Farmers reclaiming the lost republic: P Sainath

Vishav Bharti

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 9

Hailing the farmers’ call for holding Republic Day parade in Delhi on January 26, eminent journalist P Sainath said farmers of the country are reclaiming the republic.

He is in Chandigarh to deliver a lecture on farmers uprising on Sunday; it is being organised by Citizens for Farmers.    

Sainath said “the way this government destroyed institute-after-institute, the idea of our republic was under threat”. “Now, the way farmers have risen against this, it has emerged as a hope to save the republic,” he said.

He termed the farmers’ call for tractor parade on Republic Day a historic event and said it is people’s parade and every citizen should support the call.

Sainath said the way farmers uprising has countered every strategy of the government, whether it was corporate owned media or paid troll army, it is simply remarkable.  

He said the government’s every plan has failed to sabotage this movement. “The Prime Minister is on an aggressive offensive, holding activity-after-activity, then asking a section of cabinet to play ‘good cop’; divide the leaders on regional, religion or caste lines, they have unleashed their troll armies, which includes some sold out intellectuals too. After all these remain ineffective, now they are dilly-dallying with so that the farmers’ movement wears out and die,” Sainath said.    

“But I must tell you. The government is on the wrong path. I have been a student of history. So I can tell you that this movement has many parallels to the movements started against the colonial rule. Even then the laws had to be repealed. I am hopeful this time the same happens,” he said.

He said in the last three years the middle classes of the country have shown sympathy towards farmers, which was not the case earlier.  

Sainath also questioned the role of corporate-owned media during the entire agitation. 

He said the biggest media owners of this country are the biggest beneficiaries of these laws. “So a large section of media can’t take a line which goes against the interest of their owners,” he said.