Yogendra Yadav was one of the most attractive faces of the Anna Hazare Lokpal agitation. Sadly only the BJP and Kejriwal gained from it. Yadav was thrust out into the cold. He has written an article on the Farmer's agitation which, apparently, he supported. What it has achieved is not yet clear. If Yogi loses a lot of Jat votes in Western UP then Tikait is once again a big player. If not, then this agitation has shown what all agitations show- viz money is needed to keep even the most deluded and desperate out on the streets for any length of time.
Yadav writes-
'So, we are back to square one, aren’t we? What have we achieved?” This was a sharp question from a young farm activist, miffed at the celebrations on the repeal of three farm laws. His logic was simple: Farmers were in a bad shape, prior to the introduction of these three laws. We managed to ward off the fresh disaster, but what about the pre-existing issues? Have we moved an inch forward after a year-long historic struggle? Aren’t we back to where we were on 4 June 2020, before the farm laws were brought in as ordinances? What have we achieved?'
Food is a State subject. Short run, prosperous farmers can get the Central Govt. to pay over the odds. Medium term, the burden falls on the States. Long term, the poor and landless rebel against fiscal transfers to their historic oppressors. In Punjab, this means Dalits will displace Jats as the dominant voting block. Agriculture, as elsewhere in the world, is doomed.
“You should read Gandhiji — not his words, but his life” was my response to this young colleague. If there was one andolanjeevi in this country, it must be him. He created mass movements out of nowhere, crafted their issues, coined their slogans and choreographed the action programmes. Most of the movements he launched did not achieve their immediate objectives: Non-Cooperation, Civil Disobedience and Quit India did not achieve their stated goals. Yet we remember these struggles as models of movements, as they set Indians free, much before the country secured freedom.'
Gandhian agitations failed. Power did not pass to andolanjivis spinning khaddar and talking bollocks in the boondocks. It went to civil servants and technocrats and the handful of Congress politicians who were good enough administrators. Vinobha Bhave led the authentic Gandhian type of nutcase out into the wilderness of Bhoodan which J.P finally realized was a fraud. Westminster style politics matters. Gandhian playacting is utterly useless. India got independence at the same time as everybody else and for exactly the same reason. Britain had been bankrupted and the Americans didn't like British Imperial airs and graces. Furthermore, India had turned up in Washington begging for food in 1946 itself. Truman didn't want a White Man's burden which consisted of feeding an agricultural people unscathed by the War. Hoover, the former President visited India and met Gandhi who wrote in Harijan 'every grain from abroad sent as a matter of duty to self reliant India, honestly and manfully braving the threatening danger will be twice blessed.' America, however, didn't see why it had a duty to feed India. Also they didn't think it was self-reliant at all. Why could it not feed itself? What was so 'honest' and 'manful' about it whining for food? Who needed the blessings of its beggars?
As for Nehru, disappointed by meager shipments from America, he decided to appeal to the USSR for food. But Communism, like Gandhianism, was shit at producing food. Letting crap farmers go bankrupt and industrializing agriculture was the only way affluence could be attained and the Indians kept alive on charity.
Shrewd as he was, Gandhi understood something deep: In the business of movements, by-product is the real thing.
The byproduct of Yadav's participation in mass movements has been victory for Modi and Kejriwal and, maybe, Tikait and utter irrelevance for himself. The problem with agitating for nonsense is that after the agitation dies out because of lack of funds, the guys who talked the least bollocks are left in charge.
The real achievement of a movement is not measured by how far it secures its immediate demands, but by how it empowers and transforms its constituency.
What happened to independent India? It became dependent on America for food and defense. Its constituency turned to shit. The Chinese took down Nehru's pants and tanned his backside. Suddenly Gandhian gobshittery had no market. Still, some Gandhians rallied to the nutter JP. After Indira returned to power, Buta Singh fucked them up by calling them CIA agents and cutting off their funding. It took another 30 years before, in Manmohan's waning years, another Gandhian nutter created a tamasha. But Yadav and Bhushan gained nothing by it. The BJP became the new default national party. The very name 'Gandhi' has become a political liability and not just because Rahul is a cretin.
In terms of securing immediate demands, the farmers movement has already achieved more than any comparable movement in post-independence India.
Modi tried to pay them off- presumably because of RSS pressure- but if Yogi wins big in UP without the Jat vote then Northern Indian politics will see a realignment. Dalits stand to be the biggest beneficiary. They certainly have some very promising looking younger leaders.
The Railway strike of 1974 was crushed.
And then the entire Opposition was crushed. Initially, this was quite popular. But for forcible sterilization, Indira might have won in 1977.
The JP movement in Bihar could not get the state government to resign.
JP and Kripalani fucked up Janata by putting in Morarji Desai as P.M. That was a national government that had to resign. Cretins can only harm their own cause as Yadav's own career has amply demonstrated.
The Anna Hazare movement did get Parliament to pass a resolution but the Lokpal Act had to wait another two years.
But it was completely useless. Still, Modi's demonetization took the wind out of that particular sail.
Getting the Union government to repeal laws on which it had staked its prestige is unprecedented.
Nonsense! Modi let the land acquisition ordinance lapse before the 2015 Bihar polls. He has done enough to show he is reform minded but also that reform is impossible. The business of politics is buying votes while there is still a little money left in the kitty. Kejriwal understands this as does Mamta. Meanwhile Yadav is doubling down on Gandhi-giri. But money talks ; bullshit walks.
To do so under the Narendra Modi dispensation is unbelievable.
Unless you are old enough to remember 2015
Yet this is not the most enduring achievement of this movement. What makes this movement truly historic are its by-products, provided we value and build on these.
These guys camped out for a year protesting something they feared might happen. The trouble is, other States may seize the opportunity to grow their agricultural sector at the expense of the 'Green Revolution' areas. The Center may quietly divert procurement to where it is cheaper. The States are welcome to pick up the slack but will soon run of money.
The other big problem is that if manufacturing does suddenly take off then reliance on PDS drops which in turn means that few farmers will get the support price. On paper nothing will have changed but at the ground level the weak will go to the wall.
Farmers’ self-esteem
The first enduring achievement of this movement is the recovery of farmers’ self-esteem.
But farming can't endure and so that 'self-esteem' is worthless. No doubt, Gandhians felt very proud of achieving Independence but then they found that everybody was getting Independence. What's more, India- an agricultural nation untouched by the War, had to go running to Truman for emergency food aid. Suddenly, being such a nuisance to the Brits that they slyly fucked off seemed no very estimable achievement.
Earlier, every meeting of the farmers, big or small, would involve some leader ruefully recalling the good old days of “Uttam kheti, maddham vyapar, nikrisht chakari”. [Farming is first rate, business is second and service is third rate.]
No doubt, that was true under the Brits who recruited farmer's sons for their Armies and paid and fed them well. Sadly, Gandhi had got the Brits to fuck off and Nehru was begging for food from Uncle Sam. Within a few years the Indian Army- which had fought with distinction in China and Europe- was put to flight by Nehru's Chini bhais.
Farmers had reconciled to their marginal existence as a residue of modern development.
This is news to me. Most seem to rise quickly to any and every opportunity that become available to them and their families. Farming is skilled work and most farmers are very skillful. The problem is that marginal farmers have to be risk averse because of lack of precautionary balances. New technology means Governments can take on risk on their behalf in the manner suggested by economic theory. But, obviously, they will have to diversify their earnings- indeed, most have already done so.
This movement got them a symbolic recognition as annadatas. “No Farmers, No Food, No Future” became a badge of honour.
Yogendra isn't a farmer. Fuck was he doing there?
Urban middle class scratched the surface of generational memories to rediscover their farming roots.
Then they scratched their arses and rediscovered their caveman roots.
This symbolic shift is no mean achievement:
Yogendra would be even prouder if he achieved a rediscovery of his roots as an ape
A recovery of self is the first step towards freedom.
Unless you are already free. On the other hand, if you are tied up a basement while your captor sticks things up your bum then recovering your self is not the first step towards your freedom.
Farmers have asserted that they do not belong to the past, they are very much the present and future of India.
Unlike Yogendra.
Will this prove a flash in the pan or lead to enduring gains for farmers? It depends on the way the farmers’ organisations take this victory forward. This historic victory can be used to go back to business as usual, only to face a dead-end sooner than later. The model of agriculture inaugurated by the Green Revolution already faces an economic, ecological and existential crisis. There is no way it can be extended to the rest of the country. So, a recovery of self must be accompanied by a re-envisioning of farming. A new vision would involve making small farms viable, ensuring a just deal for landless and tenant farmers, promoting cooperative agriculture, shifting to ecologically sustainable practices that save us from water depletion, soil degradation and chemically contaminated food. With this historic victory in their stride, farmers must write a new manifesto for the future of Indian agriculture.
What was stopping them doing so all this time? Why, if they wouldn't do it before, will they do it now? Feeling good about oneself doesn't automatically turn you into an Einstein. This year there has been a bumper crop and the Government had enough money to procure a lot of food. Exports too are up. But all that could change very quickly.
A historic unity
The second big achievement of this movement is attaining an unprecedented unity of India’s farmers.
Those guys sure seem to have a lot of time on their hands. At least they weren't gang raping each other when they united. Hopefully that wasn't wholly unprecedented.
Ever since the beginning of peasant movements in the first half of the twentieth century, mobilisation of farmers has been marred by
the fact that nobody gives a shit about farmers.
multiple, deep divisions based on climate, crops and class besides the usual divisions based on language, religion and caste. This movement did not entirely transcend these divisions; the mobilisation was uneven across the regional, class and caste divides. Yet, at least at the level of emotions, this movement united the farmers like never before. It did cut across existing divisions – Punjab/Haryana, Hindu/Muslim, Jat/non-Jat – in a way that we have rarely seen. Women farmers made an appearance on the national stage like never before. And it produced a platform – the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) – that is the largest united front ever of the Indian farmers.
Yadav is a member along with three or four elderly Communists. Sadly, their political parties will gain nothing by their participation in this campaign.
The challenge now is to build on and deepen this unity. Although the SKM was born as a one-time front to lead the struggle against three anti-farm laws, it cannot and must not fade away.
Communism seems to have faded away. So have whatever political prospects Yogendra might once thought he had.
The SKM now carries the historic responsibility of becoming the voice of all farmers of India.
Like the Commies had the historic responsibility to be even stupider than the Gandhians- right?
The SKM has already decided to create its state and district chapters, which would overcome the regional unevenness. It must carry forward the pending demands from the charter of the current movement. Its future programmes of action must also address the issues of farmers at the bottom of the heap: Landless, tenant, adivasi and women farmers. That is the way to cement the historic unity of the farmers.
With whose money? That is the question. Gandhian satyagraha needs an assured supply of funds.
Political heft
The third and final victory of the farmers is that they and everyone else have discovered their political heft.
But Indian politics is about theft, not heft.
Indian farmers have always been like Lord Hanuman in Hindu mythology:
hated by Ambedkar? Disbelieved in by Commies?
Supremely powerful yet unable to use their prowess to their own ends.
No. Most farmers did feed their own families. Some prospered greatly.
This movement changed it all. It sent an unmistakable message to the political class: Don’t take panga with farmers. Just as the BJP’s defeat in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in 2018 had put farmers on the centre-state of politics for a few months, this movement has secured an enduring position for the farmers on the national political radar. This should yield long-term dividends.
Sadly- apart from Tikait, who seems a bit of a thug- the leadership on offer is Yadav level shitty.
The real issue is: What would the farmers use their newly acquired clout for?
Making Yogendra the Opposition's P.M candidate. What? You can't say he'd be worse than Rahul.
It would be a pity if this resource gets spent in pushing petty and personal electoral ambitions.
No. An agitation should throw up a fresh faced politician who- like Kejriwal- can expand the menu of choice for voters. Thus the Anna Hazare movement wasn't a complete waste of time because it gave Delhi a better administration.
Farmers must harness this energy for something big — for putting farmers’ agenda on the top of electoral contestation,
Kejriwal sees that just offering cash transfers works better. Farming is about exploiting family members. They'll vote against their husband or father if that pays them better.
for converting electoral promises into government policies and for getting the policies to work for the benefit of the farmers.
as opposed to the migrant laborers they bring in to do the hard work
There is a bigger purpose at hand. Farmers’ movement has emerged as the strongest bulwark against rising authoritarianism in India. The historic responsibility for farmers’ politics is not just to secure economic gains for the farming class but to save democracy, federalism and the country’s unity.
also they will find the cure to cancer- right? Wrong. What Indian agriculture needs is massive exit. Get rural girls into giant factory dormitories. That's what will happen anyway. Why not help matters along?
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