In 1907, Lala Lajpat Rai addressed the farmer’s protest. He wrote for his farmer friends “Pagdi sambhal jatta“.
The Bihar movement broke down Indira Gandhi’s Government. An ordinary student movement shook the whole country and Indira Gandhi was ousted in 1977.
How can we forget the Singur movement led by Mamata Banerjee? The farmers of Singur had had their lands taken away forcibly by the then State Government. Mamata Banerjee promised them support and once she became Chief Minister, she passed the historic Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Bill.
Farmers are not insignificant. They have been protesting for their rights for weeks. The demand is for the central government to withdraw the Farm Laws but the government clearly understands that the repeal of the Farm Bill means bowing down to the common man, despite the President’s signature.
Farmers, workers and youth are not relieved by the BJP government’s policy. 70% of people in India excluding the upper-middle class and rich families are not buyers of non-food items. So the country’s economy and GDP does not depend on them. They are not important for government and corporate industry.
During the lockdown, the migrants could not reach their destination even after walking miles and miles. Youth doesn’t have any jobs, they have become unemployed. Poor people don’t have food, and the interest on their money in the bank is decreasing day by day. Price of petrol is increasing. The decreasing level of GDP is at its peak point.
But after so many things, the government is still not conscious. They are just intoxicated with power. We all are witnesses of how they had wasted money in the name of the Hyderabad municipal vote campaign.
In a democracy, power and arrogance can never be mixed. Now is the time for the government to be vigilant. People elect the government and they also have the power to break it. Our Prime minister Narendra Modi has a lot in common with the former Prime minister Indira Gandhi, both have the majority of power. Indira Gandhi was an efficient administrator and politician. Indira Gandhi’s downfall was sudden, Modi’s will not be so. Nobody knows when the countdown will start.
