From Bardoli to Singhu ..

What Today’s Farm Protests Share with Vallabhbhai Patel’s Bardoli Satyagraha  Ramachandra Guha https://janataweekly.org/what-todays-farm-protests-share-with-vallabhbhai-patels-bardoli-satyagraha/
October 17, 2021

The Bardoli Satyagraha of 1928, which was led and organised by Vallabhbhai Patel, emphatically demonstrated the power and potential of non-violence in the cause of peasant self-respect. In this struggle, kisans in rural Gujarat mobilised against the oppressive agrarian policies of the colonial state.

Almost a hundred years separate the peasant struggle that Patel led in Bardoli with the kisan andolan of today. Yet the parallels are hard to miss. On the one side, the role of women in sustaining the movement, and the quiet heroism of the satyagrahis, who have braved winter, summer, monsoon and a pandemic and kept their struggle going. On the other side, the attempt by the state to stall and delay, to divide the movement, and to spread falsehoods about its leaders.

Back in the 1920s, the collaborators with the raj included Brahmin revenue officials and hired goons brought in from outside Gujarat. Now, in the 2020s, it is the police and the godi media that aid the postcolonial state, the first in suppressing the peasants, the second in distorting their message and defaming their leaders.

Indeed, in the range of repressive methods used against the farmers – water cannons, the installation of metal spikes on roads, internet shutdowns, hate-filled propaganda – the Modi-Shah regime has exceeded even the White Man’s raj.

“it is a fact beyond challenge that India has given a singular proof to the world that mass non-violence is no longer the idle dream of a visionary or a mere human longing. It is a solid fact capable of infinite possibilities for a humanity which is groaning, for want of faith, beneath the weight of violence of which it has become almost a fetish. The greatest proof that our movement was non-violent lies in the fact that the peasants falsified the fears of our worst sceptics. They were described as very difficult to organise for non-violent action and it is they who stood the test with a bravery and an endurance that was beyond all expectations. Women and children too contributed their great share in the fight. They responded to the call by instinct and played a part which we are too near the event adequately to measure. And I think it would be not at all wrong to give them the bulk of the credit for preservation of non-violence and the consequent success of the movement.” - Sardar Patel, 1931

With his Fabindia boycott call, Tejasvi Surya is hurting the soul of Hinduism

Sudheendra Kulkarni: With his Fabindia boycott call, Tejasvi Surya is hurting the soul of Hinduism https://scroll.in/article/1008194/sudheendra-kulkarni-with-his-fabindia-boycott-call-tejasvi-surya-is-hurting-the-soul-of-hinduism Hinduism is noted for its incredible diversity and its widely admired spirit of tolerance and respect for other faiths and cultures.

You say that “Fabindia must face economic costs” for its “misadventure” of putting out an advertisement calling for the celebration of Diwali in a way that does not conform to your standard Hindutva template. This is economic terrorism, pure and simple.

If Fabindia has pulled its ad – and other brands like Tata’s Tanishq have also done the same for the same reason in recent years – it is because they know that the coercion comes from those belonging to the ruling party, that its followers know how to enforce the boycott call given by their leaders, and also that the law enforcement machinery will not come to the aid of the victims if their shops are vandalised.

Tejasvi Surya’s Diwali tweet should not be dismissed as the harmless fulmination of a 30-year-old budding political leader. It connotes majoritarian intolerance, exclusivism and divisiveness that are now rapidly spreading in India. Yugoslavia’s fragmentation started in a similar sinister manner.

Tejasvi Surya @Tejasvi_Surya  Oct 18,2021
Deepavali is not Jash-e-Riwaaz. This deliberate attempt of abrahamisation of Hindu festivals, depicting models without traditional Hindu attires, must be called out. And brands like @FabindiaNews must face economic costs for such deliberate misadventures.  https://twitter.com/FabindiaNews/status/1446881162748579849

Farmers Clearing part of the Road on Ghazipur Border

किसानों ने Ghazipur Border से सामान हटाना शुरू किया, NDTV से बातचीत में ये बोले Rakesh Tikait  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWHuYTZP9L4 Oct 21, 2021 Farmers Protest: किसानों ने गाजीपुर बॉर्डर (Ghazipur Border) पर दिल्ली (Delhi) जाने वाली सड़क से अपना सामान हटाना शुरू कर दिया है. रास्‍ता खोलने के लिए वाहनों को मौके से हटाया जा रहा है. किसानों ने अपने तंबुओं को भी हटाना शुरू कर दिया है. किसान नेता राकेश टिकैत (Rakesh Tikait) से NDTV के लिए शरद शर्मा ने बात की.

"किसानों को प्रदर्शन का हक लेकिन सड़क बंद करना गलत": Supreme Court https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jDBKeQdHT4
दिल्ली (Delhi) की सीमाओं पर बैठे किसानों को हटाकर सड़क खोलने को लेकर सुप्रीम कोर्ट (SC) में गुरुवार को सुनवाई हुई है. कोर्ट ने किसानों से कहा है कि उन्हें प्रदर्शन करने का अधिकार है, लेकिन सड़क बंद करना गलत है, तो किसानों ने दलील दी कि सड़क उन्होंने नहीं, बल्कि पुलिस ने बंद की है.

ग़ाज़ीपुर बॉर्डर पर बवाल तो टिकैत ने दिया बड़ा बयान  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HP_9kz3Wtes

किसानों ने खोला बॉर्डर-हटाई बैरिकेडिंग, सुप्रीम कोर्ट के फैसले से पलटा पासा https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALRe95v8ZdY

Prime Time With Ravish Kumar: प्रदर्शनों को कुचलने की दुनिया भर में तैयारी https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnhsmB6sQxw Oct 21, 2021

दिल्ली की तरफ़ कूच करने की तैयारी में किसान, अब क्या होगा । Navin Kumar Oct 21, 2021 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFFmYLUxQik  सुप्रीम कोर्ट ने कह दिया हटना तो पड़ेगा। इस टिप्पणी के बाद किसान से लेकर सरकार तक में खलबली। ढाई महीने में कोई रास्ता नहीं निकला तो किसान आगे क्या करेगा ये सोच-सोचकर ही सबकी सांस अटकी हुई है।