Time for BJP to take a step back on farm laws

 

Mukesh Devrari

Democracy means the opposition will be allowed to express dissent against the ruling regime. Unfortunately, during the tenure of the ruling BJP government, the space is constantly shrinking for opposition parties to launch a concerted movement to highlight the failures of the ruling regime, including police atrocities on farmer groups. First, BJP leaders need to understand now that the debate is not always about right and wrong. Having a majority in parliament does not mean the laws can be pushed down the throats of the masses. Secondly, the debate is also not about the merit of farm laws now. It is quite possible that the corporate world would welcome all economic reforms. Still, however appropriate they might appear, their argument cannot be the sole basis of creating the farm laws.  

Prime Minister Modi’s tendency to push the laws despite widespread opposition by farmer groups shows his authoritarian tendencies. After killing eight farmers, it would be sensible for BJP to withdraw the farm laws until all farmer groups are ready to accept the reforms. While the negotiations with farmers groups are on, govt can make efforts to address the legitimate concerns of farmers. BJP can also use that period to convince farmers about the merit of law and how it will benefit them in the long run. If farm laws are in the interest of farmers, as government ministers and the national and international media claim, then there is no reason to believe that farmers will not accept the laws. In any case, BJP has put the farm laws on hold for two years. After killing eight people and increasing violence in Uttar Pradesh, PM Modi should do away with his stubbornness. The government would be better off focusing on economic recovery in the post-pandemic phase rather than creating a civil war-like situation in India’s politically most significant state.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah have learned the hard lesson in the last seven years. They cannot govern India using the same tactics they used to run Gujarat's state government for more than a decade. The BJP is on the warpath with farmers who earlier supported it in throwing the Congress led UPA government out of power in 2014. BJP is hell-bent on turning their friends into their enemies. It is a misconception in BJP that police can suppress all protesters. BJP succeeded in stopping the movement against Citizenship Amendment Act by using the Covid lockdown restrictions. The world came out to support Muslims and other liberal groups who questioned the CAA on moral and ethical grounds. Perhaps the BJP govt learned the hard way that 220 million Muslims living in India could not be forced into submission by using the police force.

India will face civil war, and riots will start all over the county if BJP tries to bully the religious minorities and other groups fighting to protect their legitimate interests. BJP is trying to reap electoral benefits by increasing communal polarization in the country and displaying Hindu majoritarian tendencies at the cost of our democratic credentials. That might fulfil the interests of the BJP, but it would harm the country's well-being in the longer run. It is not too late yet. The BJP could not gather the courage to implement the farm laws yet and postponed it for two years. The govt can put the implementation of laws in abeyance till farmers agree to it. There is a precedent for it as well. Congress govt also withdrew the laws related to land acquisition after farmers all over the country but particularly in the north protested against it.

BJP should focus on improving the economy and avoid taking up the controversial, communal and divisive issue as it would undermine the ability of India to prosper by lifting millions of people out of poverty. But, unfortunately, due to the policies of BJP, the country’s political atmosphere has become so poisonous that even the police officers are acting as cohorts of apologists of Hindu majoritarianism. As a result, conducting routine political activities in India has become difficult. Even police are stopping top Congress leaders from visiting the victims of the farmers crushed by the BJP leaders. And BJP, with the help of its key corporate backers, has also taken complete control of national and regional media in India. It was unimaginable in the past in India that police would restraint the movement of mainstream opposition leaders like Priyanka Gandhi, who might become Prime Minister of India in coming years.

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