Why Farmers Are Going On Bharat Band On February 6?

Last updated on February 16th, 2021 at 07:07 am

Farmers’ unions have now decided to go ahead with a nationwide ‘chakka jam’. In the most unfortunate turn of events, the farmer community got caught in a strange and unpleasant violent outbreak in the capital city around Republic Day, leading to marring their whole endeavor to gain trust and confidence in a peaceful movement.

The jam is coming through as their way to retaliate against the internet control around their areas of protest, harassment meted on them by authorities, and other issues. A massive sit out is already in process at the Singhu Border on the Haryana side. 

The protest venues are no more being provided for-lack of water supply, mobile toilets, and internet access. Further, the union leaders feel that the farmer grievances had been put aside in the Union Budget of 2021-22. It has been the strategy of the Modi government to curtail internet-sharing capacity to control the spread of violent information across the country. This has been a predominant practice in many Middle Eastern countries too. 

Undeniably, this is also considered a violation of the freedom of speech, a basic constitutional right of the citizens of India. According to the Samkyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) representative who is an umbrella body of protesting farmer unions, the Twitter accounts of Kisan Ekta Morcha and a user named ‘Tractor2Twitter’ have also been restricted.

Swaraj Abhiyan leader Yogendra Yadav alleged the action against the Twitter account was taken on the “request of government authorities”, adding accounts of some private individuals, who have been very vocal against the movement, have also been restricted. He also claimed that the Union government has “reduced the allocation to agriculture sector” in this budget.

The farmer protests are spreading to the Ghazipur border too. This is all to show unity against the new farmer laws. Apparently, civilians and even media professionals are being arrested as they voice their concern to protect and support the farmers’ community. According to the various farmer union reps, the ‘chakka jam’ is going to a way to stand up for freedom of speech and press too. 

On the flipside, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the government was truly committed to farmers’ welfare. To show their commitment, the Centre has proposed a 10 percent hike in the farm loan disbursal target to Rs. 16.5 lakh crore, and introduced an agri-infra and development cess of up to 100 percent to create post-harvest infrastructure for improving farmers’ income. But the farmer community isn’t happy. They will need to be educated and informed about the advantage of what the government was doing for them.