🚜 Protests and Police Brutality over Farm Laws Rage On
Here's what you need to know for today in 3:41 minutes
Today’s Big Story
On Saturday, farmer protests flared up against a BJP meeting chaired by CM Manohar Lal Khattar in Haryana. Videos of police using force and lathicharging against protestors have gone viral.
At least 10 farmers were injured and a government officer was seen asking police to ‘smash heads’ of farmers.
📯 What’s Going On?
The BJP was holding a meeting to formulate the party’s strategy for the coming panchayat polls. The farmers attempted to gather outside the Prem Plaza hotel in Karnal where the meeting was going on, but when they could not reach there, they blocked the national highway at the Bastara toll plaza.
The protestors claim that the police used brutal force to detain them, injuring several farmers by resorting to violence. The police claim that it was the protestors who got violent and attempted to attack the police by pelting stones.
Talks between farmers groups and the central government to resolve the protests have reached a complete deadlock after farmers rejected the Centre’s offer to suspend the laws for two years. The last time both sides met was on January 22, 2021.
🔍 What Does this Mean?
Many of the left condemn the police brutality over these protests in Haryana and argue that the farm laws will make farmers vulnerable to corporate exploitation.
Many on the right defend the need to deter protests, arguing that the three legislations are pro-farmer.
"Farmers had decided to hold a peaceful protest against BJP leaders, for which they had assembled at the Bastara toll plaza, 15 km away, when police lathicharged. Police claimed only mild force was used as the protesters were blocking the highway, affecting traffic movement. However, on Twitter, videos have been circulated showing senior officials – whom some have identified as the Karnal District Magistrate – allegedly asking personnel to “break the heads” of protesters." - The Wire
"Top leaders of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha – an umbrella body of farmers’ unions – like Rakesh Tikait, Darshan Pal, Joginder Singh Ugrahan and Yogendra Yadav were present at Sunday’s mahapanchayat which also marked nine months of the farmers agitation against the new agriculture laws. “This person who gave the orders to smash heads [of farmers] is a commander of sarkaari Taliban,” Tikait said. “He showed yesterday that when up against farmers, they want to control the country by might of police force.” - Scroll
"Police had resorted to a lathicharge on farmers when they were trying to block the Delhi-Chandigarh highway to protest against BJP's state-level meeting headed by Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar. Due to growing outrage amongst the farmers over the police action, protesters gathered in large numbers at several toll plazas and blocked both national and state highways." - Times of India
"Tikait who has been leading the farmers’ protest in India for eight months now, was left red-faced when the anchor asked him to highlight the specific sections of the law which were problematic for him or to prove his claims about the laws. Liyaquat who was sitting with the copies of the agricultural laws asked Tikait if he had read the laws against which he has been protesting and what exactly bothered him. Totally unable to specify sections of the farm laws that say what he claims, Tikait cross-questioned Liyaquat and asked how many mandis have been shut since the laws were proposed." - OpIndia
💭 Why Should I Care?
The end does not justify the means.
This is a complex issue. There are many aspects to the three farm bills and there has neither been adequate discussion on them in the parliament, nor between the farmers and the Centre. However, the big issue is not just the content of the bills, but the way in which they were pushed through and the way in which our government is treating the protesting farmers.
It can be argued that the bills actually go in the right direction, they empower the farmers and have the potential to increase their incomes. Based on analytical comments by economists and agricultural experts, it appears that much of the rhetoric against the bills is unfounded.
But dissent is an important part of any functioning democracy. Farmers have a right to protest and the government has a duty to engage with them respectfully. Instead they are being called terrorists and anti-nationals which is unproductive and vengeful.
What is the point of trying to save agriculture if we permanently damage democratic principles along the way?
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💡 Below the Fold
80% of Mumbai's Nariman Point Will Go Underwater by 2050
"Eighty percent of areas, like Cuffe Parade, Nariman Point and Mantralaya, will be underwater, which means they are going to disappear. If we do not wake up right now, the situation will get worse in the next 25 years." - Iqbal Singh Chahal, BMC Chief
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