Farmers' crops 'destroyed' for Prime Minister Modi's March 10 Azamgarh public rally

By Rajeev Yadav, Virendra Yadav*

The Socialist Kisan Sabha and the Poorvanchal Kisan Union have strongly objected to the destruction of crops of farmers in Azamgarh for organising a public rally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Farmers' associations said that the Prime Minister is coming to inaugurate the same airport in Azamgarh about which BJP MP Dinesh Lal Nirhua had said that there will be no flights taking off from there as no company is willing to go there.

For few minutes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's public address, crops of farmers have been destroyed and razed to the ground. Several videos on social media are a testimony to the fact how mustard and wheat crops that would have been ready for harvest in a 7-10 days time, were destroyed.

Farmers are very disturbed due to this as they had laboured hard to toil the land and irrigate their fields in biting winter cold -- and bought urea for their fields instead of paying for children's fees and medicines of their elderly parents - but now the crop before it could be harvested, is destroyed within minutes.

Just like Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated other airports digitally or virtually, inauguration of Azamgarh airport could also have been done digitally. Anti-farmer Nirhua has criticised the farmers who are peacefully resisting against the land grabbing in the garb of international airport.

It appears that by organising the public rally in the name of airport, they are trying to give a message that they 'can do anything'. The manner in which farmers' crops have been destroyed reeks of total authoritarianism. This public rally could also have been organised in any of the open plain areas (with no crop) in Azamgarh.

Farmers say that the monetary amount which DM-SDM and police administration is promising to pay the farmers (Rs 900 for wheat and Rs 1100 for mustard per biswa) is a fraction of which they would have earned by harvesting the crop after ten days. Not only children and families of farmers will go hungry but also their livestock will not get its feed.

But the administration did not pay any heed to farmers' woes rather tried intimidating them that if they do not stop protesting, they will not get anything. The reality of the government which beats its own drum to claim 'development' in the name of this airport is that, as per news, merely 2 flights to Lucknow may take off from this airport.

It is evident that there are not enough passengers willing to take a flight from Azamgarh airport. Why will anyone spend thousands of rupees to go by air when the same distance can be travelled within a few hours.

The inauguration of this airport merely represents how adamant BJP government is to benefit the corporates. By inaugurating this airport, BJP government is trying to do damage control of its anti-farmer image as farmers have been strongly resisting against the land grabbing done in the garb of international airport.

---

*Respectively: National General Secretary, Socialist Kisan Sabha; General Secretaary, Poorvanchal Kisan Union

Comments

Beyond India-China borders: Economic links expand, political gaps persist

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak* Despite growing trade between India and China, a persistent trust deficit continues to shape their bilateral relationship. Expanding economic engagement has not fully resolved political differences, many of which stem from historical legacies as well as contemporary geopolitical concerns. Border disputes—often traced to colonial-era arrangements—remain a significant obstacle to deeper cooperation, while differing strategic alignments in global affairs add further complexity.

GreenTech Summit claims NCR as key green building hub, without pan-India comparison

By A Representative The Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), under the Confederation of Indian Industry, held its GreenTech Summit 2026 in New Delhi, where industry representatives, policymakers and sustainability professionals discussed the adoption of climate technologies in India’s built environment.

Gujarat cadre to HDFC: When bureaucratic style hits corporate walls

By Rajiv Shah I was a little amused by the abrupt March 17, 2026 resignation of Atanu Chakraborty —a Gujarat cadre IAS officer of the 1985 batch who retired from the government in 2020—as chairman of HDFC Bank . Much of what may have led to his decision to quit this ostensibly high post—actually a non-executive, part-time role—is by now well known. I followed most of it online with considerable interest, partly because I had interacted with him umpteen times during my stint as The Times of India correspondent in Gandhinagar from 1997 to 2012.

Operation Epic Fury: Making America great at the world’s expense?

By N.S. Venkataraman* The decades-long enmity between Iran and Israel is well-documented, but historically, their direct confrontations have been brief, constrained by the logistical and economic limitations of sustained warfare. The current conflict in the Middle East, however, marks a radical and dangerous departure from this pattern.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Rajiv Shah Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

India has been getting its economic growth wrong for two decades, say top economists

By Jag Jivan* India's official GDP figures have misrepresented the trajectory of the world's fifth-largest economy for the better part of two decades, according to a major new working paper published by the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE). It finds that India overstated annual growth by up to two percentage points after 2011 — and understated it during the boom years of the 2000s.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

'Tax the top': Nationwide protests demand action as 1% control 40% of India’s wealth

By A Representative Civil rights groups across the country observed the martyrdom day of Bhagat Singh on March 23, as people from diverse backgrounds united to raise their voices against growing economic inequality. The mobilisations marked the launch of a nationwide campaign against inequality, running from March 23 to April 14 (Ambedkar Jayanti), under the banner of the “Tax The Top” campaign.

Jerusalem's Al Aqsa mosque under siege: A test of Muslim solidarity and Palestine’s future

By Syed Ali Mujtaba* In the cacophony of Israel’s and the United States’ attack on Iran, one piece of news has been buried under the debris of war: Israel has closed the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem to Palestinian worshippers during the holy month of Ramadan. The closure, announced as indefinite, affects the third most revered mosque in the Islamic world.

Search This Blog