Below we publish reports from some of the states on the various programmes held against the farm laws on January 26.

KERALA
Sending a strong message against the central government which is trying to sell off the farm sector to corporate forces through the anti-farmer farm laws, people of Kerala have came onto the streets in protest, on the Republic Day. The protest marches were held all over the state expressing solidarity to the farmers’ rally held in Delhi.

Tractors, bullock carts, farm produces and floats were displayed in these protest rallies organised by the Joint Farmers’ Committee. It is estimated that more than ten lakh people participated in about 1000 centres across the state. A huge rally was held from SMV High School ground to the martyrs’ column in Palayam in Thiruvananthapuram. Inaugurating the rally, LDF convener A Vijayaraghavan has said that the entire farming community would be deprived of land due to the implementation of new farm laws. The government is brutally pushing ahead with the anti-people laws. Farmers and workers will resist these policies with organised struggles and protests, he said.

CPI leader Sathyan Mokeri presided over the meeting. M Vijayakumar, V Sivankutty, C Jayan Babu, E G Mohanan and Mankod Radhakrishnan were among those who addressed the meeting.
(N S Sajith)

WEST BENGAL

On January 26, India witnessed an unprecedented farmers’ programme of entering the national capital in a massive tractor march to celebrate the day when the constitution of India was formally adopted. It was a part of a protest that began months ago in an unprecedented apogee of organisation, discipline and fortitude and in which farmers from across the country participated.

The Left Front, led by the CPI(M), took out mammoth rallies from all across the state capital and in the districts to show solidarity to the farmers’ Republic Day tractor parade in the national capital. The peasants’ fronts held rallies with tractors, motorcycles, auto-rickshaws and cars across all 23 districts. The demand to repeal all the three farm laws was made from these rallies. Farmers also walked many kilometres in long processions in solidarity with their comrades at the borders of Delhi.  The farmers’ jathas travelled across the state with the aim of creating awareness and uniting farmers for a pan India movement.

Way back in December, in a strong show of support to the protesting farmers at Delhi borders, more than 50,000 farmers came from across West Bengal to Kolkata and blockaded Rani Rashmoni Avenue, a major thoroughfare near Raj Bhavan, for more than four hours. Two massive processions, one from Sealdah railway station and the other from Howrah railway station, crisscrossed major parts of the city and congregated at the heart of the city, Esplanade, near the Raj Bhavan. The activists of Students’ Federation of India (SFI), Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) and Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) together led a huge rally to the venue. They were joined by the Eastern Railway Men’s Union and the BSNL workers’ union.

Earlier this month, a 72 hours long farmers’ dharna took place at the busy Esplanade area in Kolkata. In this dharna, farmer leaders from West Bengal extended their support and solidarity to the farmers protesting at the borders of Delhi, against the three farm laws that were thrust upon them without consulting them. Scores of comrades representing All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), SFI, DYFI and All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) kept night long vigil in the piercing cold of January, singing protest songs and reciting Rabindranath Tagore, Sukanta Bhattacharya, Bertolt Brecht, Safdar Hashmi, Utpal Dutta and the Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA).

KARNATAKA
Bengaluru saw one of the largest united kisan rallies on this January 26. A central public meeting was held at Freedom Park. Before that, a parade with more than a thousand people, was held to the venue from the City Railway Station.  It was held under the banner of 'Samyukta Horata Karnataka' - platform of practically all kisan, workers, dalit, student, youth, mahila organisations in Karnataka. U Basavaraj  (general secretary of KPRS - AIKS state unit, and CPI(M) state secretary), Nityanandaswamy (president, AIAWU state unit and CPI(M) leader) addressed the public meeting  along with other kisan, worker, student, youth, mahila leaders.

Earlier, at the same venue, CPI(M) Bengaluru held a well attended public meeting celebrating Republic day as "Samvidhana Samrakshana Dina' (Constitution Protection Day). 

Over 500 tractors and thousands of kisans and workers had arrived at Bengaluru borders earlier in the morning from various roads converging from Mysore, Tumkur, and Bellary. But the police stopped them at the border. Particularly, they did not allow tractors into the city. Despite that, a rally with over 10,000 kisans, workers and few tractors participated in the kisan parade.

There are reports of kisan parade with several tractors held in Kalburgi, Dharwad, Hospet, and Chikkaballapur. Kisan Republic day parades were held in most districts.

JHARKHAND
On the occasion of Akhil Hind Kisan Diwas on January 23, farmers’ rally was organised in Ranchi and Dumka in Jharkhand to protest against the unconstitutional and corporate-friendly farm laws and to express solidarity with the ongoing farmers’ agitation at various border points of Delhi. The rallies in Jharkhand were organised under the banner of Kisan Sangharsh Samanway Samiti which includes AIKS, CITU, AIDWA, AAM, DYFI, SFI, Janwadi Lekhak Sangh and BEFI. Due to enthusiastic participation of people, the rallies turned into ‘padav’.

In Ranchi, more than 2,500 people gathered outside the Raj Bhawan. Farmers, workers, women, youth, students and writers from different districts assembled at the venue and raised slogans demanding that the Modi government repeal the three farm laws and provide legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP).

The programme started with a two-minute silence in memory of more than 140 farmers who died during the ongoing protest in Delhi. Mithalesh Singh of CITU presided over the event. Prakash Viplav, R P Singh and R K Gorai (CITU); Sufal Mahto, Shyam Sundar Mahto (AIKS); Dayamani Barla (social activist); Prafull Linda (AAM); Suresh Munda (DYFI); Jyoti Matharu (Sikh Federation); Bina Linda (AIDWA), Kumar Satyendra (Janwadi Lekhak Sangh); and Biplav Choudhary (SFI) addressed the gathering.

In Dumka, more than 1,100 people from six districts of the Santhal Parganas division assembled outside the office of the divisional commissioner and raised slogans against the Modi government. Surjeet Sinha of AIKS said Dumka is the land of Santhal Hul of 1855. The rebellion started for the rights of the peasant class. If the peasant class is made to suffer again, they will lead another revolt against the current regime. He asked the Modi government to take back these laws immediately. Ehtesham Ahmad and Mantu Oraon of AIKS presided over the event. Other speakers were Md. Iqbal (CITU), Gopin Soren (AIKS), Subhash Hembram (AAM), and Alka Manjhi (AIDWA).

In both places, the speakers also demanded that the Hemant Soren-led government in Jharkhand pass a resolution against these farm laws as has been done by the LDF government in Kerala. A team of more than 50 members from Jharkhand will participate in the ongoing farmers’ protest in the national capital next month.

Peasants’ Parade
On the occasion of 72nd Republic Day, peasants’ parade was organised in different districts of Jharkhand in the forms of tractor march, motorcycle rally and foot march.
In the state capital, under the leadership of AIKS, a rally of more than 100 bikes and three tractors were organised covering more than 6.5 km. The rally culminated at the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Morabadi. Participants took oath to safeguard the constitution and read out the preamble.
In Lathehar district, the march was organised with 32 tractors. In Sonahatu, 22 tractors participated in the parade. In Topchanchi, 11 tractors and 100 peasants marched in support of the protesting farmers. In Gumani, 25 motorcycles were part of the parade, while in Koderma 35 motorcycles were in the march. In many places foot march was organised.
(Prakash Viplav)

JAMMU & KASHMIR

On January 23, 2021, on a joint call of CITU, AIKS and AIAWU a mahapadav was held in front of the Raj Bhawan, Panjthirthi, Jammu, against anti-farmer bills passed by the NDA government and demanding legislation, guaranteeing MSP. Hundreds of farmers and workers participated in the convention.

While addressing the peasants and workers, M Y Tarigami, president of J&K CITU and leader of CPI(M) said that the unprecedented nationwide farmers struggle led by Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) is set to greatly intensify as it completes two months on the Republic day, January 26, 2021.
Tarigami said the BJP-led central government still remains adamant, and also vindictive. Eleven rounds of talks with the SKM have led to no results so far.  Scores of notices were sent last week to several participants in the farmers struggle from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) trying to link them with Khalistani groups, this has enraged the farmers' organisations even more and they are determined to fight back.

Kishore Kumar, president, J&K Kisan Tehrik said that lakhs of peasants and workers, as well as women, youth, students and sections of the middle class in almost all states will participate in all these countrywide struggles that will squarely target the central government, along with the repeal of the three farm laws and the four labour codes and the withdrawal of the Electricity (Amendment) Bill. These struggles will also echo another cardinal demand of the Delhi struggle for a law mandating MSP at the C2+50 per cent rate and also guarantee of procurement. He said, these farm laws are also against the paddy, vegetable and fruit growers of Jammu & Kashmir.

S P Kesar, regional secretary, CPI(M) said that the four-member biased committee appointed by the Supreme Court has come as a cropper with the withdrawal by one on its members, Bhupinder Singh Mann. Others who spoke on the occasion were Om Parkash, general secretary state CITU, Sohan Lal, Sewa Ram and Banarasi Dass leader of J&K Kisan Tehrik.

(Kishore Kumar)