BJP MP and actress Kangana Ranaut recently made some remarks about the almost year-long farmers’ protests in 2020-21. The party was quick to denounce her remarks and distance itself. Kangana’s comments were not far off the mark, but at the same time they are ‘controversial’ as per the unwritten code of Indian polity.
Here are 10 truths about the protests, and one reason why it is politically incorrect to utter then:
1. Yes, the farmer protests were launched by landed elites of Punjab who wanted to maintain their status quoist grip on agriculture & small farmers.
2. Yes, lumpen elements amongst protestors did carry out at least 2 brutal murders (Lakhbir Singh and Mukesh Kumar), and several attacks on ordinary citizens & police, while the protests themselves illegally paralyzed arterial roads around the capital for months and caused massive damage to local economy and hardship for citizens.
3. Yes, a girl who had come to join the protests from Bengal was gangraped by her fellow protestors. Sections of the protest sites became dens of flesh trade, alcohol and drugs.
4. Yes, Khalistani elements in the protests openly threatened to assassinate the PM. Anglosphere-based Khalistani supporters and their front organizations like Poetic Justice Foundation played a key role in the online campaign against the new farm laws, by preparing toolkits and roping in influencers like Rihanna and Greta Thunberg.
5. Yes, so-called farmers rioted in the heart of Delhi on Republic Day, brutally attacked police and desecrated the national flag and Ram Mandir tableau
6. Yes, the protests did spread from Punjab to Haryana and West UP, with many ordinary citizens being lured to join due to disinformation about farm reforms, or misplaced notion of jaati pride, or offers of free booze, or due to outright blackmail and threats of ostracization. The bulk of farmers in the rest of the country stayed away from these protests, and many apolitical farmer orgs welcomed the reforms.
7. Yes, andolanjeevis did latch on to the protests to peddle their own demands like freeing jailed Maoists and Islamists.
8. Yes, the farm reforms that protestors opposed and ultimately managed to arm-twist the govt. into withdrawing were good for farmers, and for the nation. A wide consensus had developed over last 10-15 years among all political parties and agricultural policy experts over the key thrust of these reforms, and Opposition parties changed their stance out of sheer political opportunism.
9. Yes, Supreme Court and administration kept passing the ball to each other and both failed to move protestors to designated protest sites. SC appointed a committee to look into farm laws, but then sat on its report, driving a committee member Anil Ghanwat, president of Maharashtra-based Shetkari Sanghatan, to criticize the top court and demand the report be released to public.
10. Yes, some lumpen ‘farmers’ even stripped a BJP leader naked, and attacked or held hostage other leaders in Punjab and Haryana.
And finally, yes, stating any of the above truths about these protests can be extremely ‘controversial’ in the current Republic of India, which thrives on false narratives and appeasement politics. Elections all over the world are fought on emotional appeals to identity more than policy, and in India, farmers – including rich and privileged ones – are a ‘protected category’ which no party can afford to upset. With elections around the corner (the country literally lives & breathes elections 24×7) in Haryana, the political sensitivity around this gets even more heightened.
Any politician has to weigh his/her words very carefully when speaking on the farmers’ protests or any farmer-related issue. Especially if you are from BJP, always assume that every word you say can be twisted for maximum effect in the hostile anti-Hindu polity of this Republic, so your thoughts need to be precise and qualified.
