Scope of farmers’ movement greater than MSP, farm laws: Rakesh Tikait

Rakesh Tikait at the Muzaffarnagar mahapanchayat on September 5, 2021. Source: @RakeshTikaitBKU / Twitter

Indian farmers have been protesting for the last nine months against the three new agricultural laws passed by the Union government. They want a guarantee of procurement of paddy and agri-produces on the minimum support price (MSP), among other demands.

The implementation of these laws were put on hold on instructions of the Supreme Court.

How was the Muzaffarnagar mahachayat different from those held before?

Rakesh Tikait: Earlier mahapanchayats were held within villages. Issues faced by farmers would be the prominent theme of the grand meeting. But this time, it is quite special and entirely different. 

The mahapanchayat was held at the heart of the city, where farmers reached from various parts of the country and registered their active participation. The movement remained successful in terms of garnering support — not just villagers but the entire city joined the cause. 

Everyone who participated in the mahapanchayat contributed their labour (shramdaan). The people of the city opened their doors to welcome guests from other places.

This mahapanchayat vigorously raised the demand for withdrawal of all the three dark agriculture laws and demanded guarantee of MSP on agriculture products. 

It was an initiative to save every institution which is a public undertaking and runs with public participation. To take this battle into another stage and continue this fight in different parts of the country, a future-oriented strategy was made.

The political parties earlier alleged the movement is for Punjab-Haryana only. Is the allegation true? 

RT: Not at all. This movement is for all of India, not just for one or two states. These three new draconian agricultural laws of the government are going to impact agriculture, business and people of the entire country. 

It may be possible that a state got affected six months ago and another will be adversely affected six months later. Agricultural input costs and inflation are on continuous rise. The problem will be compounded by these new agricultural laws. 

Farmers are dependent on agricultural loans for production, for instance, and the need for loans through the Kisan Credit Card will increase in the coming times. 

A farmer who has to take a loan of Rs 2 lakh today will need a credit of Rs 4 lakh; one who needs Rs 4 lakh today will ask for Rs 10 lakh. 

Farmers suffering from inflation and high cost of cultivation across the country are realising this and they are with the movement.

Do you think the government will start listening to your concerns after this mahapanchayat?

RT: Any immediate reaction from the government is unlikely. Previous governments were responsive but the current administration doesn’t not want to keep in touch with the public. They deliberately don't want to pay attention to ground reports. 

Today, big companies have become major power brokers, drowning the voice of the public. 

The movement, however, has made it difficult to ignore these voices. They have made inroads and reached the government. The government has to listen, must listen, and we will not stop until it agrees to our demands.

The government considers land owners as farmers for the schemes. In your view, who are the country’s farmers?

RT: The truth is that the government does not consider a farmer a farmer. It tried to create differences among farmers by categorising them as ‘small’, ‘big’ and many other categories. 

But in our definition, cattle rearers, street vendors of the weekly market, grain sellers, farm workers, labourers working for salt are all farmers. 

Each farmer will have the same status. This is a labour movement, a rural movement. We are running this movement for all such people.

What is the condition of farmers in 2021?

RT: Farmers will have to fight an active and aggressive battle from the front to get 24-hour electricity supply and other farming facilities. Right now, we are insisting that at least farmers in India should get MSP for their crops. 

Imagine the unfortunate situation the nation must be going through that farmers have to agitate for nine months to have MSP guarantee. 

The government is not working in the interests of the farmers. Even the promises made for farmers in their own manifesto were not implemented. 

The way the market has expanded and flourished, the income of the farmers have not increased. Farmers are being slaughtered. They are perishing under this government. Baba Mahendra was right when he said, the farmer used to buy gold by selling wheat. 

Farmers should get at least Rs 15,000 / quintal of wheat. At present, however, farmers are unable to recover their input prices by selling paddy.

Farmers have to sell paddy at Rs 6 a kilogram in the open market. Does it have any relation with the suspended agricultural laws?

RT: This is the story behind abolishing the MSP Guarantee Act. The government wants to destroy the farmers by destroying the mandis. 

What we are saying is that when corporations become both the buyers and the sellers, they will monopolise and take every decision.

They will buy the crops at a cheaper price from the farmers and will keep it holding for a longer time in their storage houses to sell at higher prices. 

This saga will continue through the year and break the backbone of farmers. 

The prevalent process of fixing MSP rates for crops has several lacunae and the selling prices are not fair. We wanted implementation of the MSP guarantee first and then we attempted to resolve these problems at a later stage.

The agricultural producing states are struggling to cope with the problem of stray animals. Who is responsible?

RT: The government is solely responsible for this. Animal husbandry has become very expensive. The farmer is unable to handle the animals. 

Domesticated animals were found infected with innumerable diseases since the introduction of genetically modified cotton seeds (animal feed). The cattle became victims of infertility. 

Farmers are forced to leave their cattle outside. Therefore, it is the duty of the government to make cow shelters.

Is this a holistic movement? Will it lead to agrarian distress?

RT: Initially, this movement started to oppose three black agricultural laws. I firmly believe that when the farmers start getting the suitable rates for their crops, the financial and other conditions of the country will automatically start improving. 

One by one hard-earned resources and public undertaking companies of the nation are being sold and it is high time to obstruct the move. Therefore, the voices are being raised against these practices. 

One day the government will have to realise it. When the government will form a committee for discussion and talks, the agrarian crisis — the major issue — will also be placed before them for discussion and resolution. 

This movement was, is and always remain completely apolitical. It has nothing to do with elections. 

Governments have to roll back their wrong decisions and policies. Now it has become an unstoppable revolution.

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