“You can't break us. In support with Sathi,” reads the latest tweet from KK Ragesh on the farmers' protest. A Rajya Sabha member of the CPI(M) from Kerala, Ragesh has been vocal in opposing the three contentious farm laws passed by the Union government. Ragesh has also been tremendously active in the farmer protests, which have been going on at the Delhi border for the past two months. He represents the party's farmers' outfit, the All India Kisan Sabha.
Ragesh and seven other Members of Parliament (MPs) were suspended from the Rajya Sabha in September 2020 for ‘unruly behaviour' during a vote on the farm bills. In a freewheeling chat, Ragesh speaks to TNM on the protest, events that unfolded on Republic Day, the farm laws among other issues.
TNM: What happened on Republic Day?
Ragesh: Farmers’ protest has been an extremely peaceful one, seven lakh farmers had attended the Republic Day parade and as a whole, it was a peaceful protest. But there were certain elements, 1,000 or 2,000 people, who created unwarranted issues. When a massive protest is organised, such kind of isolated incidents can happen. Even during the freedom struggle, one can cite such isolated incidents.
But at the same time, if you look at the violence that happened (on Republic Day), it's obvious that it was sponsored by the government. We, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha and All India Kisan Coordination Committee, were given a particular route, but one particular group was given another route. It was them who had violated the route and headed towards the Red Fort and of course when some people violate the rule in a protest like this, it's mass psychology that some others would follow.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha was given a route but we were interrupted before it could be completed. The police didn't allow us to move further. At the same time for that particular group, why didn’t the police not put barricades for them? Why did the police not act when the unwarranted incidents happened? Because they wanted to ensure that violence happens, which could be used for their vicious campaign against the farmers' protest. The farmers' protest had been peaceful for the past two months and the farmers didn't lose their calm even after scores of farmers lost their lives during the protest.
The Narendra Modi government is acting in an undemocratic manner. Modi is not the Chhatrapati of a fascist Hindu Rashtra, he is the Prime Minister of democratic India. But he is unfortunately acting like a Chhatrapati of Hindu Rashtra. That is why he doesn't listen even after scores of people died and even after thousands have asked for repeal of the farm laws.
TNM: Do you think the government will repeal the laws?
Ragesh: PM Modi should repeal the laws if he has an iota of democratic sense. If the government doesn't listen to the people, they will reject it. If he won't repeal the laws, people will unseat him.
TNM: What has changed in the farmers' protest after the Republic Day violence?
Ragesh: Some people have withdrawn from the agitation. But the masses are still there at the protest site. Some farmer leaders might have been misled, but the farmers who are fighting for a genuine cause haven't left the protest. They will not go back, irrespective of what is done by certain leaders.
The BJP has been saying that it's a Punjab protest, but farmers from states like Rajasthan and Haryana are also part of the protest. Five hundred farmers from Kerala are protesting at Shahjahanpur. Kerala has been actively contributing to the protest with farmers protesting in all districts.
TNM: What in your view went wrong with the farm laws?
Ragesh: It was brought in like it was an ordinance. The government has been repeating that they held consultations. With whom did the government hold consultations? Agriculture is a state subject. Did they consult any state government or any farmers' organisation? Was a proper discussion held in Parliament? Even in Parliament, I had moved 13 amendments, statutory resolutions against the ordinance and also a motion to send the ordinance to a select committee. Some of the MPs including myself asked for voting. As part of the Rajya Sabha procedure, it's the responsibility of the chair to allow a matter to be decided by majority vote even when a single member asks for it.
But the three laws were passed without considering some of the members' demands, in an undemocratic manner, by sabotaging Parliamentary norms and also by violating the Constitutional norms. Why did the government do it despite many political parties like its ally Shiromani Akali Dal opposing it? The government knew that the Bills would be opposed if it allowed a majority vote.
TNM: Hardly any Congress MPs from Kerala have been seen at the protest site? What do you think?
Ragesh: During the local body polls (held in December), I had come to Kerala only to vote. I wasn't part of the campaigning even for a single day. It was my party's direction that I should be there actively at the protest and I was back to it soon after voting. Why the Congress MPs are not there is for them to answer. I won't comment on it.
TNM: IMF Chief Economist Gita Gopinath has said that the farm laws have the potential to raise farm income in the country. What do you have to say?
Ragesh: That could be. But why should we allow corporates to exploit farmers to increase their revenue? Why should that be done at the cost of the farmers, by making the farmers kill themselves?
The farmers sell their products through the Food Corporation of India (FCI) as they are assured the minimum support price. Farmers know that if the FCI system is weakened, if the mandis are sabotaged, they would be forced to sell directly to the corporates. Farmers are already selling directly to the corporates in some places.
In 2017, there was a farmers' protest in Madhya Pradesh when the BJP government was in power. Police fired at the farmers and six of them were killed. The prime demand of the farmers at the time was to increase the price of garlic from Rs 1 to Rs 2 per kilogram. At the same time, the garlic price at the Reliance outlet, Reliance Fresh was Rs 140 per kilogram. The garlic bought from the farmers for Rs one was being sold for Rs 140 at Reliance Fresh. And the Prime Minister is saying that the same corporates, Ambani and Adani, would be generous enough to the farmers and are going to double the income of the farmers. If the farmers are left to the mercy of corporates, farmer suicides will become widespread. Besides, the corporates would exploit the consumers too.
TNM: What are the plans now?
Ragesh: We are going to intensify the agitation despite all attempts of the government to malign it somehow. The Modi government has always been trying to divide people on communal lines, terming those opposing the government as urban Naxals or Maoists. At the farmers' protest, people are united not on the basis of caste or religion, but on the basis of class irrespective of their financial strength. This class strength is capable of taking on the BJP's communal agenda.