THE ‘Save Agriculture, Save Democracy’ day on June 26 was widely observed all over India at thousands of places by lakhs of peasants and workers. June 26 marked the 46th anniversary of the imposition of the Emergency in 1975 by the then Congress regime. This year, people condemned the current undeclared Emergency of the BJP regime. The unprecedented farmers’ struggle also completed seven months on that day.

The June 26 call by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) had been actively supported by the joint platform of central trade unions and by several organisations of agricultural workers, women, youth, students, traders and so on. Its mobilisation surpassed the earlier nationwide Black Flag Day call for May 26, when the farmers’ struggle completed six months and the Modi government completed seven years of its disastrous rule. The May 26 actions had taken place in spite of the second deadly wave of corona. This time the situation had eased somewhat.

HUGE PARTICIPATION
On June 26, large demonstrations were held outside almost all the Raj Bhawans (governor’s mansions) in the country and copies of the SKM memorandum addressed to the president of India were handed over to the governors or their representatives. In several BJP ruled states, rallies were banned, activists were arrested, and meetings were denied by the governors.

The anger of the farmers against the Modi regime was such that hundreds of rallies and demonstrations were held before several district collectorates, tehsil/block offices and even in innumerable villages. This happened in almost all major states – Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand in the north; Kerala, Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in the south; Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in the centre; West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Assam, Tripura and Manipur in the east; and Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra in the west. Hundreds of photographs from all these states were a testimony to the success of this struggle. Space does not permit a state wise account of these actions.

CITU, AIAWU, AIDWA, DYFI, SFI and, of course, AIKS units across the country played a major role in making this struggle a great success. At the all India centre and in several states, good coordination meetings of the leaders of these organisations were held to plan for June 26.

The mainstream print and electronic media across the country was forced to take note of this struggle. Social media, of course, propagated it widely.

Two of the largest actions were held that day in Chandigarh. Two huge marches of 7-8 kilometres each were organised to the two Raj Bhawans at Chandigarh. The Punjab march was over 25,000 strong and the Haryana march was over 15,000 strong. The Punjab march broke barricades and was attacked with a lathi charge and water cannons. Anguish letters addressed to the president of India were submitted to both governors. Ridiculous police cases were filed here.

The Haryana march was led by SKM leaders Gurnam Singh Charuni, Yogendra Yadav, Ashok Dhawale, Abhimanyu Kohar, P Krishnaprasad, Vikram Singh, Inderjit Singh, Sumit, Jagmati Sangwan and others. The Punjab march was led by SKM leaders Balbir Singh Rajewal, Major Singh, Dharampal Singh Seal, Baljit Singh Grewal and leaders of 32 kisan organisations of Punjab. Both these massive farmers' marches created a very big impact not only in Chandigarh, but also in Punjab and Haryana, and throughout the country.

The All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) conveyed its hearty congratulations to all constituent organisations of the SKM, AIKSCC, CTUs and all other mass organisations across the country for the massive success of the June 26 struggle to 'Save Agriculture, Save Democracy'. Its statement said, “The struggle will go on with ever greater strength all over India until victory over this pro-corporate, anti-people, authoritarian, communal and fascistic Modi regime is achieved.”

KISAN MAHASAMMELAN FOR
COMMUNAL HARMONY

On June 28, under the banner of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), a massive Kisan Mazdoor Bhaichara Mahasammelan was held at the Sunehra border in the Mewat region, on the border of Haryana and Rajasthan. Thousands of peasants – Hindu, Muslim and Sikh – attended. They included hundreds of women too.

Mewat region, which comprises parts of the following districts – Nuh in Haryana, Alwar and Bharatpur in Rajasthan, and Mathura in Uttar Pradesh, has a large Muslim peasant population.

This mahasammelan was held in the background of two recent tragedies in this area. A youth Asif was murdered in a fight between locals. The RSS-BJP and their goons tried to give this a false communal colour and even organised a 'mahapanchayat' to support the culprits, in order to disrupt the ongoing united farmers' struggle.

The other incident was the murder of another youth Junaid after brutal beating in a police station. After the protest against it, an FIR was lodged against the communal police, many farmers were arrested and cases lodged against them by the BJP-JJP Haryana government.

It was in this background that this programme was held to cement communal harmony against all provocations. Several SKM leaders addressed the mahasammelan. It was presided over by Darshan Pal, and was addressed by Gurnam Singh Charuni, Yogendra Yadav, Ashok Dhawale, Jagjit Singh Dallewal, Abhimanyu Kohar, Inderjit Singh, Ibrahim Khan, Maulana Salim, Sudesh Kaur Goyat, Jagjit Kaur Pannu, Satbir Singh, Pawan Duggal and others. P Krishnaprasad and Manoj also attended.

All the speakers attacked the Modi-Shah-Ambani-Adani nexus, warned against the 'divide and rule' policy of the RSS-BJP, hailed the participation of lakhs of working people all over the country in the June 26 'Save Agriculture, Save Democracy' protests, and called for a strong secular unity against the real enemies of the peasantry and the country.

NOAM CHOMSKY SUPPORTS
FARMERS’ STRUGGLE

Well known American scholar, linguist, philosopher and peace activist Prof Noam Chomsky has lauded the ongoing farmers' struggle in India "as a beacon of hope in dark times". He applauds the fact that the farmers are fighting not just for themselves but for a functioning society that cares about the rights and welfare of all citizens. He cites evidence of the "robbery" that the richest have grabbed from ordinary citizens, and points to that evidence to argue that the Indian farmers are right in fighting against corporate control of their lives. He points out that these corporations are 'tyrannical structures'. "The protesting farmers should be extremely proud of what they are doing – they are doing the right thing, with courage, with integrity.... for the whole world, this is a model of struggle (for other farmers) to carry out the same kind of actions", he said appreciatively.