FARMERS’ AGITATION MAY TURN UNPRECEDENTEDLY AGGRESSIVE IN 2025

The second leg of farmers’ movement that had begun in the beginning of 2024, with a call for a March on Delhi from Punjab on February 13, is set to spillover into 2025, since the PM Narendra Modi led Centre was not even ready to talk to the agitating farmers until December 31. The farmers have displayed commendable patience so far but there are signs that the movement may turn startlingly aggressive in  2025.

On December 31, the vacation bench of the Supreme Court was informed by Gurminder Singh, the  Advocate General of Punjab, “As per the negotiators, there is a proposal given by the farmers to the
Central Government that if they get an invite for a talk, then Mr. Dallewal is ready to take medical aid as desired.”

Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, however, submitted that he has no instructions on the submissions made by the AG of Punjab. Farmers’ leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal has been on a fast-untodeath at the Khanauri border since November 26, demanding that the Union Government accept the farmers’ demands including a statutory guarantee for Minimum Support Price (MSP) for their agricultural produce.

His fast entered 36th day on December 31, and his health is in precarious condition, since he is 70 years old and suffering from prostate cancer. At the beginning of the farmers’ movement this year, on January 27, he had already lost his wife.

On December 18, the Supreme Court bench had recorded the statement of the AG of Punjab that Dallewal
needed immediate hospitalisation. Thereafter, on perusal of the medical reports, the bench had ordered on December 20 that the Punjab State authorities either shift Dallewal to a makeshift hospital (temporary hospital, which is said to have been set up at a distance of 700 meters from the site) or to any other well-equipped Hospital.

On December 31, AG of Punjab reported to the Supreme Court that the farmers are in “siege” of the area and there are constant calls to the youth to join the protest site. The vacation bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia of the Supreme Court said that the court is concerned with the compliance of the earlier order, while expressing strong remarks against the farmers who resisting any move to shift Dallewal to a hospital.

Affidavits filed by both Punjab and Haryana plead that there could be a possibility of “collateral damage” of lives and property if there are attempts to move Dallewal from his current location.

The AG of Punjab also informed the bench that interveners and negotiators had gone to the protest site. Efforts for compliance were made by mobilizing about 7000 personnel at the protest site. However, due to the Punjab Bandh held on December 30 by farmers’ organisations, there were traffic blockades and hindrances.

On December 28, the Court had orally had that it was “absolutely unsatisfied” with the compliance report filed by the Chief Secretary of the Punjab Government and the Director General of Police (DGP) of Punjab on the hospitalisation of Dallewal. Nevertheless, the bench has given two-days to comply with its orders and the contempt case has been posted for January 2, 2025.

A call for a shutdown on December 30 was given last week by Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Nonpolitical) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha over the Centre not accepting the demands of protesting farmers, which crippled the movement of people and their economic activities in the state, which is another indication of the
time to come which may witness very aggressive farmers movement in the country.

The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) (non-political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KKM) had given a call for
Delhi March on February 13, 2024 from Punjab. However, the farmers of Punjab were stopped by Haryana
government on Shambhu and Khanauri border points. Farmers then tried to cross the police barricade which resulted in police using force, even firing.

The farmers have been on a sit-in protest until now. The protests triggered farmers’ protests in Haryana, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh. A total of 5 deaths and injury of as many as 10 protestors have been reported. Many farmers were taken into custody and many FIRs have been registered against the agitating farmers. Farmers also tried to enter Delhi border but were stopped by the vigilant Delhi Police.

Farmers’ sit-in and other demonstrations continued throughout 2024. It gathered a fresh momentum in December when SKM and KKM gave a call for Delhi March on December 6, 2024. A series of protest followed from Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh. Farmers have been agitating since they felt cheated by the Narendra Modi led government since the day the first phase of the farmers movement was called off in December 2021, after withdrawal of the three controversial farm laws and assurances by the Modi
government on many of their demands.

The farmers’ unions say the assurances remained unmet. And as many as 750 farmers had lost their lives and numerous FIRs were registered against the farmers. Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar recently asked Union Minister of Agriculture Shivraj Singh Chouhan why the Centre was not holding a dialogue with the protesting farmers. “Every moment is critical for you. I urge you, and as the person holding the second-highest constitutional position in India, I request you to please tell me, was any promise made to the farmers, and why has it not been fulfilled? What are we doing to fulfil the promise? There was an agitation last year, and there is one this year as well, and time is passing, but we are doing nothing.”

The Vice-President had even recalled Jagjit Singh Dallewal and cautioned the Centre that the government couldn’t fight with its own people or put them in a situation where they were left to fight on their own. “We cannot hold the ideology that their struggle will be limited and they will eventually tire out. We should not disturb the soul of India, we should not hurt its heart. Can we create a boundary between the farmer and the government? Those whom we need to embrace cannot be pushed away.”

The utterings of the Vice-President of India show the seriousness of the farmers’ movement, which is set to spill over to 2025. Additionally, there are new dangers coming, through the new agriculture market policy of the Modi government to be implemented soon, which seeks to bring back the provisions of the three controversial farm laws through the backdoor, which PM Modi had unilaterally withdrawn in November 2021, after one year of the farmers’ movement. The new agriculture market policy may trigger a more intensified and aggressive spate of farmers’ protests in 2025.