Skip to main content

Lack of democratic rights doesn't mean all's well in Gujarat: Farmers' local protests are being suppressed

By Sagar Rabari*
At present farmers in Gujarat are resisting issues they are facing at local level, because they are not allowed to come out and speak. Police raj prevails in Gujarat. They are being denied permission for any type of protest, and this is true for all types organizations. The only organization which is an exception to the rule is the RSS.
Ever since Sanand farmers were lathi charged for demanding irrigation facilities, it has become a norm in Gujarat to explode teargas shells and lathi charge farmers as and when they raise their voice. One wonders if they are sought to be punished for not voting for the BJP during the December 2017 assembly elections, or this type of attitude is borne out of the corporate leaning of the government, inspiring it to manage government formation in one state after another.
Already, farmers of 12 villages in Ghogha have been resisting corporate interests for the last one month, protecting their just rights given to them under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement or LARR Act, 2013. The state government is determined to protect the interests of the Gujarat Power Corporation Limited (GPCL) instead of protecting farmers’ just rights. Cases have been filed against farmers’ leaders; they have been detained many a time and arrested for organizing peaceful protest marches. Even children and women have not been spared.
Farmers on the route of the proposed bullet train are resisting efforts of the government to forcibly acquire land from Ahmedabad in Gujarat to Thane in Maharashtra. Laws are violated or amended to meet the whims of a person without caring to look into people’s requirements. Even Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) guidelines are not being followed in letter and spirit. Consultations required under the law are organized in a hurry.
Farmers are not being allowed to organize any protest rally on the bullet train route . A couple of days back, in Surat, farmers' leaders were illegally detained by police even before any consultation could begin. Ironically,they were invited for the public consultation through public notice and advertisement in newspapers.
Things are no different in other parts of Gujarat. Sitting on dharna, villagers are protesting at the deputy collector's office in Rajula, Amreli district, against illegal encroachment of village land by a company. It is a shame that, to get back the village land from the company, people should organize a sit-in protest.
It is an irony that the government is doing all this to protect investors and foreign dignitaries, taking the help of police to detain farmers’ leaders. This happened even ahead of Vibrant Gujarat Business Summits.
It is unfortunate that people in India still do not know what is going on in Gujarat. They just assume that farmers in Gujarat are unhappy. But the reality is very different. Just as the rest of India, farmers in Gujarat too are debt ridden, are not getting remunerative prices, and they are not given irrigation water. However, there is a difference: In Gujarat farmers are not allowed to speak, their right to protest is strictly banned. Sometimes farmers in Gujarat wonder if they live in a democratic setup.
---
*Secretary, Khedut Samaj (Gujarat)

Comments

Post a Comment

TRENDING

100,000 dead, 4 million displaced: Myanmar's post-coup war grinds on as the junta loses ground

By Nava Thakuria*  At least 100,000 people, including civilians, have been killed in Myanmar's conflicts since the military coup of 1 February 2021, according to the UN. Kelley Anne Eckels-Currie, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, gave the figure to the UN General Assembly in New York on 27 October 2026. She called President Min Aung Hlaing a tyrant who still deliberately attacks civilians to force them into submission.
Post a Comment
»

Delhi’s waste-to-energy plants emit 3.5 times more carbon than coal, new report reveals

Counterview News  Centre for Financial Accountability exposes the “plastic paradox” and calls for an end to climate finance for incineration, urging a shift to genuine zero-waste systems *** A damning new report by the Centre for Financial Accountability (CFA) and the National Alliance for Climate and Ecological Justice (NACEJ) has exposed the severe climate cost of waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration in India. Titled “The Climate Cost of Burning Waste,” the study reveals that Delhi’s WTE plants produce electricity that is significantly more carbon-intensive than coal, challenging the government’s classification of these facilities as "renewable" energy sources.
Post a Comment
»

Israel’s political deadlock: Arab parties may emerge as potential kingmakers

By Raj Kumar Sinha*  The final results of Israel’s recent general election have produced a deeply divided parliament, placing Arab-led political parties in a potentially decisive position in determining the country’s next government. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing alliance have secured 53 seats in the 120-member Knesset, while the opposition alliance led by Gadi Eisenkot has won 48 seats. Arab-led parties have secured 19 seats. Since a majority of 61 seats is required to form a government, neither of the two main political blocs has the numbers needed to govern independently.
Post a Comment
»