'The Win For Indian Farmers Shows Mass Resistance Works' - Anvee Bhutani

'The Win For Indian Farmers Shows Mass Resistance Works' - Anvee Bhutani

After a whole year of protesting, Indian farmers have finally seen the repeal of three laws that were designed to decrease government involvement and regulation of the agricultural sector and largely resign it to the free market economic system. Beyond being a large victory for those protesting, however, this victory sets a precedent for the future of labour movements.

How did farmers win?

Having initially seen the unionisation of farmers predominantly from the states of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, the protest then made history when, in November 2020, over 250 million people across the subcontinent participated in a general strike in solidarity with the protests. The global support and solidarity the movement has received by diaspora South Asian groups as well has now made this the largest protest in human history.

Organizers also leaned on those outside the country. Big Sikh diaspora charities like Khalsa Aid International, a British relief group, raised money for the protesters. Even non-Indian figures like Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and singer-songwriter Rihanna got involved.

The philosophy of Sikhism emphasizes supporting victims of injustice and the value of the community over the individual. Financial aid, particularly from Sikh temples and organizations outside India, has been critical to the movement’s staying power. The farmer movement’s sprawling protest camps, which fed and clothed thousands of people daily and provided clean water, sanitation and even barber shops and tailors, reflects the Sikh value of community and self-sufficiency.

Controversy Around the Repeal

There has been immense speculation as to the real reason the laws were repealed, with some claiming it was for electoral gain. The BJP were gearing up for election battles in several states across India, namely Uttar Pradesh, where they have been campaigning aggressively. The state, which is the country’s largest and its most populated, could indicate which party forms the national government after the 2024 elections.

Elections are also due in Punjab,an agrarian state where a significant chunk of the farmer protests took took place, and which recently saw political upheaval. Nonetheless, electoralism aside, the repeal has been warmly welcomed by both farmers and supporters of the movement.

A new direction for the farmers movement

This win isn’t the end for the movement. India’s farming system still needs to be fixed, a fact that even many of the protesting farmers acknowledge. Initiated during a time of widespread starvation in the 1960s, the system created centralized markets where farmers could sell their crops. Some of the proceeds are funneled back to farming communities though infrastructure projects, pensions and programs providing free technical advice on matters like seed and fertilizer.

Today, however, that system contributes to inefficiencies. For instance, the government subsidises watertensive crops in drought-stricken lands. Farming also focuses on staple grains while more nutritious crops, like leafy vegetables, are neglected.

Most of the sixty percent of the country employed in agriculture survives on subsistence farming. While some farmers enjoy middle-class lives, helped by modern aids like tractors and irrigation, many others do not see a profit and are in debt. This leaves much more for the farmers movement to try and protest to achieve.

International Labour Movements

The farmers protest is, however, one of the few labour movement wins that we’ve seen during the twenty-first century. One of the great paradoxes of the current era is that the world working class continues to grow, while at the same time many labor movements are experiencing a crisis, a paradox. The global simultaneity of the crisis suggests that the failure of individual organizational leaderships is not the main cause, but that more factors play a role.

The labour movement refers to two ideas: first, that workers, especially blue‐collar or manual workers, share common political and economic interests which may be advanced through organized trade union struggle and political action. Secondly, that trade unions can form an effective alliance with left-of-centre parties in Parliament with the objective of forming a government in which workers’ interests would be of central importance.

The mid-twentieth century labour movement was strongly internationalist in character, emphasizing the shared interests between workers in different countries in opposing capitalist political regimes and in the movements for freedom from colonial rule. However, post‐independence, the idea of independent trade unionism representing the rights of workers via governments was often difficult to carry into effect.

What now?

The farmers protest exemplifies the perfect movement against India’s capitalist growth engine. In policy terms, this means an unending cycle of structural adjustments, privatisation and disinvestment from the public sector. This is why the capital-owning classes often root for a strong leader who can “get things done” such as Modi.

This authoritarian streak has shaped the pandemic policies of the Indian government, which not only rushed through the farm laws but also promptly acceded to industrialists’ demand for labour reforms that weaken the rights of workers in both the formal and informal sectors. This includes changes like looser hire and fire policies, longer working hours, reduced social protection and restrictions on the right to strike.

But global solidarity was achieved in this movement through mass resistance and this is something that can be replicated. The Trade Union Congress (TUC) in Britain issued a statement at the height of the protests saying, “Neoliberal policies that make the poorest pay whilst corporations amass massive profits have driven huge inequality and a planet on the edge of catastrophe. The UK labour movement stands in solidarity with the hundreds of thousands of farmers in India and the wider trade union movement in India fighting for a just future.” It’s time we leverage our proud trade union history as a nation and mobilise workers just as those in India have done.

[Anvee Bhutani is the Oxford Student Union President]