American Electeds are Failing to Condemn Narendra Modi’s Land Grabs across India
Elected officials in the United States remain silent on the crisis in India while New Democratic Party Leader Jagmeeet Singh, Member of Parliament for Brampton East Gurratan Singh and UK Labour MPs Preet Kaur Gill and Tan Dhesi have spoken out against the injustice of the Farm Labor Bills which are threatening the existence of small farmers in Punjab but also across India.
Indian farmers for 50 days have been protesting bills that have been passed by the Indian parliament, consolidating farmland from small farmers to make them into corporate farms owned by private companies. These bills also create an unequal pricing market. This is especially sensitive subject for Punjabi farmers and for the diaspora as many of us can trace our links back to the farming and agricultural sector of Punjab. Across the nation, 250 million people are protesting not only the economic recession which India has officially crossed into, but it is also the culmination of years of bigotry and injustice towards religious minorities and people part of scheduled castes. The new liberalization of farm labor and farm products has definitely reached the tipping point in terms of how much Indians are willing to deal with at this point. Modi’s government has been highly polarizing and India is set to lose it’s status as a democratic nation if Modi’s autocratic and fascist way of governing continues. Last year, it was the National Register of Citizens and Citizenship Amendment Act specifically targeted toward the Muslim population in India and bar them from having the same rights as Indian citizens.
Here is small snippet of what the CAA law is and what it means for India:
The CAA fast-tracks Indian citizenship for Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhist, Christians, Parsis, and Jains who arrived in India before December 31, 2014, from its Muslim-majority neighbors, namely Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. By smoothing the path for all non-Muslim immigrants from adjoining countries to attain citizenship, the law paves the way for practitioners of Islam to be unfairly disadvantaged when seeking to immigrate to India. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has framed the CAA as a noble effort to welcome Hindus who are oppressed in neighboring Muslim-majority countries. During a recent rally in India’s capital, Modi said, “We passed this bill to help the persecuted.”
Here is what the NRC law is:
Citizens here are also concerned about the controversial National Register of Citizens (NRC), which requires people to produce documents of ancestry to be enlisted as Indian citizens. This exercise, undertaken by prime minister Narendra Modi’s government in Assam between February 2015 and August this year, was meant to “throw out infiltrators.”
The final list of citizens, published on Aug. 31, excluded nearly 19 lakh residents of Assam, including Hindus.
The national registry of citizens and the citizenship amendment act, set off a large protest across the diaspora as south Asian Americans collectively came together to denounce the draconian laws that were being proposed under the Modi government.
The Indian government has been lax in addressing the concerns of activists and those who say that religiously charged bigotry is not acceptable and that India should reconsider the bills that it's passing in its legislative bodies because they are very exclusionary and tend to alienate people more instead of including them. However, the government didn't back down.
Now that the Modi government has done it’s part in that part of the legislative effort of bigotry, it has now turned it’s attention to the farmers across the country of India who come from many parts of the country. The same people they were claiming to want to protect are the same ones who are now facing displacement from their lands as the Modi government pushes these farm bills, that farmers have been protesting for the past 50 days, but weren’t getting much from the government in response. The international community and diaspora Punjabis has stepped up to protest in their own countries this injustice by the Indian government and they also seeking resolution. However some critics in the Indian media say that this is an internal problem should be solved but this clearly has global consequences for India's output as well.
What is the Farm Bill?
At the center of contention of the agriculture bills passed by Parliament are The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act.
According to the Economic Times of India, these bills can be broken down like this:
The government has said these reforms will accelerate growth in the sector through private sector investment in building infrastructure and supply chains for farm produce in national and global markets.They are intended to help small farmers who don’t have means to either bargain for their produce to get a better price or invest in technology to improve the productivity of farms.The bill on Agri market seeks to allow farmers to sell their produce outside APMC ‘mandis’ to whoever they want.
However, farmers are saying these bills would spell the end of ancestral farming lands that have been cultivated for centuries since they would have no back up buyers and no way to compete for price if they’re only selling to the private sector. This impact is felt more by the farmers of Punjab and Haryana who say that they already have trouble selling their crops and that this would drive them completely out of business.
Punjab is considered to be India’s bread basket and throughout COVID-19 did not cease to continue export of food even as the crisis of COVID continues to hit the South Asian country the hardest. As chronicled earlier this year, it has really stepped up to the challenge of feeding the rest of the country:
The procurement season is still on. But in less than a month and by following Covid compliant norms, we have procured 115 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of wheat, of which over 90 LMT has been lifted. We had set up 3,700 purchase centres against 1,820 in pre-Covid times. The labour shortage was met by using the local labour. To meet the shortage of one lakh gunny bags, we not only used PP bags, but also allowed those used once. Punjab has proved beyond doubt that it is the granary of India. Ever since the lockdown was announced, 1,171 special trains carrying foodgrain (wheat and rice) have been sent to food deficit states. It has been quite a journey from 2018, when Niti Aayog told Punjab to not worry about the food security and concentrate on increasing farmers’ income. Punjab has contributed 44 per cent to the ration that is now being distributed across the country to the underprivileged.
For the Indian government to pass these kind of laws in September 2020 near months after Punjab stepped up to feed the rest of the country, is a special kind of ungratefulness that only this current government control. It is abysmal that they are prioritizing farmer in land at a time and they are contributing to feeding everybody in the time of national and global crisis.
Punjabi Farmers React
Social media has been a wise with interviews by the media of Punjabi farmers who have been disenfranchised due to the farm bills and they're explaining why the reaction that the Indian public has had to these protests and why calling Sikhs ‘terrorists’ or ‘khalistanis’ is wrong considering how much sacrifice our people have done for the country of India even as we are faced brutal attacks from them throughout history.
Farmers braved water cannons in freezing temperatures, attempts by militarized police to build trenches on highways to prevent tractors and other vehicles from moving forward to Delhi, and they have attempted to use horrific violence on even elders to prevent them from reaching Delhi and to protest this government and what they've been doing.
In Foreign Policy Magazine, they capture this story of a Sikh kissan who has no where to turn to as she labors in Punjab:
Wearing faded green floral kurta, Naseemo Kaur, no relation to Sumandeep, sits in the front row chanting slogans with over a dozen other women outside a grain silo in Moga area of Punjab at another protest on Oct. 2. The silo is owned by Gautam Adani, an Indian industrialist whose net worth is an estimated $25.2 billion. Adani has been accused of receiving benefits from Modi to grow his business network across the country. The farmers’ union that had organized this particular protest accused Modi of imposing new laws to benefit his “industrialist friends,” like Adani. As each speaker at the protest accused the government of facilitating corporate looting of the agricultural sector, Naseemo took a break to drink water in the scorching heat.
She had left her home in Bhagike village early in the morning with her neighbors to travel two hours by tractor to the protest. Two months before, her son, Karamjeet Singh, 48, took his own life by drinking pesticide. After selling his family land to marry off his two sisters, Singh had gone to work as a laborer for other farmers. With India’s inflation rate reaching 7.4 percent, Singh’s debts had surged to over $13,000.
“He had enormous debt on him,” says Naseemo later, while sitting on a cot in back in her home. “He sold his land and crop and paid back. He worked as a laborer, but he could hardly earn anything. He would often cry and say, ‘What will we do, how will I marry my children, how will we sustain?’ Then he thought that his life had no meaning and drank pesticide spray.” Three days later, he was declared dead at the hospital. The family now has his framed portrait photograph with his birth and death dates that they plan to hang next to a similar one of his father who succumbed to cancer on Dec. 15, 2017.
“After he sold all his land, he strongly believed that he was way beyond help. During this pandemic, he couldn’t find work every day. How can a government who has lost the respect of the world be a good government? The government has given us nothing, it has never done anything for us,” says Naseemo.
With no farmland or savings, it is now Sukhwinder, Singh’s son and Naseemo’s grandson, who goes out to look for work to provide for his family. There’s a bit of his father’s debt left to repay — and of course, ever present fears, that the family could have to take on more.
Back in September of 2020, a New York Times journalist covered the fate of families left behind by farmers as they commit suicide over low profits, high debt and a government that does not show up for them to solve their issues. Contributing to this problem is also the fact that a lot of Punjabis have settled overseas due to the lack of economic opportunity, that is present in Punjab and the new constant violence of the Indian government is always some thing that causes more migration out of Punjab. This effort of keeping Punjabis out of India is intended to of course prevent families from uniting ever again but also to create less of a resistance to Indian government and the policies that they pass.
For some farmers the COVID-19 pandemic drove them to such extreme lengths that they felt that they had no other options but to take their own lives. Leaving their loved ones to grieve and not to know what they should do next. Even as Punjab deals with a record number of Covid cases there is still no relief for farmers in sight. The New York Times article notes that:
India now leads the world in new daily reported coronavirus cases and has the second-highest number of cases globally, surpassing Brazil on Monday. In Punjab, where cases have surged, lockdowns have been imposed all over again. The measures, economists say, are forcing millions of households into poverty and contributing to a long-running tragedy: farmer suicides.
This article was written in September 2020 so things may have changed.
Bollywood has historically made money off of Punjabi culture and music, but your neglect to speak up for the community and its most trying times which this one certainly is. A lot of young activists were quick to point out the hypocrisy of Bollywood when they want to remix or songs and make them more terrible, versus when farmers who feed the nation go on strike and the lack of support there.
Diaspora Reactions
United Sikhs and Khalsa Aid have stepped in to serve Langar to farmers who have reached Delhi and their own way in order to best support them as they fight for control over their ancestral lands.
Among the elected officials across the world who have voiced their support with farmers and their discussed at the Modi government for the tactics they are using to suppress protesters and to not meet people where they are, Canada and the UK have been the most vocal in trying to get the more the government to meet with the protesters and talk to them about their concerns instead of branding them as terrorists.
Indian media and politicians have been saying that this is an internal matter and that foreign interference isn't welcome. But last time we checked when the elections for Canadian Prime Minister happening or the elections were happening in the United Kingdom the Indian government was pretty much active in trying to make sure that Labour MPs Preet Kaur Gill and Tan Dhesi would lose their seats by running conservative candidates and activating the foreign groundswell of support that the BJP has with overseas Indians. I covered this in my post about how Sikhs can play an active role in pushing for Progressive policy.
Khalsa Aid, an international aid agency has also mobilized their Punjab branch in order to provide relief to farmers who are fighting back against the Modi government.
Across the diaspora, Punjabis have been donating, calling their members of government and pushing for justice for farmers. Donating to United Sikhs and Khalsa Aid empowers these two relief groups to be able to get more food, blankets and assistance out to farmers who really need it.
According to Sikh PA, a UK-based charity, Indian officials, have been interfering by spying in Gurdwaras and this is backed by this:
A former national security analyst in Canada’s federal government has warned that the Sikh community in Canada is being subjected to intimidation and espionage by the Indian government.
Stephanie Carvin, who is now professor of international affairs at Carleton University, made the comments to The Globe and Mailnewspaper, after Canada’s Chinese community, who face similar intimidation from the Chinese government, called for a dedicated helpline to report such instances.
“The worst-affected community is probably the Chinese community right now but the Sikh community is subject to this kind of harassment or at least surveillance by Indian authorities or those connected to them,” Prof. Carvin said, adding there has also been alleged intimidation in the Eritrean-Canadian community and the Tamil-Canadian community.
The comments come after harassment and intimidation of Sikhs by the Indian state has come to light in several other countries around the world.
If India doesn't want foreign interference in their internal affairs then maybe they shouldn’t be spying on people they perceive to be their enemies even as we send our sons and daughters to fight for India and grow its food. In fact while one farmer was out protesting India, his son had actually died for India at the hands of the Chinese on the Indo-Chinese border. Raghav Chadha, an Aam Admi Party member tweeted this out:
Here are some scenes from today’s action at the Indian Embassy in Manhattan, New York where activists across generations converged to protest the Indian government and to show solidarity with the protesting farmers from abroad.
The diaspora of Punjabis is truly diverse with Sikhs in the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States. In America, we number under a million and contribute both to our society here but also back home, where we frequently send money back to our families. The lack of economic opportunity in Punjab and the state-sanctioned violence has driven many Punjabis abroad. Some of whom take very risky journeys to get to countries like Italy, pockets of France but with an ultimate destination of the United Kingdom.
As I mentioned in this story about Gurupreet Kaur, and the reasons for why people were taking such desperate attempts at fleeing their current circumstances, Punjabis are not safe and more governments most certainly need to take more steps to hold the Indian Government accountable for the human rights violations that they routinely commit on religious minorities. There is no accountability for politicians who have participated in state sanctioned violence or genocide for any community in India and that is certainly something that should change and accountability should be coming to the people who incite violence and genocide.
There are a number of countries where Punjabis have been rallying in support of the farmers protesting in India. In countries like the United Kingdom, there has been significant action by members of the British Asian community in South Hall against what is happening to farmers in India and their extended families.
Vish Singh, an attendee at today’s Kissan March in Manhattan, New York had to say this about why he feels so impassioned about protecting Punjabi farmers:
The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings, and that’s why we gathered today to raise a voice in behalf of the farmers facing new unjust laws brought on by the Indian government.
Elsewhere around the United States, Kissan car caravans are being organized later this week to be cognizant of the current COVID-19 crisis.
As of December 1, 2020 farmers have not been able to come to a resolution with the Indian government over the fate of the farmers bills.
The Delhi government has been saying that they wanna negotiate on their own terms but farmers are quick to push back and say no they want a quick resolution to the issue at hand which is completely understandable because this problem has been festering for over 50 days and with the central government that is increasingly violent and militant is critical to make sure that we get this issue resolved as soon as possible. In the meantime continue to tweet about this continue to share stories about what's happening on the ground and really educate everyone about what they can do to help farmers and help understand the magnitude of the issue.
Davinder Singh Ghotra, who was also present at the Kissan Rally in Manhattan had to say:
Due to the actions of our Indian government, our (kisaan) farmers in Punjab and Haryana had to come to the streets and march towards Delhi (leaving their homes and families behind), to raise their voices heard and have their rights granted as citizens of India!
As the youth of our forefathers who come from a farming background, it is our soul duty living in New York, to help and support in every way we can.
As you have seen, the car rally and peaceful demonstration that took place in front of the Indian Embassy were 90% youth and this goes to show how willing we are to defend the rights of our farmers back in India.
Our roots and souls lie back in Punjab and we are what we are today due to our ancestors and their hard work in the agricultural efforts.
Farmers are the backbone of India and it boils our blood to see how they are being treated unfairly by the government of the so called largest democracy of the world.
Seeing how the New York youth had turned out in great numbers, I’m confident the movement will continue and spread globally, and we will not stop until the rights of our farmers are granted!
For far too long India has treated farmers with such ill will and contempt. And for so long we have continued to give back as much as we can to the Indian government despite the historical clashes that we've had with it. It's time to really ground the Modi government and to prevent them from continuing with these atrocious actions. It was only a matter of time after passing the NRC in the CAA that they would come after farmers next and people of religious minority backgrounds. It's ironic that they are targeting the exact people that they claim to want to protect in the NRC in the CAA and are unleashing untold brutality upon them. However this is also a wake up call for the rest of the world. If another government tries to seize the land of small farmers and to force them into a capitalistic market that doesn't reward their labor and does it empower farmers to negotiate the prices of their own cultivation, that's something to be against because neoliberal politics have never worked.
As for the silence of American politicians on this issue, it is surely very sad that Council Members in New York haven't been quick to respond to this issue but always show up when they want our communities vote. Assemblymember Weprin who frequently interacts with the Sikh community in NY hasn’t released a statement in opposition to the Modi goverment and making it clear if he supports the Sikh community in this time and Councilmember Adams has also been slow to comment. Perhaps more curious is the fact that President-elect Joe Biden has not commented on this even as Prime Minister Tradeau of Canada has spoken out. Senators Schumer and Gillibrand have also not said a word despite also having Sikh Americans in their constituencies.
Tying Hindutva to the Farmer Protests
Throughout this crisis, Panth Panjab has been hosting informative sessions and educating the sangat about the links between the actions of the Indian government and the long standing mistreatment of minorities in India.
Please continue to monitor the protests and the reporters and non-profit groups who are sharing stories around the Kissan movement, either in the diaspora or within India itself. On Twitter, they are:
- Sandeep Singh (@punyaab)
- Sikh PA
- minkaur5
- BBC News Punjabi
- amaanbali
- aarifshaah
- kamalsinghbrar
- Sikh Coalition
- Khalsa Aid India
