No Farmer, No Food

#KisaanEktaZindabaad #NoFarmerNoFood

250 million people went on strike in India, and cities around the world have been shut down in solidarity, making this the largest protest in human history, and yet, there has been very little media coverage.

Solidarity from all faiths

Cleaning the streets of Delhi

Langar Seva for Farmers

Feeding the hands that bite us

Medical Kits from Khalsa Aid

Force used on Elderly

I be rallyin'

In September 2020, the Indian government passed three Acts, which lean towards deregulation of the agriculture industry. The Acts will essentially enable larger corporations to dictate the price of crops, heavily influence crop planting, store essential commodities, and create corporate buyers markets.

While some people may argue that “removing the middleman” (in this case governmental regulations) might make the process of selling produce more efficient and the industry more competitive (leading to increased innovation, new sales opportunities and higher quality of produce), the nature of neoliberalism is such, that it makes the market extremely difficult for small scale businesses to compete and survive in these environments.

Large corporations have the means to produce larger quantities and sell at lower prices. To compete, farmers will have to reduce their prices, plunging them further into debt and poverty. Farmers will inevitably end up having to sell their land, which will not only diminish their capacity to generate income, it will also mean that more of our ancestral homeland will fall into the hands of corporates. According the National Crime Records Bureau, India’s government agency for recording such data, approximately 29 farmers commit suicide every single day. Farmers are already under a tremendous amount of stress, we fear that these Acts will only increase these figures.

Hundreds of thousands of farmers from Punjab, supported by farmers from other states including Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, have made their way to Delhi by foot, bike, tractor and car to set up camp on the streets of India’s capital. They have refused to leave until the Acts are entirely repealed. Non-governmental organisations, many of which are supported by the Sikh diaspora, have been providing basic provisions to farmers including food, water, shelter, washing facilities, bedding, sanitary pads and healthcare.

The protests have been peaceful from the protestors, but the Indian state have responded with disproportionate aggression. The Indian state’s response has caused outrage and condemnation from political figures around the world including Justin Trudeau and Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi. Unsurprisingly, the UK Conservative Government have stayed quiet and ignorant of the issue.

Worldwide, the Sikh diaspora have held vehicle rallies to raise awareness, as this is a COVID-19 safe form of resistance. It is also worth noting that online support for the farmers on social media platforms have been subject to censorship. Online censorship is an ongoing area of concern for Sikh activists.

Sikh principles have been the guiding force of the protests. Prayers and songs of resistance can be heard throughout the day and the protestors remain in Chardi Kala, an eternal state of optimism and joy. “Langar”, or communal kitchens, have been in full force – they have been feeding everyone without prejudice, meaning that even the army/police personnel that have been attacking the protestors are being fed. The protestors are also cleaning up the streets of Delhi and setting up classrooms for children from impoverished backgrounds. The protestors are providing basic provisions to people living in India’s capital, while bills favouring multi-billionaires are being passed, is a true indicator of a corrupt government.

Personal Note:

I have been struggling to write this post for a while because I know there’s no way I can do this cause any justice with my limited scope – how do you even begin to articulate the magnitude of this? How do you effectively communicate the perils of rampant neoliberalism, the dangers of an extreme right-wing prime minister, while delivering accurate cultural and historical context? I hope I’ve provided an easy, accessible introduction to this issue, but please do read around the subject and use the sources provided to keep up to date.

The more I read, the more I learn that the frustration felt by the wider Sikh community cannot be fully understood without the historical context of centuries of attempted Sikh repression. The Farmers Bills are just the tip of the iceberg, with years of state-inflicted genocides, murder, false imprisonment, depletion of our water sources, attempted erasure of our language, destruction of our monuments and artefacts, censorship and appropriation below the surface. When all the facts are laid bare, it’s entirely logical for sentiments to fall into the favour of a sovereign Sikh land, Khalistan.

“Sikh” means to learn, so with that, I implore everyone to stay committed to learning and sharing. My platform is forever open for worthy causes – so just get in touch if you’d like to write a post, or if you have any suggestions. As always, if you feel something is missing from this post, or anything is misrepresented, please just drop me a message.

Grateful to @ShamsherSingh for his insight and valuable edits to this post.

Visual Content

Some video content, I'll be adding more as I come across them (Keep scrolling for further reading sources)

This BBC feature highlighting the nature of the protestors, subtitled by @akaic4. Original tweet can be found here: https://twitter.com/akaic4/status/1337506924397473792

A really well put together piece by Vice News.

YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMcBDrEfK1c

The farmer's protestors put in to the context of history, delivered by @theNSYF.

YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9y27OvVZ_Q

“Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much” a short film about the Farmer's Protest by @Cineture.

Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/Cineture/videos/1356056898075866

"It’s A Global Movement. The World Stands With Farmers."

Full credits can be found here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CIci3jKHkkn/?igshid=f34q9m3ym1hf

One of my favourite videos to come out of the protests. The amount of strength here!

Food for Thought

Some relevant links for further reading. I will be adding more as I come across them.

https://www.khalsaaid.org/donate <- Khalsa Aid provide assistance to anyone that needs it. They have worked on projects across the world and have recently received a lot of positive press for feeding 100s of lorry drivers stuck in Kent. They have been providing basic facilities to protesters. Donate here.

https://www.sikhpa.com/posts/ <- Regular updates can be found here.

https://twitter.com/PunYaab?s=20 <- A journalist on the ground, updating Twitter with protest news.

https://www.nsyf.org.uk/blog/2020/12/3/punjab-farmers-morcha-and-khalistan <- Protests and Khalistan.

https://www.desiblitz.com/content/reasons-for-the-indian-farmers-protest-its-impact <- Fantastic overview.

https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2020/12/14/british-punjabis-rally-in-solidarity-with-indian-farmers <- Some coverage of the UK diaspora response in Al Jazeera.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/dec/09/pm-labelled-clueless-after-confusing-india-farmer-protests-with-pakistan-conflict <- Ignorant Tory PM.

https://sikhsiyasat.net/30-sikh-organizations-write-open-letter-to-facebook-against-sikh-censorship/ <- Sikh activism and censorship

https://sikhsiyasat.net/statement-from-bhai-daljit-singh-on-the-34th-anniversary-of-the-declaration-of-khalistan-in-english/ <- On Khalistan

khalistan.org <- this publication provides a framework to understand the allegations made against Khalistan by the Indian state.

https://www.instagram.com/sikhexpo/?hl=en <- Sikh Expo provide lots of Farmers Protest related content every day, particularly with regards to diaspora response

https://twitter.com/DrRituSingh_ <- Dr Ritu Singh, a powerful voice on the ground.

https://twitter.com/amaanbali <- updates from the protest site.

https://twitter.com/AdityaMenon22 <- India based journalist

https://www.instagram.com/kisaani.co/ <- Instagram page with lots of updates.