New Delhi: The protesters turned up for the indefinite hunger strike of Anna Hazare at the Ram Leela maidan, reminding many of us of the 2011 anti-graft agitation. The comparisons between the two public agitations were bound to happen.
One of the autowallahs was overheard telling his fellow drivers – “Is Anna back? But why this time, isn’t Modi sarkar working to fight corruption?” Before they could reach a conclusion through discussion, one of them made the final statement, hinting at the “latest Modi in currency” (Nirav Modi) to be the reason.
Hazare paid a visit to the Rajghat and marched to Shaheedi Park before arriving at Ramlila Maidan to address thousands of his supporters. He chose the day, March 23, as Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev were hanged to death on this day by the British.
“Modi was never serious about Lokpal,” he said. Among the farmers was Manohar Padhy, a farmer from Maharashtra, dressed up like Mahatma Gandhi.
“Modi government has enormously hiked MPs’ salaries. This is against the spirit of public service and clean politics. This should be taken back,” he said.
Then and Now
The public agitation by Hazare is taking place after seven years. Like the last movement, the strike raked up the question of appointment of Lokpal at the Centre and added the “implementation of the Swaminathan Report to address the agrarian distress.”
If compared to 2011’s India against Corruption movement, the present agitation shows a shift from issues of the middle class to addressing agrarian distress. While the 2011 protest featured the anger of the middle class against the UPA regime, Friday’s agitation had the farmers – distressed and hopeful of Anna’s help – as the chief players in the movement.
The peasants came from Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh to fight for the implementation of the Swaminathan Report.
Minus the fanfare of the former one, the strike on March 23 had the support of farmers in big numbers. This time Anna was seen sharing stage with former Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegde, and former Haryana Lokayukta Pritam Pal.
Ignored By Government, Farmers Look for Anna's Support
Hegde told News18.com that after being ignored by the government and administration, the farmers have turned to Anna for help.
“This protest had the support of the farmers. There was no such sign of an overwhelming presence of the middle class, but the non-implementation of the Swaminathan Report resulted in large number of farmers turning up for the peaceful agitation,” he said.
The stress on the report is due to its key findings and recommendations, which shows that the agrarian distress has led farmers to commit suicide in recent years.
The report further explains the causes of farmer distress -- Unfinished agenda in land reform, quantity and quality of water, technology fatigue, access, adequacy and timeliness of institutional credit, and opportunities for assured and remunerative marketing. Adverse meteorological factors add to these problems.
It was proposed that farmers need to have assured access and control over basic resources, which include land, water, bio resources, credit and insurance, technology and knowledge management, and markets.
Hegde said that he was told that practically all routes were blocked to challenge the entry of farmers. But the agitation will remain for more days.
“Anna is not a politician that he needs to be backed, people come to him spontaneously – and we saw many farmers,” added Hegde. The farmers present were voicing their discontent over “Yogi-Modi” not doing enough for farmers in Gautam Budh Nagar, and using force to dispel any sign of protest against the administration.
The farmers, who came from Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, said that nothing’s being done for the storage facility and removing the middlemen.
“We are not getting our due; our land is being acquired for pittance; we are paying the toll tax and there are not service lanes at the Peripheral Expressway,” said Megh Singh from a village in Gautam Budh Nagar.
The farmers further said that they were at the protest to raise certain demands. “We don’t get the deserving amount on our produce; the farmers’ who are above 60 don’t get pension; and in case of fasal bima yojna, the farmer should get an individual benefit. It should not be treated as a collective gain,” they said.
Tragedy and Farce
Badri Narayan, faculty in Allahabad’s GB Pant University, spoke about the second innings of Anna by recalling a remark by Hegel.
“Hegel remarked that somewhere all great world-historic facts and personages appear, so to speak, twice. He forgot to add: the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce,” he said.
He further said, “The first anti-graft movement was a tragedy - divisions amongst key members of the IAC's core committee eventually led to a split within the movement- Arvind Kejriwal left to form the Aam Aadmi Party, while Anna Hazare left to form Jantantra Morcha. The issue remained – Lokpal. Now this agitation might help in heating up the atmosphere – but it won’t be anywhere close to the scale of the first agitation.”
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