Fear of losing land kept the farmers going
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, November 19
The fear of losing land that came with the three farm laws proved a turning point in making the farmers’ agitation a true people’s movement in Punjab.
“The corporates will snatch your land one day, we had been trying to tell people for the past three decades,” recounts Shingara Singh Mann, state committee member of BKU (Ugrahan). The Centre pushed the three bills on June 5 and in the evening, Darshan Pal of Krantikari Kisan Union and Jagmohan Singh of BKU (Dakaunda) organised a virtual meet from Patiala with other constituents of All-India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee and called for burning effigies of the Modi government — the first action against laws. Mann said they had a choice between dying of Covid and fighting the government for their right. “We chose the latter,” he said, adding that soon the movement spread to around 1,000 villages. It was followed by giving memoranda to SDMs, DCs and the President.
On June 30, protests were held in front of the SDM offices across the state and tractor marches were taken out in July and entry of SAD-BJP leaders was banned in villages. After 10,000 people, who were later joined by 35,000 others, sat on a protest at Badal village, the SAD broke its ties with BJP and Harsimrat Kaur Badal quit as the Union Minister. “It infused a new life into the movement,” Mann said. “We invited other organisations for a joint meeting in Moga on September 23 and the 32 farmer organisations’ umbrella platform came into existence,” said Jagmohan Singh.
