IT was a Bharat bandh, the like of which had not been seen for the last several years in India. The bandh called on December 8 by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) to support the nationwide struggle of farmers for the repeal of the three hated farm laws received magnificent and spontaneous response from the people all over the country.

The bandh was announced on the evening of December 4. Three days were enough to galvanise the entire country into action against the pro-corporate and anti-farmer BJP-RSS regime.

The Bharat bandh showed the great level of anger amongst the people against the massive repression unleashed by the government against farmers from Punjab and Haryana, which we had outlined in these columns last week. It manifested the country’s support to its annadatas who were fighting against the injustice heaped on them by a government which is clearly acting at the behest of its super-rich corporate masters, both Indian and foreign. It also illustrated the massive unity of the people, transcending the barriers of religion, caste and language.

December 8 was the 13th day of the mahapadav of lakhs of farmers from Punjab and Haryana at the Singhu and Tikri borders of Delhi. These two national highways have been closed down for the last two weeks from November 27. Over the last one week, thousands of farmers from Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh have almost closed down two other national highways coming to Delhi, and are camping at Ghazipur and Palwal. Rajasthan was in the midst of local body elections till December 8. Farmers from there and other states will soon be blocking the remaining fifth national highway coming to Delhi from Jaipur.

The mood of the farmers at all the places where they have congregated on the borders of Delhi must be seen to be believed. There is a carnival atmosphere. Flags and banners of all kisan organisations – red, green, yellow, white – mingle in unprecedented unity and camaraderie. That is the most distinctive feature of the current farmers struggle. Tractors and trollies are parked for several kilometres along the highways. Public meetings abound which thousands of farmers attend daily. There is tremendous anger against the BJP-RSS regime led by Modi and Shah, and also against the corporates like Ambani and Adani. This is evident in the speeches of leaders, the reactions of farmers and also in the imaginative posters and placards that are seen everywhere. Gurudwaras in Delhi are helping all farmers, irrespective of religion, with free food and water. There is a clear and universal determination to keep the protests peaceful.

This upsurge of farmers from North India, combined with the unprecedented nationwide working class strike and peasant road blockades on November 26, the countrywide farmers demonstrations on December 3, the burning of the effigies of Modi, Shah, Ambani and Adani in several parts of the country on December 5, set the stage for the Bharat bandh on December 8.

WIDESPREAD SUPPORT
The five Left parties – CPI(M), CPI, CPI(ML-L), RSP and FB – were the first to issue a statement supporting the Bharat bandh on December 5. They were followed by 20 other national and regional opposition parties. The CITU and all the central trade unions with the exception of the BMS supported the bandh call. Several organisations of agricultural workers, women, youth and students, and others came out in support. They included AIAWU, AIDWA, DYFI and SFI.

Lakhs of activists of over 500 kisan organisations in the country which have come together under the umbrella of the SKM, and also those of the above political parties and class and mass organisations, came out on the streets and organised massive road and rail blockades, and held huge demonstrations in thousands of places across the country on the bandh day.

Numerous organisations of traders, shopkeepers and transporters supported the bandh by downing their shutters and closing their fleets of vehicles. Several lawyers associations and bar councils in the country passed resolutions supporting the farmers cause. There was a churning in large sections of the middle class as well, with thousands of them expressing their support. The entire mainstream media was forced to sit upright for once and take notice – such was the scale of this remarkable nationwide action. The social media covered it widely and vibrantly.

For the first time in the last six years of the Modi regime, it has been squarely thrown on the defensive by the farmers upsurge. In their usual style, the RSS-BJP tried to malign the movement. They first alleged that the farmers from Punjab were Khalistanis. To this, the farmers at the Singhu and Tikri borders put up thousands of placards which retorted, “We are farmers! We are not terrorists!” These were publicised by all sections of the media. Now some BJP leaders have made the preposterous charge that this agitation has been instigated by Pakistan and China! All this only shows their sheer desperation.        

FRUITLESS NEGOTIATIONS 
There have been six rounds of negotiations of farmers’ leaders of the SKM with the central government so far. All have been fruitless. All that the government is prepared for are some amendments to the laws. The SKM is firm on outright repeal of the laws. In the fifth round of negotiations on December 5, SKM leaders maintained a 25 minute silence during the negotiations, refusing to talk until the government agreed to repeal the laws. When the government side comprising the agriculture and food ministers and their aides went into a separate huddle and returned, they were dramatically greeted by the SKM with placards that simply asked “Yes or No?” Among the 35-odd members of the negotiating team are AIKS general secretary Hannan Mollah and AIKS Punjab general secretary Major Singh.

On the evening of the bandh, the home minister suddenly invited a SKM delegation for talks. He refused to repeal the laws and agreed to send a written proposal from the government the next day. The SKM leadership met in the afternoon of December 9 at the Singhu border and read out the long proposal that was received from the government. There was nothing new in it. It was just a rehash of the old proposals that the government had been making in earlier rounds. It only had a few minor amendments to the APMC and Contract Farming Acts. There were no amendments at all to the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act. There was nothing substantial as regards the Electricity Amendment Bill and the Clean Air Ordinance either.

The SKM leadership instantly and unanimously decided to reject the government proposals lock, stock and barrel. The anger with the central government among all members was palpable. The discussion then focused on the ways to intensify and broaden the struggle. Among AIKS leaders present in this meeting were general secretary Hannan Mollah, president Ashok Dhawale, finance secretary P Krishna Prasad, Punjab general secretary Major Singh, and Haryana vice presidents Inderjit Singh and Surinder Singh.

BROADEN & INTENSIFY STRUGGLE
The SKM decisions were announced in a widely attended press conference on December 9 evening. They included the following:

1. Call upon the farmers of states adjoining Delhi, from states like Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan to immediately join the mahapadavs around Delhi in even greater numbers and block the only remaining national highway that is still open, the Delhi-Jaipur national highway.

2. Nationwide call to farmers all over the country to intensify the agitation from December 14 by massive dharnas, sit-ins and demonstrations at all district and tehsil centres.

3. Launch a nationwide boycott of all Ambani and Adani products, like Jio, their petrol pumps and so on.

The AIKS has given a call to all its units to implement the above decisions all over the country with enthusiasm and determination. It has congratulated the people of India for their unprecedented response to the historic Bharat bandh. It has thanked all political parties, trade unions and other class, mass and social organisations for their unstinted support to the farmers struggle and has appealed to them to keep up this backing until the farm laws and Electricity Bill are repealed and victory is achieved over the BJP regime.