their shops shut by 2 pm. “Over 14 rallies (Tractor and Bike) were carried out in Raisen and Sehore only as the farmers took to the streets,” Said Irfan Jafri, State convener of Jagrut Kisan Sanghatan.

“The farmers of over 10 villages have given separate memorandums addressing President demanding withdrawal of the farm laws,” He added

The districts of Malwa-Nimar region of the State have also witnessed impact of Bandh. In Mandsaur, Ujjain, Neemuch districts, Krishi Mandis were entirely closed and markets were shut till 2 pm.

Kashif Kakvi in Bhopal

TN: Farmers, Workers Block Rails and Roads

More than 50,000 workers and farmers hit the streets in Tamil Nadu in solidarity with the protesting farmers.

While the DMK government had declared support for the bandh, it was members of Left organisations who came out in huge numbers. All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), Labour Progressive Front (LPF), Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS) and other central trade unions participated in the rail blockade and road rokos.

P Shanmugam, general secretary of Tamil Nadu unit of AIKS said, “The BJP government is continuing to betray the farmers by refusing to withdraw the three draconian farm laws. These laws will push the farmers deep into crisis. ”

“The union government is removing food grains, cooking oil, onions and dal from the list of essential commodities. The BJP government is trying to help hoarders by such moves and push the common public to pay more for basic goods”, Shanmugam added.
BB5The state secretaries of CPI(M) K Balakrishnan, CPI R Mutharasan and N K Natarajan of CPI(ML) led the protest in Chennai along with leader of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), Thol Thirumavalavan MP.

S Venkatesan, CPI(M) MP led the protest in Madurai and demanded the withdrawal of the three farm laws and expansion of MGNREGA to 200 days. “The union government should stop the process of selling national assets to the private sector. The PSUs are the lifeline of the country”, he posted in his social media handle.

Rail blockade by the farmers and trade union members took place in KizhVelur, Tiruttani, Mayiladuthurai where thousands were detained.

The protesting workers, farmers and women flayed the BJP government’s policies leading to high fuel and LPG prices and increasing unemployment.

Neelambaran A from Chennai

West Bengal: Huge Response in Rural Areas


The general strike call by SKM, supported by the Central trare unions and 12 main political parties drew a huge response, especially in rural Bengal, despite the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) not joining the strike call .

In Bengal, the Left Front and Congress party workers began picketing from the wee hours across the state.

Trains, buses and even ferry service were disrupted as picketers reasoned with police and administrative officials.

Almost all major arterial roads leading to Kolkata were blocked by protesters since the morning. All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee State convenor Amal Halder said in many places even private bus owners refused to ply.

In the afternoon, a huge rally was taken out by trade unions in support of the strike which was participated by Left Front Chairman Biman Basu , CPI(M) state secretary Suryakanta Mishra , RSP general secretary Manoj Bhattacharya and forward block chairman Naren Chattopadhyay.

In Kolkata, the strike call was mixed with only 3o % vehicles on the roads. Shops and establishment in many places remained closed.

In North 24 Parganas, buses plied but very few passengers could be seen. Many jute mills remained closed while those that were open saw thin attendance.

Image
In Bashirhaat sub-division, the rural strike was successful, while in Naihati, railway stations and the local ferry services were picketed. The Asansol-Ranigunj-Jamuria coal and steel belt in Durgapur functioned partially, with many collieries recording low attendance.

In South 24 Parganas, ferry services remained partially open, shops and establishments remained closed in many places in Sonarpur Baruipur, Canning, Amtalla and Thakurpukur area.

East Medinipur saw a road blockade in all major intersections of national highways. Minor skirmishes were reported in Chandipur district.

In Haldia, many industries recorded thin attendance.

At Borjora of Bankura, the National highway was blocked while the local railway stations were taken control by the protesters in Bankura town, Hooghly, Bhandartikuri and Arambag.

In Birbhum, private buses stopped plying altogether, while shop and and establishments were closed in Bolpur and Siuri .

In Coochbehar, the government bus terminus looked deserted and private buses also remained off road.

Sandip Chakraborty in Kolkata

Maharashtra: Good Response in Many Areas

Mumbai: A large number of protests were seen across state with almost all political parties and various organisations backing SKM’s Bharat Bandh call. ‘Rasta roko’ were held at various parts of the state, including Nandurbar, Palghar, Solapur, Parbhani, Beed and Amravati.

Thousands of farmers staged protests in Ahmednagar, Nasik, Kolhapur, Sangli and at other locations. In Pimpri Chinchwad, workers gathered at various industrial zones, including Bhosri and Chakan and protested against ‘asset monetisation policy’ of Modi government. A long walkathon rally was held in Chandgad, Kolhapur.

Mumbai also saw a number of protests in Andheri, Sion, Goregaon, Azad Maidan (Fort) and in other suburbs. In Thane, tribal farmers held protests at Zilla Parishad office. Cities like Parli (Beed) Wai Bazar (Satara), Surgana ( Nasik), Taloda (Nandurbar), Chandgad (Kolhapur), Jat (Sangli), Selu ( Parbhani), Hadgaon (Nanded), Osmanabad also observed complete bandh.

Image
The overall protest was peaceful in entire state which shown the determination of farmers and labourers against Modi Sarkar.

Political parties like Congress, NCP, CPM, CPI, Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, Peasant and Workers Party also participated in strike at all over state.

“This strike makes it clear that the protest is no longer centric to North Indian states and only to farmers. This is in a way wake up call for Modi Sarkar,” said Ashok Dhawale, president of AIKS.

Amey Tirodkar in Mumbai

Gujarat: Dalit Women Block Roads in Support

In Gujarat , farmers, dalits and various trade union bodies extended their support to the Bharat Bandh called by SKM.

Dalit women of Saroda village, Dholka taluka in Ahmedabad districts blocked the road in the morning as a mark of support to the bandh. About 15 dalit women along with local farmers sat on the road till they were detained and taken to Dholka police station.

“Farmers have been sitting on protest for over 10 months now but nobody is listening to them and now they (Gujarat police) will not even allow us to sit in support of the cause,” said Laxmiben Rathod, a dalit activist. as she was being detained.

Various trade union bodies protested in Vadodara and farmers of Surendranagar blockd the Ahmedabad Rajkot highway in support of the bandh.

Image
[i[In Surat and Bharuch districts, shops and markets remained closed in support of the bandh. Traffic movement on the National Highway (NH-8) near Kamrej remained disrupted for about an hour as the agitating farmers burnt tyres to support the Bharat Bandh.[/i]

About 30 protesting farmers were detained by the Olpad police including the convenor of the Jayesh Patel, Gujarat Khedut Sangharsh Samiti, the largest farmers rights organisation of Gujarat.

At least 12 farmer leaders and activist were detained or kept under house arrest across South Gujarat since the evening of September 26. Police was deployed at the homes of local farmers leaders Parimal Patel in Bardoli, Pinaki Patel and Himanshu Vashi in Navsari among others.

“As Gujarat government does every time a protest is declared, activist and leaders were either detained or put under home arrest by deploying police at their homes since last evening. At least 12 leaders and organisers could not step out of their homes today to support the bandh. I managed to evade home arrest yesterday but was detained on my way to the location where farmers had gathered to block the road on NH-8,” Ramesh Patel, the President of Olpad taluka unit of Gujarat Khedut Samaj, told the Newsclick.

Damayantee Dhar in Gujarat

Bihar: Visible Impact Across Districts

Patna: Ignoring the scorching sun and high humidity, thousands of farmers along with leaders and workers of Mahagathbandhan parties, the opposition alliance in Bihar, took to the streets protesting against farm laws.

The impact was visible everywhere as protestors blocked roads and tracks .It disrupted train movement and bus, truck and other vehicles across the state, which is ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party-Janata Dal (United) alliance.

A senior police official at police headquarters here admitted the shutdown had badly hit rail and road traffic.” Mahagathbandhan workers and supporters in large numbers blocked most of the national highways and state highways in over two dozen districts and halted several trains”.

Slogan shouting supporters and workers of Mahagathbandhan, including Left parties with red, green flags and banners, stopped half a dozen trains at Patna, Darbhanga, Jehanabad, Bhojpur, Bhagalpur and other railway stations.

Image
There were also reports of some protestors burning tyres on roads, staging sit-ins (dharna) on roads and raising slogans against the BJP-led Central government in Patna, Gaya, Aurangabad, Bhojpur, Bhagalpur, Purnia, Muzaffarpur,Vaishali districts.

Protestors also blocked Gandhi Setu, the longest bridge on river Ganga in Hajipur in Vaishali, considered the lifeline connecting Patna to North Bihar. Some people staged protests by carrying bananas in bamboo baskets and others riding buffaloes and dancing on popular Bhojpuri songs to express their anger.

In Patna, the Truck Owners’ Association, auto-rickshaw federation also joined the shutdown.

CPI (M) state secretary Awadhesh Kumar said the bandh was successful as it was supported by common people who are angry and fed up with rising joblessness, prices of petrol, diesel, edible oil and anti-worker policies of the BJ- led Central government.

CPI (ML) state secretary Kunal: ”All sections of people took to streets, which is an indication that people will join a large platform to fight against the government”.

Mohd Imran Khan in Patna

Andhra: Lukewarm Response Amid Heavy Rain

Amaravati: The Bharat Bandh evoked lukewarm response in Andhra Pradesh though the YSR Congress government lent support, as heavy to very heavy rains in different districts had a severe impact on normal life, other than the bandh.

Only at a few places like Tirupati, Anantapuramu and Kadapa did the Opposition parties stage protests against the farm laws .

The main opposition Telugu Desam Party also supported the bandh, along with the Congress and the Left parties.

In the temple town of Tirupati, workers of Left parties squatted on the rail track inside the railway station before police whisked them away. A sit-in protest was also staged on the main road in the city.

In Kadapa and Anantapuramu, the opposition workers staged protests in front of the RTC bus depots.

The state government suspended the bus services till 1 pm in support of the bandh. A holiday was also declared for schools and colleges.

PTI

Telangana: Cong, Left, TDP Join Protests


Hyderabad: Activists of the Congress, Left parties, Telugu Desam Party and others held protests at various places in Telangana in support of the Bharat Bandh called by farmers unions to protest against the Centre’s three agri laws.

Raising slogans against the NDA government at the Centre and TRS government in Telangana, the opposition activists organised protests outside bus stations at different places in the state to prevent the buses from plying.

Protests were held in the districts of Vanaparthi, Nalgonda, Nagarkurnool, Adilabad, Rajanna-Sircilla, Vikarabad and others.

The Opposition activists slammed the NDA government over the three agri laws, attempts to “sell off” PSUs and rising fuel prices.

PTI

Odisha: Markets shut, Public Transport Off Roads


Bhubaneswar: Markets were shut and public transport stayed off the roads as the Bharat Bandh hit normal life in Odisha on Monday.

Supporters of the shutdown, including members of Congress and the Left parties, picketed at important junctions across the state amid rains, demanding repeal of the three farm laws.

Roads were blocked at different places in Bhubaneswar, Balasore, Rourkela, Sambalpur, Bargarh, Bolangir, Rayagada and Subarnapur, among others.

The protesters also blocked the railway lines at Bhubaneswar station, affecting train services in the state capital.

Government offices across the state witnessed thin attendance.

The Odisha State Road Transport Corporation suspended bus service from 6 am to 3 pm in the wake of the bandh. Private buses also remained off the roads.

Educational institutions, which reopened following the lockdown, remained shut due to the bandh.

Though markets were closed, shops selling essentials, including pharmacies and milk outlets, remained unaffected.

Several trade unions and bank employees’ unions were also backing the 12-hour bandh.

Navaniman Krushak Sangathan state convenor Akshya Kumar said farmers across the country are angry as Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not pay any heed to their issues.

“Today’s bandh is symbolic. It will be further intensified till PM Modi withdraws the three farm laws,” said Sesadev Nanda, another leader of the outfit.

PTI

The general strike call by SKM, supported by the Central trare unions and 12 main political parties drew a huge response, especially in rural Bengal, despite the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) not joining the strike call .

In Bengal, the Left Front and Congress party workers began picketing from the wee hours across the state.

Trains, buses and even ferry service were disrupted as picketers reasoned with police and administrative officials.

Almost all major arterial roads leading to Kolkata were blocked by protesters since the morning. All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee State convenor Amal Halder said in many places even private bus owners refused to ply.

In the afternoon, a huge rally was taken out by trade unions in support of the strike which was participated by Left Front Chairman Biman Basu , CPI(M) state secretary Suryakanta Mishra , RSP general secretary Manoj Bhattacharya and forward block chairman Naren Chattopadhyay.

In Kolkata, the strike call was mixed with only 3o % vehicles on the roads. Shops and establishment in many places remained closed.

In North 24 Parganas, buses plied but very few passengers could be seen. Many jute mills remained closed while those that were open saw thin attendance.
BB6In Bashirhaat sub-division, the rural strike was successful, while in Naihati, railway stations and the local ferry services were picketed. The Asansol-Ranigunj-Jamuria coal and steel belt in Durgapur functioned partially, with many collieries recording low attendance.

In South 24 Parganas, ferry services remained partially open, shops and establishments remained closed in many places in Sonarpur Baruipur, Canning, Amtalla and Thakurpukur area.

East Medinipur saw a road blockade in all major intersections of national highways. Minor skirmishes were reported in Chandipur district.

In Haldia, many industries recorded thin attendance.

At Borjora of Bankura, the National highway was blocked while the local railway stations were taken control by the protesters in Bankura town, Hooghly, Bhandartikuri and Arambag.

In Birbhum, private buses stopped plying altogether, while shop and and establishments were closed in Bolpur and Siuri .

In Coochbehar, the government bus terminus looked deserted and private buses also remained off road.

Sandip Chakraborty in Kolkata

Maharashtra: Good Response in Many Areas

Mumbai: A large number of protests were seen across state with almost all political parties and various organisations backing SKM’s Bharat Bandh call. ‘Rasta roko’ were held at various parts of the state, including Nandurbar, Palghar, Solapur, Parbhani, Beed and Amravati.

Thousands of farmers staged protests in Ahmednagar, Nasik, Kolhapur, Sangli and at other locations. In Pimpri Chinchwad, workers gathered at various industrial zones, including Bhosri and Chakan and protested against ‘asset monetisation policy’ of Modi government. A long walkathon rally was held in Chandgad, Kolhapur.

Mumbai also saw a number of protests in Andheri, Sion, Goregaon, Azad Maidan (Fort) and in other suburbs. In Thane, tribal farmers held protests at Zilla Parishad office. Cities like Parli (Beed) Wai Bazar (Satara), Surgana ( Nasik), Taloda (Nandurbar), Chandgad (Kolhapur), Jat (Sangli), Selu ( Parbhani), Hadgaon (Nanded), Osmanabad also observed complete bandh.
BB3The overall protest was peaceful in entire state which shown the determination of farmers and labourers against Modi Sarkar.

Political parties like Congress, NCP, CPM, CPI, Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, Peasant and Workers Party also participated in strike at all over state.

“This strike makes it clear that the protest is no longer centric to North Indian states and only to farmers. This is in a way wake up call for Modi Sarkar,” said Ashok Dhawale, president of AIKS.

Amey Tirodkar in Mumbai

Gujarat: Dalit Women Block Roads in Support

In Gujarat , farmers, dalits and various trade union bodies extended their support to the Bharat Bandh called by SKM.

Dalit women of Saroda village, Dholka taluka in Ahmedabad districts blocked the road in the morning as a mark of support to the bandh. About 15 dalit women along with local farmers sat on the road till they were detained and taken to Dholka police station.

“Farmers have been sitting on protest for over 10 months now but nobody is listening to them and now they (Gujarat police) will not even allow us to sit in support of the cause,” said Laxmiben Rathod, a dalit activist. as she was being detained.

Various trade union bodies protested in Vadodara and farmers of Surendranagar blockd the Ahmedabad Rajkot highway in support of the bandh.

BB2
In Surat and Bharuch districts, shops and markets remained closed in support of the bandh. Traffic movement on the National Highway (NH-8) near Kamrej remained disrupted for about an hour as the agitating farmers burnt tyres to support the Bharat Bandh.

About 30 protesting farmers were detained by the Olpad police including the convenor of the Jayesh Patel, Gujarat Khedut Sangharsh Samiti, the largest farmers rights organisation of Gujarat.

At least 12 farmer leaders and activist were detained or kept under house arrest across South Gujarat since the evening of September 26. Police was deployed at the homes of local farmers leaders Parimal Patel in Bardoli, Pinaki Patel and Himanshu Vashi in Navsari among others.

“As Gujarat government does every time a protest is declared, activist and leaders were either detained or put under home arrest by deploying police at their homes since last evening. At least 12 leaders and organisers could not step out of their homes today to support the bandh. I managed to evade home arrest yesterday but was detained on my way to the location where farmers had gathered to block the road on NH-8,” Ramesh Patel, the President of Olpad taluka unit of Gujarat Khedut Samaj, told the Newsclick.

Damayantee Dhar in Gujarat

Bihar: Visible Impact Across Districts

Patna: Ignoring the scorching sun and high humidity, thousands of farmers along with leaders and workers of Mahagathbandhan parties, the opposition alliance in Bihar, took to the streets protesting against farm laws.

The impact was visible everywhere as protestors blocked roads and tracks .It disrupted train movement and bus, truck and other vehicles across the state, which is ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party-Janata Dal (United) alliance.

A senior police official at police headquarters here admitted the shutdown had badly hit rail and road traffic.” Mahagathbandhan workers and supporters in large numbers blocked most of the national highways and state highways in over two dozen districts and halted several trains”.

Slogan shouting supporters and workers of Mahagathbandhan, including Left parties with red, green flags and banners, stopped half a dozen trains at Patna, Darbhanga, Jehanabad, Bhojpur, Bhagalpur and other railway stations.
bb1There were also reports of some protestors burning tyres on roads, staging sit-ins (dharna) on roads and raising slogans against the BJP-led Central government in Patna, Gaya, Aurangabad, Bhojpur, Bhagalpur, Purnia, Muzaffarpur,Vaishali districts.

Protestors also blocked Gandhi Setu, the longest bridge on river Ganga in Hajipur in Vaishali, considered the lifeline connecting Patna to North Bihar. Some people staged protests by carrying bananas in bamboo baskets and others riding buffaloes and dancing on popular Bhojpuri songs to express their anger.

In Patna, the Truck Owners’ Association, auto-rickshaw federation also joined the shutdown.

CPI (M) state secretary Awadhesh Kumar said the bandh was successful as it was supported by common people who are angry and fed up with rising joblessness, prices of petrol, diesel, edible oil and anti-worker policies of the BJ- led Central government.

CPI (ML) state secretary Kunal: ”All sections of people took to streets, which is an indication that people will join a large platform to fight against the government”.

Mohd Imran Khan in Patna

Andhra: Lukewarm Response Amid Heavy Rain

Amaravati: The Bharat Bandh evoked lukewarm response in Andhra Pradesh though the YSR Congress government lent support, as heavy to very heavy rains in different districts had a severe impact on normal life, other than the bandh.

Only at a few places like Tirupati, Anantapuramu and Kadapa did the Opposition parties stage protests against the farm laws .

The main opposition Telugu Desam Party also supported the bandh, along with the Congress and the Left parties.

In the temple town of Tirupati, workers of Left parties squatted on the rail track inside the railway station before police whisked them away. A sit-in protest was also staged on the main road in the city.

In Kadapa and Anantapuramu, the opposition workers staged protests in front of the RTC bus depots.

The state government suspended the bus services till 1 pm in support of the bandh. A holiday was also declared for schools and colleges.

PTI

Telangana: Cong, Left, TDP Join Protests

Hyderabad: Activists of the Congress, Left parties, Telugu Desam Party and others held protests at various places in Telangana in support of the Bharat Bandh called by farmers unions to protest against the Centre’s three agri laws.

Raising slogans against the NDA government at the Centre and TRS government in Telangana, the opposition activists organised protests outside bus stations at different places in the state to prevent the buses from plying.

Protests were held in the districts of Vanaparthi, Nalgonda, Nagarkurnool, Adilabad, Rajanna-Sircilla, Vikarabad and others.

The Opposition activists slammed the NDA government over the three agri laws, attempts to “sell off” PSUs and rising fuel prices.

PTI

Odisha: Markets shut, Public Transport Off Roads

Bhubaneswar: Markets were shut and public transport stayed off the roads as the Bharat Bandh hit normal life in Odisha on Monday.

Supporters of the shutdown, including members of Congress and the Left parties, picketed at important junctions across the state amid rains, demanding repeal of the three farm laws.

Roads were blocked at different places in Bhubaneswar, Balasore, Rourkela, Sambalpur, Bargarh, Bolangir, Rayagada and Subarnapur, among others.

The protesters also blocked the railway lines at Bhubaneswar station, affecting train services in the state capital.

Government offices across the state witnessed thin attendance.

The Odisha State Road Transport Corporation suspended bus service from 6 am to 3 pm in the wake of the bandh. Private buses also remained off the roads.

Educational institutions, which reopened following the lockdown, remained shut due to the bandh.

Though markets were closed, shops selling essentials, including pharmacies and milk outlets, remained unaffected.

Several trade unions and bank employees’ unions were also backing the 12-hour bandh.

Navaniman Krushak Sangathan state convenor Akshya Kumar said farmers across the country are angry as Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not pay any heed to their issues.

“Today’s bandh is symbolic. It will be further intensified till PM Modi withdraws the three farm laws,” said Sesadev Nanda, another leader of the outfit.

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Re: India

Post by blindpig » Sat Oct 09, 2021 2:05 pm

Lakhimpur Kheri massacre: Farmers to intensify stir
in India — by Press Release — 09/10/2021

Image

The Lakhimpur Kheri massacre will be remembered as a painful chapter in the history of the farm movement of India. The whole truth of this incident has been revealed to the country through all the videos that have become public so far. It is clear that this incident did not happen suddenly. Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra Teni, who himself boasts of a criminal image, first threatened the farmers of a particular community, then tried to instigate the protesting farmers, then his son and his goon companions crushed the farmers going back from the protest by running them over in which 4 farmers and a journalist were killed. The faces of the people involved in this dastardly murder case are also being exposed in front of the country.

This incident has completely exposed the character of the Union Government, the Uttar Pradesh Government, and the Bharatiya Janata Party which is in power at both places. BJP is not ready to take any step against its leaders and goons even after there is clear evidence of such a big murder and involvement of BJP leaders in it. It is clear that the BJP has now turned to violence after losing ground in the face of this historic farm movement. The Samyukt Kisan Morcha has decided that it will respond to this violence through a peaceful and democratic mass movement. A nationwide campaign will be launched against this massacre and the non-satisfactory action by the government.

Samyukt Kisan Morcha demands that:

(1) Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra Teni should be dismissed from the cabinet and arrested on charges of spreading disharmony, and murder and conspiracy.

(2) Ashish Mishra (Monu), the son of Minister Ajay Mishra, and his associates (in whom the names of Sumit Jaiswal and Ankit Das have surfaced), who have been accused of murder, should be immediately arrested.

On the call of Samyukt Kisan Morcha, October 12 will be celebrated as Shaheed Kisan Diwas across the country. SKM appeals to the farmers of Uttar Pradesh and all over the country to pay tribute to the martyr farmers by attending the Antim Ardas (Bhog) on ​​October 12 at Tikonia, Lakhimpur Kheri. SKM appeals to all farmer organizations to organize special prayer meetings or tribute meetings for martyr farmers at their respective places on that day at Gurudwara, Temple, Mosque, Church or any public place, toll plaza or morchas. Candle marches should be organized on that day in the evening. It is an appeal to all the just citizens of the country to light five candles in the memory of the five martyrs outside their houses on that evening.

If the demands are not accepted by October 11, then the Samyukt Kisan Morcha will launch a nationwide protest program. The outline of these programs is as follows:

(1) After the Antim Ardas, *Shaheed Kisan Yatra* will be taken out from Lakhimpur Kheri by taking the asthi of martyr farmers. This yatra will be started by carrying separate asthi kalash for each district of Uttar Pradesh and each state of the country. The yatra will conclude at a holy or historical place in every district and state.

(2) On the occasion of Dussehra, on October 15, the effigies of anti-farmer BJP government symbolized by Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and local leaders will be burnt.

(3) *Rail Roko* will be organized across the country on 18th October from 10 am to 4 pm.

(4) On 26th October, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha will organize a *Mahapanchayat* in Lucknow to protest against the Lakhimpur incident.

*Issued by -*

Balbir Singh Rajewal, Dr Darshan Pal, Gurnam Singh Charuni, Hannan Mollah, Jagjit Singh Dallewal, Joginder Singh Ugrahan, Shivkumar Sharma ‘Kakkaji’, Yudhvir Singh, Yogendra Yadav

*Samyukta Kisan Morcha*
Email: samyuktkisanmorcha@gmail.com

https://countercurrents.org/2021/10/lak ... sify-stir/

*********************************

India’s ruling BJP should be designated as a terror group
in India — by Gurpreet Singh — 07/10/2021

It was late July this year when some Sikh kids came out with their parents in Surrey, to register their protest against the unjust farm laws passed by the world’s so-called largest democracy without due consultations.

Implemented by the ruling right wing Hindu nationalist BJP government in New Delhi, these laws threaten the livelihood of the peasantry, which has taken to the streets since November, 2020. Most Indo-Canadians come from Punjab, which is considered the bread basket of India, and belong to the predominantly farming Sikh community. So the ongoing farmers’ protest back home has drawn wide support here from coast to coast.

The July demonstration was organized by the Guru Granth Sahib Satkaar Committee, a group dedicated to the Sikh scriptures. The children who were part of the rally punched fists on the portrait of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I made a video of the event and posted it on Twitter, without realizing that it would go viral.

Shortly after that, supporters of Modi and his BJP began trolling the organizers and myself. Some described these young souls as potential terrorists and started comparing them with Taliban and ISIS members. These people were being completely unfair, as the children involved in the protest were not using replica guns to target Modi’s poster. All they were doing was punching his image.

Perhaps they need to be reminded how young children also participated in the Indian freedom movement and spoke to the power. Instead of taking all this in stride, and doing some self-reflection about where Modi and his party have gone wrong, they were trying to malign these young protestors.

In contrast, the RSS, a Hindu supremacist group of which BJP is a political wing, continues to encourage kids to carry arms, and incites them against minorities with impunity. Notably, Modi himself is an RSS member, having joined it when he was only eight.

Dedicated to the cause of transforming India into a Hindu theocracy, the RSS has a track record of being involved in violence to terrorise minorities, especially Muslims and Christians.

Before becoming the Prime Minister in 2014, Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat, which witnessed its worst Muslim massacre under his watch in 2002.

Not surprisingly, attacks on religious minorities have grown in India under Modi. However, the most recent developments call for global attention and swift action against the BJP. While world leaders remain obsessed with the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, and refuse to recognize that government, they look away when it comes to the crimes of Modi’s government.

The extremists do not exist in Afghanistan alone, and the international leadership needs to see that.

On Sunday, October 3, the convoy of Ajay Mishra, a minister in the BJP government, allegedly ran over peasants agitating against farm laws in Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh (UP), leaving four farmers dead.

Video footage of a vehicle mowing down the peaceful protestors is now being widely circulated on social media. Earlier, two videos emerged, of Mishra and another BJP leader and the Chief Minister of Haryana Manohar Lal Khattar inciting party supporters to violently attack the protesting farmers, suggesting that this could be a pre-planned conspiracy. Notably, UP is ruled by the BJP, which has been notoriously trying to suppress the farmers’ struggle.

Considering all these facts, if anyone deserves to be called terrorists, it is the BJP leaders, like Mishra and Khattar. Unfortunately, given that they are in power, we cannot expect any senior BJP political functionary to be charged for terror, but it’s time for world leaders to intervene before it’s too late and designate the BJP and the RSS as terror groups.

Those agitated by the video of innocent children punching Modi’s poster in Surrey, out of genuine outrage they share with their concerned parents, should instead make their masters in New Delhi accountable, and figure out – who are the real terrorists? If the June, 2021 attack in London, Ontario that killed four members of a Pakistani Muslim family in a similar manner can be described as terrorism, the Lakhimpur Kheri incident cannot be treated differently. After all, the white supremacist accused of running his vehicle into the family that was out for a walk is facing charges under terrorism. It’s time for Canada to show leadership and put BJP on its terror list, to send a strong message, or at least make a strong statement on behalf of the Indo Canadian community that is deeply devastated by this development.

https://countercurrents.org/2021/10/ind ... ror-group/
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Re: India

Post by blindpig » Thu Oct 14, 2021 2:20 pm

Women Hold Up More Than Half the Sky: The Forty-First Newsletter (2021)

OCTOBER 14, 2021

Image
Junaina Muhammed (India) / Young Socialist Artists, A woman working in the korai fields, where women often work from a young age to earn a living.

Dear friends,

Greetings from the desk of the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research.

Reminder: Indian peasants and agricultural workers remain in the midst of a country-wide agitation sparked by the proposal of three farm bills that were then signed into law by the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party government in September 2020. In June 2021, our dossier summarised the situation plainly:

It is clear that the problem in Indian agriculture is not too much institutional support, but inadequate and uneven deployment of institutions as well as the unwillingness of these institutions to address the inherent inequalities of village society. There is no evidence that agribusiness firms will develop infrastructure, enhance agricultural markets, or provide technical support to farmers. All this is clear to the farmers.

The farmers’ protests, which began in October 2020, are a sign of the clarity with which farmers have reacted to the agrarian crisis and to the three laws that will only deepen the crisis. No attempt by the government – including trying to incite farmers along religious lines – has succeeded in breaking the farmers’ unity. There is a new generation that has learned to resist, and they are prepared to take their fight across India.

In January 2021, the Supreme Court of India heard a series of petitions about the farmers’ protests. Chief Justice S. A. Bobde reacted to them with the following startling observation: ‘We don’t understand either why old people and women are kept in the protests’. The word ‘kept’ rankles. Did the Chief Justice believe that women are not farmers and that women farmers do not come to the protests of their own volition? That is the implication behind his remark.

A quick look at a recent labour force survey shows that 73.2% of women workers who live in rural areas work in agriculture; they are peasants, agricultural workers, and artisans. Meanwhile, only 55% of male workers who live in rural areas are engaged in agriculture. It is telling that only 12.8% of women farmers own land, which is an illustration of the gender inequality in India and is what likely provoked the Chief Justice’s sexist remark.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation pointed out a decade ago that ‘Closing the gender gap in agricultural inputs alone could lift 100-150 million people out of hunger’. Given the immense problem of hunger in our time – as highlighted in last week’s newsletter – women in agriculture must be, as the FAO notes, ‘heard as equal partners’.



Image
Karuna Pious P (India) / Young Socialist Artists, Brick work, locally known as pakka me kaam.



From Tricontinental Research Services (Delhi) comes a superb new dossier on the status of women in India, Indian Women on an Arduous Road to Equality (no. 45, October 2021). The text opens with an image of five women working at a brick kiln. When I saw that drawing, I was transported to a calculation made by Brinda Karat, a leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), about the labour of women construction workers. Bina, a young woman working in Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand, carries between 1,500 and 2,000 bricks to masons in a multi-story building. Bina carries at least 3,000kgs of bricks every day, each weighing 2.5kgs, yet she earns a pittance of under ₹150 ($2) per day and suffers from severe body aches. ‘The pain has become an intrinsic part of my life. I don’t remember a single day without it’, Bina told Karat.



Image
Daniela Ruggeri (Argentina) / Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, Childcare workers protest the Modi government’s unfair treatment of women and workers.

Reminder: Women in India have been an integral part of the farmers’ movement, the workers’ movement, and the movement to widen democracy. Does this need to be said? It seems that something so evident requires constant repetition.

During this pandemic, women public health workers and women childcare workers have played a central role in holding together society, all while being disparaged and having their work trivialised. On 24 September 2021, ten million scheme workers – those who work for government schemes such as public health (Accredited Social Health Activist or ASHA workers) and crèches (anganwadi workers) – went on strike to demand formal employment and better protection for their work during the COVID-19 pandemic. ‘Tax the super-rich’, they said, repeal the farm bills, stop the privatisation of the public sector, and defend women workers.

Over the past few years, ASHA workers have complained about routine harassment, including sexual harassment. In 2013, the Indian government enacted the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act to protect both formal and informal workers. No rules have been framed for ASHA and other scheme workers, nor are these workers able to lift up their experiences of harassment to the front pages of corporate media.

Our dossier carefully dissects the prevalence of patriarchal harassment and violence, making sure to identify the different ways that such toxic behaviours strike at women of different classes. Working-class women in unions and in left organisations have built a kind of mass sensibility; as a result, their struggles now incorporate demands against patriarchy that had otherwise been distant from their lives. For instance, it is now clear amongst many working-class women that they must win maternity leave, equal wages for equal work, guaranteed crèches, and redressal and prevention mechanisms against sexual harassment in workplaces. Such demands cascade back into the family and community, where other struggles – such as against patriarchal violence in the home – expand the horizon of democratic movements in India.

The dossier closes with wise words about the importance of the farmers’ movement for the women’s movement:

Though the Indian women’s movement has seen many ups and downs over the decades, it has remained resilient, adapted to changing socioeconomic conditions, and even expanded. The current situation might present an opportunity to strengthen mass movements and to steer the focus towards the rights and livelihoods of women and workers. The ongoing Indian farmers’ movement, which started before the pandemic and continues to stay strong, offers the opportunity to steer the national discourse towards such an agenda. The tremendous participation of rural women, who travelled from different states to take turns sitting at the borders of the national capital for days, is a historic phenomenon. Their presence in the farmers’ movement provides hope for the women’s movement in a post-pandemic future.

Reminder: Nothing in the slogans coming from the farmers’ encampments is unique. Most of these are long-standing claims. The demands made by women farmers at the protest sites and amplified by the farmers’ unions echo the Draft National Policy for Women in Agriculture put forward by the National Commission for Women in April 2008. This policy included the following key demands, each one applicable today:

Ensure that women have access to and control over resources, including land rights, water, and pasture/forest/biodiversity resources.
Guarantee equal wages for equal work.
Pay minimum support prices to primary producers and ensure that sufficient food grains are available at affordable prices.
Encourage women to enter agriculture-related industries (including fisheries and artisanal work).
Provide training programmes for women including agricultural practices and technologies that are sensitive to the knowledge that women possess as well as the practices they carry out.
Provide adequate and equal availability of services such as irrigation, credit, and insurance.
Encourage primary producers to produce and market seeds, forest and dairy products, and livestock.
Prevent women’s livelihoods from being displaced without providing viable alternatives.
The left women’s movement has put these demands back on the table. The right-wing government will not hear them.



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Ingrid Neves (Brazil) / Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, A seaweed harvester facing the rough seas.



Once more, our dossier comes to you designed with great care and love. This time, our team has worked closely with the Young Socialist Artists (India). Together, we found powerful photographs from the history of the Indian women’s movement and from the farmers’ protests and used these as references for the illustrations in the dossier. We look forward to inviting you to an online exhibition of this art, our small gesture towards expanding a possible pathway to a socialist future.

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Re: India

Post by blindpig » Sat Oct 16, 2021 1:39 pm

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The Opposition “Emocracy” Exposed: Kerala’s Landmark Left Victory
Posted Oct 15, 2021 by K. Ravi Raman

The landslide victory of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) in the Indian state of Kerala in April 2021 is a historic achievement on three levels. (1) For the first time since the formation of the state, a sitting government in Kerala has been elected for a second consecutive term. (2) Not only has the LDF increased its tally from 91 to 99 out of 140 seats, and its difference with the United Democratic Front (UDF) by around 6 percent, but it has also won the lone Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seat in the assembly, as predicted. In 2016, the vote share of the LDF was 43.48 percent, which grew to 45.43 percent in 2021, a gain of around 2 percentage points. The UDF also increased its representation, but only marginally, by 0.66 percentage points, from 38.81 percent to 39.47 percent. The vote share of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA)—the ruling Hindu nationalist government in India—went down in Kerala, from around 14.96 percent in 2016 to around 12.36 percent in 2021, with both the UDF and the LDF benefiting from this. Compared to the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the LDF has now earned 10.73 percentage points more in its favor, a continuation of its impressive victory in local elections held in December 2020. The BJP, its central government, Congress, the Muslim League, and other right-wing forces have moved together to overthrow the government led by Pinarayi Vijayan, which took office in 2016, and to prevent the LDF from coming to power in this year’s elections. The LDF was able to defeat the efforts of such forces for the first time in Kerala. (3) Kerala’s left front has won a decisive victory against the backdrop of the demise of the left in West Bengal and Tripura—both of which had a long history of left rule, for over three decades—with the left losing power in these states in 2011 and 2018 respectively. Had the left lost in Kerala as well, it would have signified the end of the parliamentary left in India. Moreover, the victory of the LDF in Kerala has a temporal significance in the global political landscape.

This is also a culmination of the legacy of the left government in the state since 1957. In India, left forces came to power for the first time in Kerala. The Communist government headed by E. M. S. Namboodiripad, popularly known simply as EMS, came to power in 1957. The policy approaches of the central and state governments in India at that point were all designed in the interests of the bourgeois-landlord class. The EMS-led Communist government adopted fundamentally different policies. It emphasized the interests of the vast majority of society, the poor and the common people. It initiated a land reform process that sought to uproot caste-landlord-colonial hegemony. New approaches to education and health care in the public sector were adopted. This victory has brought to the fore multiple points: people will vote for development; rumor mongering based on lies will not get subscribers; a secular democratic alternative is the way forward; scientific temper is key; transparent governance, and people-oriented, welfare/social safety policies are the way forward. “The election result is also a reminder that the people will be with those who are willing to work for them. The people of Kerala will not be willing to stand with it if they try to implement their wishes by injecting caste and communal sentiments,” the Chief Minister pointed out immediately after assuming office. This victory not only gives an impetus to alternate economic and social policies of the state government, but will also set a precedent for other Indian states to follow a similar path. It can also have a significant global impact.

What helped the LDF make history could be explained at many levels: the tactical lines the LDF adopted for broadening the electoral front; the social and political commitment of the state in terms of promise and practice, especially during the many crises it managed during its term; the rational approach adopted by the LDF to methodically dismantle the manufactured “emocracy”—a culture of “feelings matter more than reason”—that characterized the opposition election campaign.1 The opposition politics as played out in Kerala during the election were more “opposition emocracy” than democracy per se, failing the test of factual reality as proposed and executed by the left in terms of welfare measures and state-led development. At the same time, it is worth exploring the authenticity of some of the claims made by the opposition and how these claims were overshadowed by the larger aura of the left and its corrective modes of governance. The everyday lived experience of common people in relation to the state and its ideology is what shaped their politics, not the agenda pursued by sectarian interests. The LDF did not stop at that. Last but not the least, the unwavering and charismatic leadership of the LDF by Pinarayi Vijayan, fondly called the “Captain,” helped steer the LDF to an unprecedented consecutive second term in the Kerala Assembly. It went ahead and formed a new cabinet with an entirely new set of faces—another first since 1957, to the surprise of many.

Master Strategy, Ideology, Leadership

The tactical lines adopted by the left parties yielded immense benefits. The tactical lines of the leading partners, preexisting socio-cultural factors, how these factors became constituting elements of new alliances, and the nature of the competing alliances all influenced the outcome of the elections. Although regarded with much skepticism all around, the firm decision taken by both the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI[M]) and the Communist Party of India (CPI), the two dominant partners of the LDF, to not field any candidate who had completed two consecutive terms in the assembly—which meant that around three dozen senior members and stalwarts of the Legislative Assembly, including eight ministers, were kept out of the race—clearly paid off. This paved the way for not only a generational shift in legislative representation, but also enabled senior members to actively participate in the LDF campaign on behalf of newcomers, with adequate representation across castes and communities, a tactical approach that helped shift the electoral mood.

But it was not the only tactical approach that worked. More importantly, it was the broadening of the LDF base by drawing parties, such as the Indian National League, Loktantrik Janata Dal, and the Kerala Congress (Mani), into its fold that helped secure the left victory. Knowing well that decisive political issues in elections are influenced by minorities—Muslims and Christians—and how parties respond to them, the LDF made sure to incorporate them. In this regard, it was the Kerala Congress (M), a split from the Kerala Congress, that made the crucial difference, as it represented the relatively wealthy and traditionally right-wing Syrian Christian population. Though the party chairman, Jose K. Mani, lost the Pala constituency (one of Kerala’s state legislative assembly constituencies), his party gained five of the twelve contested seats. The faction that remained within the UDF, the Kerala Congress (J), won only two out of ten seats. Altogether, it was the LDF that benefited the most from tactical alliances, particularly in central Travancore. While it is true that the LDF’s caste Hindu voting base shrunk this time around, it is very likely to have been offset by an expansion of its traditional non-upper caste base—the Ezhavas, the Dalits, and Adivasis across vulnerable social sections (agricultural and industrial workers, small peasants, women) and the middle class. The LDF also succeeded in politically incorporating a section of Christian and Muslim minorities. Overall, Kerala’s wider society shifted toward a more secular approach, defeating the BJP in the two places where BJP state chief K. Surendran ran for election: Manjeshwar in Kasaragod district and Konni in Pathanamthitta district. Having lost both Konni and Manjeshwar to the LDF and UDF, respectively, it is clear that the Hindutva tool kit on which the BJP relied—including citizenship, Sabarimala, and “love jihad” laws—failed.2

The political engineering orchestrated by the LDF at multiple levels was further bolstered by its ideological positions on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) passed by the BJP government and the Brahmanical resurgence at the otherwise secular Sabarimala Temple.3 A few examples are noteworthy. The UDF opposition joined the LDF in challenging the BJP-led CAA, even passing an anti-CAA resolution in the state assembly in December 2019, arguing that it ran counter to the secular Indian constitution. Nevertheless, the Congress UDF parted ways with the LDF when it came to the question of Sabarimala by adopting a soft pan-Hindutva line. Amid the Sabarimala chaos initiated by conservative Hindu forces, the LDF, in order to express its commitment to gender justice, organized the historic 620-kilometer-long Vanitha Mathil (Women’s Wall of Enlightenment) on New Year’s Day, January 1, 2019, which spanned from the northern part of Kerala to the south. On Republic Day 2020, the LDF also initiated a similar formation, the great Human Wall of Opposition against the CAA, in which women and children across religious communities also participated.

If protecting secularism and the fundamental rights of minorities as a whole, particularly that of Muslims in the country, is what led the LDF to wage a struggle against the CAA, the Sabarimala case, which aimed to protect the fundamental rights of women, was overshadowed by the question of Hindu faith in Congress and the BJP. Muslim votes should have been consolidated by the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and thus benefited the UDF, as its alliance partner, but evidence suggests that a significant section of Muslims, particularly youth and women, voted for the LDF as they felt more compelled by their emancipatory politics than with the soft Hindutva of Congress. In this process, the IUML lost seats—it won only fifteen of the twenty-seven seats it contested, and its vote share declined from 8.27 percent in 2016 to 7.40 percent in 2021 (as did the UDF’s)—allowing the LDF to widen its electoral victory (from 4.67 percent in the 2016 election to its current 5.96 percent). This political shift not only had the effect of broadening the LDF’s base of support, but it also helped win over fresh swathes of the populace.

Promise and Practice: Toward the “LDF for Sure” slogan

What societal responses emerged to defend people’s livelihoods and how effective were they? The left has long opted for a social-democratic approach to advancing the welfare of the people, a critical dimension of its ideological stance. Driven by the values of egalitarianism, the left has strengthened its image of a redistributive state as practiced through welfare measures and social security networks. While democratic politics have always been marred by procrastination and a failure to deliver on promises, the left in Kerala has been able to break the pattern by fulfilling 580 of the 600 promises it made in its 2016 election manifesto. As the re-elected Pinarayi Vijayan reiterates in his public speeches, “it is only those that can be implemented that will be said, and those that have been said will be implemented,” leaving no room for ambiguity in the government’s plans once back in power. This led to the catchy slogan “LDF for Sure” and the manifesto lists 900 new items for the 2021 election—in addition to the continuation of the projects undertaken during the previous government. The electorate have already begun to enjoy the benefits of the social security and welfare measures, giving them little reason to doubt the credibility of the government.

The competence and confidence with which the LDF government has dealt with the series of crises facing Kerala—namely, the natural disasters of Ockhi (2017) and the two floods of 2018 and 2019; the Nipah virus (2018); and the COVID-19 pandemic—have instilled a sense of safety and security in the people. Not even the fiercest critic of the LDF would accuse it of abandoning the people, as is often heard in developed countries such as the United States during Hurricane Katrina or the current COVID-19 pandemic in Delhi. The Kerala government was one of the first in India to offer a relief and revival package, worth ₹20,000 crores, during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, and took care of the regular payments toward increased pensions, health, hunger-free days (including for migrant laborers in the state) through community kitchens and grocery kits delivered to doorsteps—all jointly organized by the local bodies, Kudumbashree, the Civil Supplies Department, and volunteers. The government made its presence felt in every household, irrespective of income, and gave the public a sense of being looked after. While the reports from outside Kerala focused on the care crisis, Kerala became a floating signifier of a moral economy and society, lauded for its distinctive COVID-19 containment and vaccine program.

The advancement of development to meet people’s needs, such as the building of many houses (both as individual units and as housing complexes, built as part of the LIFE project), has also helped ensure that marginalized social sectors, including Dalits, poor communities, and the Adivasis/Indigenous population, were allocated their due share. The impressive scale of technological infrastructure, supplementing the social development for which the state is already known, began to transform the economy and make a visible change throughout the state. This took various forms, including the improvement of information technology infrastructures, with an increase in software export, built-up space, and employment; and massive investments in roads, electric vehicles, inland water projects, and so on—partly through the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB).

The Gender Game: “Opposition Emocracy” Exposed

Both the opposition coalition forces—the Congress-led UDF and the BJP-led NDA—repeated on varying occasions that the Sabarimala fiasco, in which women of menstrual age were denied entry into the Sabarimala Temple, would be the issue to bring down the LDF. These forces as well as the mainstream press and media were largely successful in creating this impression, but the election outcome clearly disproved the prediction.

In September 2018, the Supreme Court of India ruled that denying entry to the Hindu temple to women of childbearing age constituted discrimination. In November 2019, following mass protests and dozens of review petitions challenging the court’s 2018 landmark judgement, a five-judge bench passed the matter onto a larger bench, without staying its earlier order. Though the furor over Sabarimala had settled by the time the elections came around, the opposition forces, the Hindu nationalist paramilitary organization of the Sangh Parivar, the upper-caste based Nair Service Society, and other Hindu entities reopened the battle over Sabarimala when the devaswom (socio-religious trusts whose members are nominated by government and community to oversee Hindu temples and their assets) minister Kadakampally Surendran purportedly expressed regret over the events and the chaos that followed the September 2018 verdict. Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala insisted that the government withdraw its petition in full and also “apologize” publicly for its past “mistakes” in accepting the Supreme Court verdict and trying to implement it in the first place.

Rather than implementing the 2018 verdict, the government has decided to wait until the Supreme Court’s final ruling, since the issue has been passed to a larger bench. A few senior judges themselves opined that the government should seek “broad-based consultations” to meet “the genuine concerns of all segments of the community.” However, the opposition charged the LDF with “backtracking,” with the ulterior motive of placating the caste Hindus and bringing them under its banner, which however failed to yield any benefits. In fact, it had the effect of alienating the other two traditional voting bases of Congress: Muslims and Christians. While Muslim youth were otherwise attracted to the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), the youth wing of the CPI(M), progressive sectors were also attracted to the LDF’s consistent countermovement against Hindutva projects such as Sabarimala and the CAA. This led not only to the erosion of the IUML’s voting base, but also simultaneously weakened the potential of the IUML in challenging exclusionary Hindutva projects nationwide. Muslim minorities increasingly felt that Kerala’s left forces could effectively challenge the Hindutva projects. This shift is not expected to be permanent, as evident in the 2016 Lok Sabha polls, when minorities generally refused to support the left and supported Congress instead. This year’s tactical shifting of voting bases, as played out by the minorities that helped the LDF to retain power, and how long the trend continues will depend on how consistent the LDF is in its position and what alternative alliances take place at the national level.

highlighted the achievements of the Narendra Modi government during his election campaign in the state, but struggled, as every central policy is opposite to Kerala’s approach;

Even BJP strategist and home minister Amit Shah had to resort to threatening Kerala with the deployment of central investigation agencies while invoking the BJP’s original Hindutva agenda by fanning the flames of the Sabarimala fire—stating that Sabarimala was not just a temple, but the Ram Janmabhoomi (birthplace of Rama) of the Indian south.4 While the struggle for faith is acceptable to the average Malayali Hindu, including those who identify with the left political parties, it is heartening to note that they have rejected the BJP’s divisive practices to such an extent that the NDA not only lost its lone seat in the assembly, but also saw its overall vote share shrink from around 15 percent to around 12 percent. Not even Prime Minister Modi’s frequent campaign visits to Kerala were enough to persuade the electorate to turn against the left government.

Developmentalism and Politics: Opposition’s Allegations

A series of controversies were started by the opposition, beginning with accusing the government of transferring confidential health data of people in COVID-19 quarantine to pharmaceutical companies through Sprinklr, a software company owned by an overseas Malayali in the United States, without individuals’ consent. The opposition challenged the validity of the arrangement, arguing that the state-owned Centre for Development of Imaging Technology could have also stored the data. The opposition alleged that the government was permitting the commercialization of confidential health data with far-reaching consequences, hoping that the allegations would electorally benefit them, as the Kerala chief minister is also head of the state’s information technology mission that arranged and oversaw the data deal. Emerging public opinion was by and large against the arrangements, despite the data remaining in the hands of the state government, though stored in Sprinklr software. In turn, the government was nimble enough to withdraw from the arrangement and transfer the data to the state-owned Centre for Development of Imaging Technology.

As the elections drew closer, however, fresh allegations were lined up by the opposition, one after the other. Among them was the huge gold-smuggling controversy. Both the UDF and BJP had their own separate reasons for mobilizing public opinion against the government. (1) The gold was discovered in diplomatic cargo, which is exempt from routine customs clearance. (2) Said cargo was addressed to the United Arab Emirates consulate in the state capital. (3) Those allegedly involved in the gold smuggling were thought to have links to senior government officials and politicians, including the principal secretary to the chief minister, who was already a controversial bureaucrat in the Sprinklr deal. Congress blamed the BJP and the state government for their negligence and involvement of the chief minister’s office, respectively. The BJP then further embroiled the chief minister’s office in the gold-smuggling controversy, claiming that a woman alleged to have been involved was also employed by the principal secretary in a key post. Media played along with the opposition and public opinion turned against the government.

The LDF asserted that any lapse in the customs procedures at the airport was attributable to the NDA government, while also employing modern governance strategy to counter the allegations. The government worked quickly to bring the perpetrators and their accomplices to justice, requesting the central government to take up the matter (as it fell under its purview), and suspending the principal secretary. Rather than acknowledging the steps taken by the government, the opposition brought the struggle to the streets, often in violation of COVID-19 protocols, undermining the left government’s management of the situation.

The deep-sea trawling controversy is seen as another obstacle to the LDF’s regaining of power. In a rare instance, the opposition was able to persuade the public that the state had not adequately protected the rights of fisherfolk, and accused the left of attempting to “sell off all marine wealth” to a U.S. firm, in contradiction with fishery policies. The government signed a memorandum of understanding with the Indian subsidiary of the New York-based EMCC Global Consortium, followed by allotting lands for fish processing, manufacturing deep-sea fishing vessels, and developing harbors. The deal sparked protests, including a coastal hartal (strike) and dissent from the Latin Catholic Church.

Though the Industries Department negotiated and finalized the memorandum of understanding, the government was in trouble by and large due to the lack of coordination of various departments and agencies, despite the money and land resources poured into the project, and the contention of fisherfolk’s rights, which are otherwise protected by the state’s fishery policy. The left fishery policy is different from the federal government’s deep-sea fishing and corporate-driven blue economy policy, which generally permits deep-sea trawling by foreign companies—in contrast to the left, which allows trawling only by traditional fisherfolk through cooperatives. But the issues raised by the opposition would not have gained traction had the state departments remained vigilant enough to engage the EMCC and reject their proposals, especially since deep-sea trawling is under the purview of the central government. However, the timely response of the LDF government, which withdrew from the memorandum of understanding, helped save the government from too much loss of trust. Despite the Kerala minister for fisheries, Mercykutty Amma, being defeated in the election, this was overall due more to the consolidation of Hindu votes driven by the NDA and, contrary to expectations, the LDF did not lose any significant coastal seats in the assembly.

At times, opposition forces put political strategies to shame. In one instance, the BJP state president even stated that they needed only thirty-five seats to form a government in Kerala, despite the requirement being seventy-one seats, leading the chief minister to state that Congress had become the fixed guarantee of the BJP.5 The secret alliances between the UDF and BJP are other salient examples. BJP veterans themselves, like the late K. G. Marar in reference to the 1991 election and the sole member of the legislature today O. Rajagopal, have openly admitted to deals and alliances between the BJP and the Congress-IUML as a strategy to defeat the Kerala communists, the only ideological and practical alternative in India. In the 2021 election, too, it was often repeated that the UDF managed to win seats because it traded votes with the BJP. Otherwise, the UDF would have been hit much harder. While it is true that the reduction in votes for the NDA by 2.6 percent benefited the UDF, it is also true that a share of this loss went to the LDF. Nevertheless, the LDF cannot take all the credit for defeating former BJP state president Kummanam Rajasekharan in Nemom, the lone seat in the state assembly, dealing a blow to Hindu revivalism. The UDF also attracted votes away from the BJP by strategically fielding K. Muraleedharan, who had the contextual support of the community-based Nair Service Society.

The allegations against the KIIFB regarding resources for developmental projects, as per the 1999 KIIFB Act, also turned out to be false. The opposition claimed that the KIIFB did not have the authority to issue Masala bonds—rupee-denominated bonds issued outside India by Indian entities—and that the comptroller and auditor general also objected. The government asserted that the KIIFB, in its 2016 formulation, was a corporate entity and hence had the power to mobilize resources for developmental projects, including issuing masala bonds, sanctioned by the Reserve Bank of India. Voters appeared to ignore the argument that Kerala had already borrowed large funds at high interest rates, and thus that the debt would become unsustainable, putting faith in the state’s clarification that: (1) the debt to GDP ratio of Kerala (around 31 percent) is much lower than many other states in India, including the Congress-led Punjab (40.3 percent) and BJP-led Uttar Pradesh (34 percent); (2) debt is sustainable as long as there is no debt overhang in the overall economy; and (3) the funds raised go to the state’s otherwise lagging infrastructure projects, improving the quality of social development and intergenerational living conditions.6

The KIIFB was also criticized by the union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman during her election campaign for BJP candidacy in the state. The LDF, particularly the then finance minister Thomas Isaac, and the chief minister challenged this as a move aimed at not only “destroying” the KIIFB as an institution, but also at torpedoing the state’s developmental agenda, including emerging knowledge economy initiatives. It was the misuse of federal sovereign power over the state and the unfavorable center-state relations that contributed to the state opting for off-budget borrowings. Not only has the KIIFB pledged future revenues for budgetary expenses, as the loans would be serviced by a share of motor vehicle and petroleum taxes, but the infrastructure investments would also benefit future generations. Furthermore, forfeiting goods and services taxes should be understood as states’ losses of economic sovereignty, politically reclaimed through the KIIFB.

The opposition further accused the government of engaging in clandestine deals with the conglomerate company Adani Group, as it opposed its takeover of the Trivandrum International Airport despite supporting its solar power purchase. But the agreement was not between the Kerala State Electricity Board and Adani, it was with the Solar Energy Corporation of India, a public-sector undertaking that facilitates the supply of power through companies, involving international bidding processes. No government could foresee who exactly would end up the successful bidder. Of the three companies selected by the Solar Energy Corporation of India, Adani Green Energy is the only one that commenced supplying power, allotted by the Solar Energy Corporation of India, and bought and distributed by the Kerala State Electricity Board. Another opposition allegation, that the government buys power from Adani at a higher cost, was also false. Kerala is also bound to comply with the Indian government’s renewable purchase obligations, which mandate that all electricity distribution licensees should purchase or produce a minimum specified quantity of their requirements from renewable energy sources. Noncompliance with the obligations is not penalized, but violates the state’s avowed position on solar power. The case of Kerala’s Cochin International Airport was different: the government has already proved that it could run airports more efficiently and profitably.

Exposing “opposition emocracy” was not confined to the Sabarimala controversy or “love jihad” laws—on the latter, BJP stalwart and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adithyanadh and BJP state chief K. Surendran attempted to stir up public opinion, but were dismissed by left leaders. The material dimensions of the state’s everyday welfare efforts were also scrutinized. For instance, the opposition continued to accuse the left government of denying the poor the right to more than one pension and of generally keeping the public in the dark regarding pension plans. In reality, for the first time in the history of the country, a government increased welfare pensions seven times in five years and more than doubled the pension amount during its tenure. Not only that, but accumulated arrears were also paid and delivery mechanisms strengthened through direct electronic transfers into bank accounts.

In one of its most recent advertising campaigns just before the election, the UDF claimed that that it would revive the Karunya Health Scheme, falsely implying that the scheme no longer exists. In fact, the state government has maintained the Karunya Benevolent Fund, state financial assistance for poor people suffering from acute ailments like cancer, hemophilia, and kidney and heart diseases. The current government also further funded the scheme and all processes were transferred from manual to information technology-based platforms. At the same time, the opposition also earned the name “annam mudakki” (deniers of basic subsistence) when its leader demanded that rice distribution in schools stop until the elections were over, and instructed the Department of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs to stall distribution of Vishu festival kits, social security pensions, and meal kits, all in the name of election protocols, ignoring the fact these measures had already been announced and were not in violation of the Model Code of Conduct for political parties and candidates. Even the High Court reprimanded the opposition.

All these occurrences led voters to favor the LDF, which was clearly reflected in the pre-poll and post-poll surveys run by the media. As Kanam Rajendran, the state secretary of the CPI, rightly pointed out, both the opposition parties had lost the moral ground to seek the people’s mandate. Kerala’s alternative to the BJP government’s neoliberal economic policies does more than protect the state from the negative effects of globalization. The LDF’s landmark victory reinforces that Kerala “upholds a holistic leftist model amidst crony capitalism.” The Kerala model holds significant promise for India’s future.7

The charismatic CPI(M) leadership of Pinarayi Vijayan—an Ezhava with a working-class background from Malabar, with seventeen years of experience as party state leader—was very clearly skilled in building the party, a superb executioner of tasks, and a successful mediator of difficult situations as chief minister. This was evident in how he dealt with crisis after a crisis, such as the Kerala floods and the COVID-19 pandemic, the latter along with K. K. Shailaja, the then public health minister.8 I cannot think of any other example of a head of state or country engaging with the public through an almost daily media roundup during societal crises, as Vijayan did during the floods and pandemic and continues to this day. The LDF victory was primarily due to the commendable achievements of Kerala’s left government and democratic leadership, as it was able to clearly deliver on its promises, and partly due to the moral backsliding of the opposition itself. There are those who argue that the conditions of the pandemic prevented the opposition from damaging the LDF’s popularity and reputation through street protests, but the contention is weak. To start, not all street protests can be considered public or popular, given that they are often fueled by sectarian interests, as was the case in Kerala recently. Street protests should not only be seen in their political context, but also in their temporality and “moral conviction.” The street protests staged by the UDF deliberately undermined the left government’s preventative lockdown. Not only that, but the UDF’s sole demand was the resignation of the chief minister, speaker of the legislative assembly, or the minister of education, further undermining the left governance. Such demands were rejected and the left government was voted into power for an unprecedented second time, more powerful than before.

Concluding Remarks

Beneath the surface of Kerala’s tidal left wave flowed several currents. The combination of electoral strategy, innovative policy implementations, and firm ideological positions on a whole series of issues formed a broad strategy that won over the electorate. In the end, what most influenced the electoral outcome were the issues that affected people’s everyday lives. Of course, neither this second coming to power nor its electoral majority exempt the LDF from challenges in the coming years. The state will have to resolve its increasing debts and deficits, rising unemployment, coordination deficits in governance, and climate change vulnerabilities, to name a few—all of which are only exacerbated by the repercussions of the pandemic. Hard decisions and continued commitments to ethical and egalitarian development leave the left with no other option but to implement measures to ensure that the state, on all fronts, dismantles spaces of exclusion and divisiveness. Any failure in this respect might provide the opposition with an opportunity to stage a comeback in the next state elections and reverse the notion of the opposition as an eternal government-in-waiting. No matter how the opposition is defeated, in the reactionary context of the Sabarimala issue and anti-Muslim “love jihad” laws, it is equally important to remain vigilant of Hindutva communal forces, which may come back into prominence in varying forms. Given that a faction of the Christian minority is allied with the ruling left and an increasing number of Muslim youths are attracted to leftist ideologies, we can only wait and see how Hindutva cultural politics will play out in Kerala. It would be incredibly dangerous to have a federal government controlled by the BJP that promoted Hindutva by polarizing minority votes—in this case, of Christians—to their favor. Only the left can transverse solidarities and remain the genuine alternative.

More than just a sign of hope (though this is not to be diminished or underestimated), the LDF victory in Kerala could have a significant impact in reviving left movements in India—particularly in West Bengal and Tripura.

The author would like to thank Bipin Chandran for his valuable comments on an earlier draft.

Notes:
1.↩ Niall Ferguson, “Feeling Beats Truth in Our Indignant ‘Emocracy,’” The Times, January 27, 2019.
2.↩ “Love jihad” laws are based on the deeply Islamophobic idea that Muslim men lure and entice Hindu (and Christian) girls into Islam by feigning love and marriage. Despite earlier claims by Hindu organizations, it was K. Surendran who first tried to court Christian voters by pandering to their commonalities as non-Muslims in Pathanamthitta, where the Sabarimala Temple lies and his constituency is located. See “Christians, Hindus Should Stay United and Vote to Tackle ‘Love Jihad’: Kerala BJP Chief,” News Minute, March 4, 2021.
The public, however, did not give him either of the seats for which he ran. In Kerala, as elsewhere in India, the BJP had also promised to enact laws dealing with “love jihad” as part of its campaign promises, and thus played a divisive game within a state known for its communal harmony—which backfired.
3.↩ Regarding the issues involved and the Kerala government’s protest against the CAA, see “Reimagining Citizenship: The Politics of India’s Amended Citizenship Laws” section in PS: Political Science & Politics 54, no. 4 (2021). See also Balu Sunilraj and Sarath Sasikumar, “Kerala Elections 2021: Mandate for Social Egalitarianism and Deepening Left Democratic Alternative,” Economic & Political Weekly 56, no. 22 (2021).
4.↩ Ram Janmabhoomi is the site in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, where the Muslim mosque Babri Masjid was demolished by Hindutva nationalists in 1992, who claimed that it was originally the birthplace of the Hindu deity Rama. As part of the dispute settlement, on November 9, 2019, the Supreme Court ordered the land to be handed over to a trust to build the Hindu temple and that more than two hectares of land be given to the Sunni Waqf Board to build a mosque in compensation.
5.↩ “Cong. Is BJP’s Fixed Deposit: Pinarayi,” The Hindu, March 12, 2021.
6.↩ Reserve Bank of India, State Finances: A Study of Budgets (Mumbai: Reserve Bank of India, 2020).
7.↩ Kanam Rajendran, “The Kerala Model Will Lead India One Day,” New Indian Express, May 19, 2021.
8.↩ K. Ravi Raman, “Ecospatiality: Transforming Kerala’s Post-Flood ‘Riskscapes,’” Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society 13, no. 2 (July 2020): 319–41.

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Re: India

Post by blindpig » Fri Oct 29, 2021 1:12 pm

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Foodstocks, bio-fuels and hunger
Posted Oct 28, 2021 by Prabhat Patnaik

Originally published: Peoples Democracy (October 24, 2021 ) |

THE Modi government’s attempt to “explain” away India’s slipping from being 94th on the world hunger index in 2020 to 101st in 2021, a rank well below that of neighbours Pakistan, Nepal or Bangladesh, by questioning the “methodology” of the index, is jejune enough; but even more shocking is its total inability to see the reason behind the acute hunger in the country.

Precisely when India has been slipping on the hunger index, the country has had more foodgrain stocks than are required by it according to official “norms”; in fact on September 1, 2021, the FCI had 50.2 million tonnes of foodgrain stocks against the required “norm” of 26.2 million tonnes. The obvious conclusion to draw from this fact is that it is the lack of purchasing power in the hands of the people that restricts their ability to buy food in adequate quantities and explains their acute hunger; but the conclusion that the government draws from it is that people cannot possibly be hungry if there are surplus food stocks, and hence the hunger index must be lying.

A surplus of foodgrain stocks is “surplus” only with respect to a given level of prices and of purchasing power (in money terms) in the hands of the people; people may well be starving despite the existence of such a “surplus”, the solution for which would be either a lowering of prices or an augmentation of purchasing power in people’s hands. In fact numerous economists and civil society organisations, not to mention political parties even outside of the Left, have been urging the government to augment purchasing power by making transfers into the hands of the people, and to finance such transfers even through an increase in the fiscal deficit if necessary; such action cannot possibly exacerbate inflation in a situation of “surplus” foodgrain stocks and of pervasive existence of unutilised industrial capacity. On the contrary, since the inflation currently occurring in the economy is basically because of the government’s attempt to raise revenue through indirect tax hikes and not because of any excess demand, it would be reduced rather than increased by enlarging the fiscal deficit and rolling back indirect tax hikes.

But like a naive schoolboy obediently following his headmaster’s instructions, the Modi government is determined to please international finance capital by keeping the fiscal deficit down to levels the latter finds “acceptable”, and hence avoids any transfers to people. As a result of the meagre purchasing power in people’s hands, we have the combination of three seemingly incompatible phenomena: acute hunger, surplus foodgrain stocks, and yet rampant inflation. And the combination appears so impossible to an uncomprehending government that it cannot even accept the possibility of its occurrence; hence it just denies the existence of acute hunger. Behind this denial is not just the typical BJP make-believe (“there cannot possibly be acute hunger if the Great Saviour is at the helm”); there is in addition in a very real sense a total lack of comprehension of simple economics.

In fact, not recognising the prevalence of hunger, the government is making all sorts of efforts to reduce excess foodgrain stocks which have persisted all these years despite large-scale exports. And the latest of these efforts is to encourage bio-fuels production. All over the world there is a tendency to substitute fossil fuels by ethanol which is supposed to be “cleaner”, and a larger proportion of grains is being diverted for ethanol production than before. In the US, maize is being used for ethanol production; but this matters little for the U.S. since it does not have to worry about mass hunger and does not figure in the world hunger index. But the Modi government, not to be outdone, has also announced an ambitious plan for shifting to ethanol: it would be promoting a mix of gasoline and ethanol with the proportion of the latter being 20 per cent, and for this purpose using rice and sugarcane.

A senior government official is quoted as saying that this would pose no problems for India’s food security, since “the government has enough stockpiles of grains at warehouses of the State-run Food Corporation of India”. The official’s remark betrays the same ignorance of basic economics as most other statements of the government. Excess stocks of foodgrains, instead of being seen as the outcome of the prices in the market and the state of purchasing power of the people, are adduced as proof of plenitude. By this reasoning even if there is a famine in the country, that fact would not be acknowledged at all as long as there are plenty of foodgrain stocks in FCI godowns.

It is not just the diversion of grains for ethanol production that must be opposed by all right-thinking persons in the country. The available grains should instead be getting distributed among the people by putting purchasing power in their hands so that their hunger is allayed. But even the use of sugarcane for ethanol production, insofar as it leads to a diversion of land away from foodgrains, will lead to a still greater decline in per capita foodgrain availability than has been the case till now.

In fact even when there is such a decline in per capita foodgrain availability, there would still be surplus foodgrain stocks in the economy. This is because the very modus operandi of a neo-liberal economic regime is to generate a perpetual surplus of foodgrain stocks, no matter how low the per capita foodgrain availability.

The reason is simple. Whenever there is a fall in foodgrain stocks below the “norm”, there is a fear of inflation. Hence, finance capital, worried about the loss through inflation of the real value of financial assets, immediately puts pressure on the government to counter such inflation by cutting back its spending and by inducing the imposition of a tight monetary policy. But no such countervailing efforts are made in the opposite case, when foodgrain stocks are excessive. Falls in foodstock levels in short are quickly eliminated but not excesses in foodstock levels; and because of this asymmetry there is always, in general, a state of “surplus” foodstocks.

Alongside this asymmetry there is a second asymmetry. There are two ways to eliminate any shortfall in foodgrain stocks below the accepted “norms”. One is through an increase in production and hence supplies, and the other through a reduction in demand, such as through cuts in public spending and a tighter monetary policy (which basically reduce purchasing power with the people). Of the two, the much easier way for the government is the latter, both because it takes less time to show its effects, and also because when public spending is being cut, the required government investments, for increasing foodgrain output, would scarcely be forthcoming. Hence the tendency over time is for the purchasing power with the people to keep getting restricted while per capita foodgrain output, and hence per capita foodgrain availability, keeps falling, which means an increase in the magnitude of hunger. This is exactly what has been happening in India.

Thus surplus stocks will exist even with a secular decline in per capita output and per capita availability of foodgrain and a secular increase in hunger. Not only does the existence of surplus stocks not indicate the absence of hunger, but the typical tendency in a neo-liberal economy is to have surplus stocks along with growing hunger. This tendency will only be exacerbated by the diversion of foodgrains or of sugarcane (towards which foodgrain land will be diverted) for ethanol production, in fact not just exacerbated but absolutely ensured.

The Modi government’s decision to increase the diversion of grains and sugarcane for ethanol production therefore is certain to reduce per capita grain availability and to increase the magnitude of hunger. This is because at the first sign of stocks falling below the “norm” there will be a squeeze on the purchasing power with the people, thus “resolving” the problem of shortage (as manifested in the fact of stocks falling below the “norm”) through a further increase in the magnitude of hunger.

This has serious general implications. There is much enthusiasm in the West among progressive circles for “green energy” within which biofuels are included; and for increased production of biofuels a diversion of grain output is recommended. No matter what the relevance of this prescription in the context of advanced countries, its replication in third countries like India will have disastrous consequences for the magnitude of hunger.

https://mronline.org/2021/10/28/foodsto ... nd-hunger/

In a world where anyone goes hungry, in a world where burning any sort of carbon must be curtailed, biofuels are a capitalist obscenity.
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Re: India

Post by blindpig » Fri Nov 12, 2021 3:57 pm

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The Indian Agricultural Situation Must Not be Misread
November 11, 2021
By Prabhat Patnaik – Nov 6, 2021

A country-wide MSP regime thus gives the kisans everywhere an assured income without having much effect on government stocks, and a rise in MSP raises this assured income without increasing government stocks much.

There are a number of misconceptions about Indian agriculture which, if not removed forthwith, can have potentially adverse effects on the ongoing kisan agitation against the three farm laws.

The first of these is the belief that corporate encroachment on peasant agriculture is a matter concerning only the corporate encroachers and the peasants. This is wrong: corporate encroachment on peasant agriculture is a matter that affects the economy as a whole; it concerns everybody.

This is not a rhetorical statement; it is literally true. In this sense the kisan agitation against corporate encroachment is not a bilateral issue like industrial action in a particular factory; in the process of fighting against corporate encroachment the kisans are fighting objectively for society as a whole, against subjecting India to “food imperialism”. The reason is the following.

Corporate encroachment on peasant agriculture does not just mean corporates taking away a part of peasants’ income, either directly via simply squeezing the peasants’ share, or indirectly via passing on price falls to peasants but not price rises; it necessarily entails a change in land-use, from producing foodgrains of which the advanced capitalist countries have a surplus that they wish to sell to the third world, to producing such crops as they need, either tropical non-food crops which they cannot grow, or crops that they can grow, but only seasonally.

Corporate encroachment on peasant agriculture therefore necessarily entails a reduction in foodgrains output and a diversion of acreage from foodgrains to other crops needed by the metropolis. In fact, to push the economy further in this direction, an additional weapon is being used: the regime of minimum support prices (MSP), which applies mainly to foodgrains in India at present, is being jettisoned.

The Modi government may protest a thousand times that MSP will continue, but, significantly, it has never promised to amend the farm laws to give this assurance a legal form. Its intention is clear: to do away with the MSP regime altogether, which would greatly increase the kisans’ risks from foodgrain cultivation and lower the profitability of such cultivation net of risk. This would necessarily reduce foodgrain cultivation, since the farmers, being too poor to bear risks, are highly risk-averse.

Thus, from both sides, from the side of the corporates which would thrust non-foodgrain production on them, and from the side of the government which would withdraw from providing MSP on foodgrain production, the farmers will be under pressure to abandon foodgrain production.

But then it may be asked: what is wrong if countries like India withdraw from producing foodgrains and resort to food imports instead for which they pay by exporting other crops?

First of all, for the ability to import foodgrains there must be sufficient foreign exchange, which may not be always available with a country. Apart from the problem of non-synchronous movements in foodgrain and other crop prices, so that a relative fall in the latter may leave too little foreign exchange for the former, we must also remember that when a country of India’s size approaches the world market for foodgrains, world foodgrain prices shoot up immediately, requiring even more foreign exchange for importing a given amount of grains.

Secondly, however, even if the requisite foreign exchange is available with the country for importingfoodgrains, the people must also have the purchasing power for buying foodgrains; and purchasing power typically shrinks when a country moves away from producing foodgrains. Many of the substitute crops that would be grown in lieu of foodgrains are in fact much less employment-intensive than foodgrains so that growing them means a reduction in agricultural employment, and hence in purchasing power with the people. They cannot afford to buy the imported grains as a result.

In addition to these factors, there is also imperialist arm-twisting. Since metropolitan countries are the ones from which foodgrains would be getting purchased, in the event of India not toeing their line on any issue, they would simply refuse to sell foodgrains to India. Hence, becoming dependent on imports of foodgrains from metropolitan economies involves a serious loss of sovereignty. It is the realisation of this simple truth that had prompted the Indira Gandhi government to go in for the Green Revolution as a means of achieving food self-sufficiency. To put the clock back and destroy that self-sufficiency (even though it is self-sufficiency at a low level of purchasing power of the people) is what the Modi government’s farm laws are forcing on the country. Imperialism has been wanting this for a very long time, and the Modi government is spineless enough to give in.

The kisan agitation is a stand against this giving in. To accede to the introduction of corporate agriculture and to bargain only on how much should be the share of the farmers and how much of the corporates, is to miss this point altogether. It amounts to selling whatever remains of the country’s sovereignty to imperialism. And this is in addition to the fact that such an approach would roll back the public distribution system (since it cannot be sustained through imports whose volume each year would be uncertain).

The second misconception relates to the belief that a country-wide MSP-cum-procurement regime is unnecessary in India. It is argued that the procurement that the Food Corporation of India undertakes just from the three surplus regions, Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh, is quite enough to feed the public distribution system in the country as a whole; hence a country-wide MSP-cum-procurement regime can only swell the stocks with the government, raising the cost of storage, and of interest payments on the credit advanced by banks for procurement, both of which involve a drain on the budget.

Casting the procurement net wider than the three surplus regions, therefore, entails, in this view, a double-waste: a waste of grains in government godowns, and a waste of budgetary resources tied up with their purchase and storage; it is best therefore to keep the ambit of support and procurement operations limited.

This argument too is wrong and betrays a lack of knowledge about Indian agriculture. The FCI does not procure much from other states anyway, and a rise in MSP does not raise this amount much. The MSP is a floor-price and a rise in this floor price raises even the price on open-market sales. Hence what a rise in MSP does is to raise kisans’ incomes by raising the actual price they get on their non-FCI sales. And it does this not because of an increase in government procurement but even without such an increase.

But then how can the open-market price rise without a fall in open-market demand, which would then necessarily mean larger procurement by the FCI? The answer to this puzzle lies in the fact that the demand for foodgrains by higher income groups, that is, those outside the ambit of the PDS, is generally price-inelastic, which means that this demand does not shrink much even when the foodgrain price rises in the open market. Hence the question of there being unsold produce that devolves on the FCI (which therefore has to hold extra stocks), because of the parallel rise in the open market price following a rise in MSP, simply does not arise.

A country-wide MSP regime thus gives the kisans everywhere an assured income without having much effect on government stocks, and a rise in MSP raises this assured income without increasing government stocks much.

Of course, the FCI is lackadaisical about operating in states other than the three surplus states, and some state governments have had to step in with their own agencies to make up for the FCI’s absence. Whenever such agencies have operated, they have not mobilised much by way of procurement, but have given the kisans an assured income. It is important therefore that the FCI’s operations, far from being truncated from an all-India level, should on the contrary be made pervasive and have an all-India coverage.

This means that both the propositions, first, that corporate encroachment only affects the peasants’ share and hence is a bilateral issue between the kisans and the corporates, and, second, that an effective MSP for the country as a whole, and appropriate increases in it according to circumstances, are “unaffordable” for the government, are invalid. Such propositions however can weaken the kisan agitation; they must not be allowed to do so.


Featured image: Representational Image. Image Courtesy: The New Indian Express

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https://orinocotribune.com/the-indian-a ... e-misread/
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Re: India

Post by blindpig » Fri Nov 19, 2021 2:50 pm

India repeals controversial land reform laws

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Indian farmers began their protests in November last year against the three laws of land reform. | Photo: EFE

Published 19 November 2021

The Indian prime minister asked farmers to return to their homes and fields after announcing the repeal of the land reform laws.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Friday the decision to repeal the three agricultural reform laws that have sparked massive protests by farmers and peasants for almost a year.

"We have decided to repeal the three agricultural laws. We will begin the constitutional process to repeal the three laws in the parliamentary session that begins at the end of the month," Modi said in a televised speech.


After announcing the decision to repeal the laws, Modri ​​asked the farmers who participated in the protests to return to their homes and fields.

The three laws had been approved in September 2020 with the aim of deregulating the agricultural market, where state bodies had set minimum prices for crops for decades.


Thousands of farmers, many of them from the northern state of Punjab, have been camped since November 2020 in the vicinity of the capital New Delhi.

The Indian peasants had already threatened the government at the beginning of the month to intensify their demonstrations if they did not revoke the three laws before November 27, one day after the first anniversary of the start of the mobilizations.

Farmers and peasants began their protests in November last year against three laws that, in their opinion, leave producers at the mercy of the free market, without guarantees of protection.

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/india-de ... -0004.html

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We can be sure that this is a tactical retreat and neither a 'change of heart' or policy, 'he'll be back...'the Money demands it.

The core of the protest has been in Punjab, which is largely Sikh, who historically have been the core of the military and bureaucracy. Hmmm...
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