The farmers’ protest has entered the eighth month. The pandemic has stolen the attention the agitation initially received from the media, the government and the general public. Unlike the protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which petered out with the onset of Covid-19, the farmers have not budged. 

The partial or complete lockdown during the second wave has not deterred them. They have stayed put on the Delhi borders and many other less-talked about places like the matka chowk of Chandigarh.
 
The number of farmers at the protest sites may not be as high as it was at the beginning of the agitation but the roads leading to the border are still choked. Those who wish to visit Sonipat from Delhi have to take a circuitous route to avoid the sites. They have been staying there as if they were their permanent abodes.
 
Except for a few, who have joined certain social media groups on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube, not many know that during the last 210 days, we have lost 520 farmers! Yes, thanks to the indifferent attitude of the government. By the time this column is published, this number might have increased!
 
True, the number is not large. At least not as large as the Covid-19 mortalities. Otherwise, this would have raised many eyebrows. Instead of resolving the issue, the government’s focus has been on how to remove this jatha from the Delhi borders and how to weaken the movement.
 
A recent interview, given by a restaurant owner, Mr Ram Singh Rana, who has been supplying food to the farmers staying close to the Singhu Border in Delhi is shocking, to say the least. The video has laid bare the vendetta politics of the powers that be.
 
For the last few months, Mr Rana has been spending about Rs 5 lakh every day to supply water, milk and wheat flour packets to the farmers. Even Covid-19 could not change his plans. At a time when most restaurants were closed and had no business, Mr Rana stayed strong on his mission, something that did not jell well with the Sarkar.
 
Of late, he has been receiving notices. Not only this, his dhaba at Kurukshetra has been blocked with barricades. People can no longer access it. No access means no income for Mr Rana and, hence, no food supply to the farmers. 

One could have never imagined the base level to which the government would plummet, simply because the protest did not go well with its political agenda. It exemplifies the adage, “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. The arrogance with which the matter is being handled emanates from the fact that we do not have a strong opposition at the Centre.
 
An RTI application reveals that the Delhi Police had spent enormous sums of money just to stop the farmers from entering Delhi on February 1, 2021. Roads were cemented with nails and concrete walls were erected between barriers. Those monstrous walls and nails have not been removed so far.
 
How we wish the government officials had put their senses to work! The matter that could have been resolved with an agreement has been lingering on for months. The poor farmers have been losing their loved ones. The exchequer is losing money that could have been spent more effectively on social welfare, if at all the government still believes in it. Small wonder that this will be the longest protest India would have seen since independence.
 
The stalemate continues. And if we believe in the strategies being used by the government, it may continue even for years together. Be that as it may, the farmers are prepared to face any kind of consequences. And there are many who have supported them in many ways.
 
Among the dead were septuagenarians. There were also men in their early twenties. The question is, what would have moved a 22-year-old man to protest? He could have stayed back with his family members or spent his time leisurely with his friends! And what would have forced a 70+ old man to sit with the protesting farmers in the chilling cold of Delhi in the month of December or the scorching heat in June. Certainly, the circumstances would not have been ordinary.
 
Now, what do the farmers actually represent? Are they merely protestors or farmers or ordinary people? Well, they are the stake holders. Yes, this is what our legal system says and our Constitution guarantees. They have the right to protest and the right of being heard. They also have a right to expect an answer from the government on their concerns. 

Lest it should be forgotten, they are also producers of food, which is the basic need of any human being. And anything that affects their rights will have a direct impact on the rights of tens of millions of people, who constitute the nation.
 
The pandemic has already thrown many out of the safety net. Millions of children have lost access to the only source of nutritional food -- mid-day meals. Many are not able to avail of dry ration guaranteed under the National Food Security Act and several other schemes. Simply because they were either not entitled to BPL cards or ration cards (as they did not fall into the definition of priority households at some particular point of time) or they don’t have necessary documents for getting these cards prepared.
 
Unemployment has been on the rise. Even those who belonged to the lower middle class category have been pushed into poverty because of job losses and salary cuts. In such circumstances, if agricultural produce is affected, the country will have one of the severest agrarian crises. The food bill has been on the rise, of late. Thanks to the fuel prices that has touched three-digit figure in many states. People have been raising their voices. But they don’t seem to have any effect on the government.
 
The international treaties that India is a signatory has clearly laid down the right to food for all. In fact, these treaties stipulate that the states are duty bound to give access to food to those who cannot afford it. And give adequate support to people so that they have a source of income to have access to food. The current scenario is one of the worst. Even those who had money are finding it difficult to survive.
 
In fact, these treaties are based on PANTHER principles (where P stand for Participation, A for accountability, N for non-discrimination, T for transparency, H for human dignity, E for empowerment and R for Rule of law). Unfortunately, the farm laws violate the entire concept of these principles. 

The bills became law without much participation by the people, whose rights were infringed upon. In fact, the farmers are being put in a situation where they will have little say on a matter that affects their survival. The laws are discriminatory in nature, simply because they put the private players, read the corporates, at an advantage.  
 
This is not the first time that the farmers have come in the open. A large majority of the protests earlier focused on issues like increase in minimum support prices, institutionalised credit system, supply of seeds, fertilisers and pesticides on subsidised rates and so on.
 
However, the current crisis revolves around privatisation of agricultural operations, subsequent closure of wholesale markets, leaving them without any backup option. In case the farmers don’t feel satisfied with the prices offered by the private players, they will not have access to traditional mandis/wholesale markets, where they get guaranteed minimum support prices. It is certainly a fight for survival. The traditional hold of the farmers on the agricultural economy is being weakened with this systemic change.
 
Agriculture was never a lucrative profession. The implementation of the three farm laws will certainly make it more vulnerable. Clearly, this will affect the lives of not only the farmers but also of the common man, making the basic necessities of life expensive and beyond the reach of many.
 
The Supreme Court has stayed the implementation of the farm laws for two years, besides forming a committee to reach a fair and equitable solution. But that has not given much needed solace to these farmers. In the absence of information, it is not known whether the committee could even meet once or discuss the issue. 

However, the way the government has handled this issue shows its apathy, not only towards farmers but also towards the common man. This certainly does not redound to the credit of our beloved Prime Minister, who was voted to power on the mantra of minimum government, maximum governance.