Omkar Dattatray
The postulates of better late than never and all is well that ends well comes to mind when the farmers call off their over year long agitation and headed towards their homes in a jubilant mode .It was the moment of satisfaction for the agitating farmers when they dismantled their tents and other structures and returned to their homes with smiling faces .The suspension of the strike by the farmers gave a sigh of relief to the central ,state governments and the general public as all of them were inconvenienced by the agitation of the framers and wanted an end to the strike .However some selfish and disgruntled politicians and the farmers leaders wanted to continue the agitation and even the Rakesh Tiket who was spearheading the farmers movement was indifferent to call off the stir but majority of the farm leaders and the common agitating farmers prevailed on him and he was forced to announce the suspension of the strike .In fact calling off of the stir is a matter of pride to the farmers as the government was forced to tow the line of the agitating farmers .It is the triumph for the farmers that all most all of their demands were accepted by the Modi—Shah dispensation of the centre .The centre government and the prime minister has come down from the ego and had announced the decision of the cabinet to annul the three controversial agricultural laws and he has also informed the farmers and the nation that the scrapping of the three farm laws will be vetted by the parliament in the winter session of the parliament. In accordance with his decision the bill to repeal the farm laws was tabled in the parliament and passed without any debate .The repeal of the three farm laws was the main demand of the farmers but they did not called off their stir just after the repeal of the three farm laws but continued their strike. .However the farmers put forward some six more demands and pressed for acceptance of these demands as well .The centre government and the prime minister was of the opinion that the farmers will call off their stir on the repeal of the controversial farm laws but it did not happened at that moment .It took the agitating farmers many days after the repeal of the farm laws to be decide the suspension of their agitation .Since the agitating farmers put forward the demand for the law to guarantee the minimum support price for the agricultural produce—MSP, demand for striking down the FIRs and criminal cases against the farmers ,Compensation for the farmers died during the agitation ,demand for continuing the subsidy for the electricity to the farmers .Now that the centre government has accepted all most all the demands of the agitating farmers so the farmers have decided to suspend their agitation. .Many lessons have been learnt from the farmers stir .The nation learned that anything can be achieved if we remain united and are ready to give sacrifices .The next lesson is that the striking people should also be ready to undergo ordeals and difficulties just as the farmers faced many difficulties and inconveniences during their one year long movement and at last they have been successful in their mission and they got what they wanted as the government accepted more or less all their demands. Therefore it is a matter of great pride and victory for the agitating farmers that their demands were in principle accepted by the centre government which earlier was indifferent to the demands of the farmers .So it is in fact a victory for the farmers and their families that after on year of the continuous strike finally the centre government of Narendra Mod i has acceded to the majority of the demands of the farmers .For guaranteeing a minimum support price for the farm produce a committee has been constituted by the government and five leaders of the farmers are also given a representation in the committee .It is a historical moment that the farmers have suspended their strike and are now returning to their homes .The farmers are upbeat and they feel very happy and satisfied as all their demands were accepted by the powers after one year of their continuous strike away from their homes and hearths .It is in fact a matter of satisfaction and pride for the farming community that the demands put forward by struggling farmers have been accepted by the Modi government as it does not want to offend the farming community as the elections to five state assemblies including the states of Punjab ,Uttar Pradesh ,Uttrakhand etc are round the corner and the government does not like to offend the farmers as that will have a definite impact on the election results .Thus has the centre government accepted the demands of the striking farmers under the political compulsion as it does not want to annoy the farmers .During one year long agitation the striking farmers have been bracketed as anti national and Khalistani which is very unfortunate and the farmers should not have been nicknamed as anti nationals .It is the irony of the present times that all those who speak against the Modi government are called anti nationals .It is very disturbing that the space for the criticism and opposition has shrunk in the present government of NDA headed by Narendra Modi .It is no good sign of a vibrant democracy as for the success of a democracy the criticism and the constructive opposition is very much needed but the present government does not like criticism of its policies and style of working .There should be enough space for the debates and criticisms in a democracy and the people in power should realize this fact and work accordingly and not call agitating farmers and people as anti nationals .The peaceful protests and agitations are the rights of the people in a democracy and the government should not and cannot snatch this democratic right of the people without its black lash and adverse impact on the government of the day .Earlier when prime minister announced the decision of the cabinet to repeal the three laws and when the parliament passed the bill to repeal the farm laws in question ,Modi thought that the farmers will pack their language and well leave the Delhi –UP ,Delhi-Haryana and Rajasthan-NCR Borders and leave for their homes .But this did not happen at that moment as the farmers did not like to take the government at the face value .However the farmers suspended their agitation when most of their demands were accepted by the powers .It is therefore the success of the agitating farmers that the government was forced to accede their demands and this is the success and pride for the farmers struggling for the last one year .Thus the farmers were in jubilant mood and were distributing sweets and dancing to the tunes of the drums while leaving the borders were they were sitting for the last over a year .In fact the agitation of the farmers is a successes story and it will inspire all the leaders of all peaceful agitations in future .The peaceful agitations cannot be called anti national activities and those spearheading such agitation cannot be called anti nationalists as it is no sign of a healthy democracy .To conclude one can say with certainty that the farmers have succeeded in their agitation and it is a matter of great pride for the farming community .Salute to the dedication and determination of the agitating farmers .May God help the Anndatas so that they will work with more hard work in producing the food grains which all of us need.
The author is a retired education officer and columnist
