Skip to main content

Govt supports corporates, 'backtracks' on promises: Call to support Bharat Bandh

Counterview Desk 
India’s top civil society network, National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM), lending its full-blown support to the Bharat Banch call for September 27, 2021, given by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), has regretted that even a year after the farmer's protests, “the anti-farmer, anti-labour, anti-people Modi government” has accepted not even one of their demands.
In a statement asking its affiliates to do everything to make the Bharat Bandh a success, NAPM said, in The last round of talks between the Modi government and farmers’ struggle leaders were held in January, about nine months ago, “even then, the Government kept backing out of any promises, and delegitimised the demands of the farmers”, underlining, with the farm laws intact, the farmers “will be left at the mercy of profit mongering big corporates and capitalists.”

Text:

National Alliance of People's Movements calls all State- and national- level member organizations, struggles and allies to extend full support and solidarity to the Bharat Bandh announced by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha on September 27, 2021. NAPM has always participate in the movements. In the last 10 months, as a part of the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha, we have taken part in the historic struggle against the three anti-people farm laws.
The NAPM tent at the Ghazipur border has been running in solidarity with the protests, with participation from NAPM members involved in farmers’ and other struggles across different States.
The aim and implications of these farm laws brought in by the Bharatiya Janta Party-run Union Government has become crystal clear to the entire country over the past 10 months of the farmers’ protests: push the farmers towards poverty and empower the big corporates and crony capitalists.
Farmers from Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and many other States have been waiting for justice on the borders of Delhi for close to a year now. Their demands echo from all corners of the country. But these voices seem to fall on deaf ears even as more than 600 farmers lost their lives to the dictatorial attitude of the Central government, which has refused to budge.
Not only did the Union government get the anti-farmer farm Acts passed in both Houses of Parliament without discussion, but even the President of India assented to the same. The three Acts are -- the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance, Farm Services Act, 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.
Farmers have stood in opposition to these Acts, through rain and cold and heat on the borders of Delhi for almost a year now. But this is not just a struggle of the markers, limited to the villages and farms. It is a fight for all of us. NAPM stands in solidarity with all the local and national farmers' organisations, collectives and movements on September 27, to protest this tyranny.
It is very clear to the farmers that these laws will replace the current minimum support price (MSP) regime and the Mandi system, both of which require strengthening and not dilution. These laws would enable corporates to buy out produce at abysmally low prices, hoard them, and resell at a high price thereby threatening not only the rural economy but also the food security of the country. The farmers will not be able to take legal action against such practices, and they will be left at the mercy of profit mongering big corporates and capitalists.
The last round of talks between the Modi government and farmers’ struggle leaders were held in January, about nine months ago. Even then, the government kept backing out of any promises, and delegitimised the demands of the farmers. The meetings were filled with fake promises to mislead the farmers and the nation.
Farmers have stood in opposition to these Acts, through rain and cold and heat on the borders of Delhi for a year
The writing on the wall is: the BJP government is not working towards empowering the farmers, but to feed the greed of the big corporates and capitalists, helping them to squeeze profits and legalising their loot. It is almost a year since the farmer's protests have started, but the anti-farmer, anti-labour, anti-people Modi government has accepted not even one of the demands made by the farmers. It is now time to wake up this dictatorial Government on September 27, 2021 with a Bharat Bandh.
We are seeing Mahapanchayats, Panchayats, and Sabhas being organised in every State in support of the farmers’ struggles. The role of women farmers in these has been unparalleled. The sheer strength of the recent Mahapanchayats like the one in Muzaffarnagar, which brought together farmers and common people, is giving the Government sleepless nights. Both the Central Government and the BJP-backed States are trying their best to crush the farmers’ struggle by filing false cases against the protestors and throwing people in jail.
But none of this has crushed the spirit of the farmers. On September 27, during the Bharat Bandh, the country will see the renewed vigour of the farmers’ struggle. National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM) assures full participation and solidarity to this Bharat Bandh and joins the demands to:
  1. Repeal the three anti-farmer laws.
  2. Withdraw the Electricity Bill (2020).
  3. Ensure MSP for various agricultural products.
  4. Provide 80 % subsidy for agricultural implements.
  5. Stop the privatisation of education, health, electricity, railways and transport.
  6. Reduce the commercialisation and increasing costs of diesel, petrol and cooking gas and regulate prices of all essential commodities.
  7. Guarantee employment for the students and youth of the country.
  8. Free the country from the monopoly of big businesses and multinational companies.
  9. End control of corporate houses on the nation's policy and resources.
  10. Stop the assault on the Constitution

Comments

Post a Comment

TRENDING

Gujarat Information Commission issues warning against misinterpretation of RTI orders

By A Representative   The Gujarat Information Commission (GIC) has issued a press note clarifying that its orders limiting the number of Right to Information (RTI) applications for certain individuals apply only to those specific applicants. The GIC has warned that it will take disciplinary action against any public officials who misinterpret these orders to deny information to other citizens. The press note, signed by GIC Secretary Jaideep Dwivedi, states that the Right to Information Act, 2005, is a powerful tool for promoting transparency and accountability in public administration. However, the commission has observed that some applicants are misusing the act by filing an excessive number of applications, which disproportionately consumes the time and resources of Public Information Officers (PIOs), First Appellate Authorities (FAAs), and the commission itself. This misuse can cause delays for genuine applicants seeking justice. In response to this issue, and in acc...
2 comments
»

Targeted eviction of Bengali-speaking Muslims across Assam districts alleged

By A Representative   A delegation led by prominent academic and civil rights leader Sandeep Pandey  visited three districts in Assam—Goalpara, Dhubri, and Lakhimpur—between 2 and 4 September 2025 to meet families affected by recent demolitions and evictions. The delegation reported widespread displacement of Bengali-speaking Muslim communities, many of whom possess valid citizenship documents including Aadhaar, voter ID, ration cards, PAN cards, and NRC certification. 
Post a Comment
»

'Govts must walk the talk on gender equality, right to health, human rights to deliver SDGs by 2030'

By A Representative  With just 64 months left to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), global health and rights advocates have called upon governments to honour their commitments on gender equality and the human right to health. Speaking ahead of the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), experts warned that rising anti-rights and anti-gender pushes are threatening hard-won progress on SDG-3 (health and wellbeing) and SDG-5 (gender equality).
Post a Comment
»

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor*  This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.
Post a Comment
»

Is U.S. fast losing its financial and technological edge under Trump’s second tenure?

By Dr. Manoj Kumar Mishra*  The United States, along with its Western European allies, once promoted globalization as a democratic force that would deliver shared prosperity and balanced growth. That promise has unraveled. Globalization, instead of building an even world, has produced one defined by inequality, asymmetry of power, and new vulnerabilities. For decades, Washington successfully turned this system to its advantage. Today, however, under Trump’s second administration, America is attempting to exploit the weaknesses of others without acknowledging how exposed it has become itself.
Post a Comment
»

Gandhiji quoted as saying his anti-untouchability view has little space for inter-dining with "lower" castes

By A Representative A senior activist close to Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar has defended top Booker prize winning novelist Arundhati Roy’s controversial utterance on Gandhiji that “his doctrine of nonviolence was based on an acceptance of the most brutal social hierarchy the world has ever known, the caste system.” Surprised at the police seeking video footage and transcript of Roy’s Mahatma Ayyankali memorial lecture at the Kerala University on July 17, Nandini K Oza in a recent blog quotes from available sources to “prove” that Gandhiji indeed believed in “removal of untouchability within the caste system.”
Post a Comment
»

'MGNREGA crisis deepening': NSM demands fair wages and end to digital exclusions

By A Representative   The NREGA Sangharsh Morcha (NSM), a coalition of independent unions of MGNREGA workers, has warned that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is facing a “severe crisis” due to persistent neglect and restrictive measures imposed by the Union Government.
Post a Comment
»

On Teachers’ Day, remembering Mother Teresa as the teacher of compassion

By Fr. Cedric Prakash SJ   It is Teachers’ Day once again! Significantly, the day also marks the Feast of St. Teresa of Calcutta (still lovingly called Mother Teresa). In 2012, the United Nations, as a fitting tribute to her, declared this day the International Day of Charity. A day pregnant with meaning—one that we must celebrate as meaningfully as possible.
Post a Comment
»

Gujarat minority rights group seeks suspension of Botad police officials for brutal assault on minor

By A Representative   A human rights group, the Minority Coordination Committee (MCC) Gujarat,  has written to the Director General of Police (DGP), Gandhinagar, demanding the immediate suspension and criminal action against police personnel of Botad police station for allegedly brutally assaulting a minor boy from the Muslim community.
Post a Comment
»