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Posted By admin on December 5, 2021

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In his famous and immortal novel Kanthapura (1938), Raja Rao, one of the Big Three of Indian-English novelists (the other two being R. K. Narayan and Mulk Raj Anand), says, Then the wind comes so swift and dashing that it takes the autumn leaves with it, and they rise into the juggling air, while the trees bleat and blubber. Then drops fall, big as the thumb the earth itself seems to heave up and cheep in the monsoon rains. It churns and splashes, beats against the treetops, reckless and wilful, and suddenly floating forwards, it bucks back and spits forward and pours down upon the green, weak coffee leaves, thumping them down to the earth.

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The protagonist of this novel, Moorthy, can be seen in every single farmer participating in the agitation, sitting at the border of New Delhi opposing new agricultural laws.

This was the biggest post-Indian independence non-violent movement. The Moorthies won. Bade Khan and Bhatts lost. The Kanthapura of Raja Rao in the 1930s is the Sighu and Tikri Borders of the farmers in New Delhi in the 2020s.

On the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, the first master and founder of Sikhism, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation on Nov. 19 declaring he would repeal three contentious agricultural laws that sparked more than a year of protests, in a rare apparent climb down ahead of pivotal provincial elections.

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In a previous column , I said this agitation had divided the Indian diaspora in Canada. The Punjabi news media outlets in Canada overwhelmingly supported farmers, whereas other language media chose to align itself with New Delhi by promoting pro-India rallies.

In Ontario, Hindu Forum Canada sponsored billboards overseeing major highways thanking Modi for sending COVID-19 vaccines. The timing of such advertising conflicted with ongoing protests causing more tension on religious lines within the diaspora.

Sikhs alleged provocation on part of those supporting Modi. Canada also received COVID-19 vaccines from Germany and the U.S. Why no billboards to thank those countries? they wondered.

Polarization on religious, ideological lines has no place in Canada. Sadly, the widening gulf between Hindus and Sikhs, moderates and radicals, did damage the multicultural fabric of our adopted home.

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But with the new declaration, the diaspora is happy again. The Sikhs are happy the contentious laws are repealed. The Hindus are happy the BJP government in India has won the hearts of the people of India and people of Indian origin all over the world. The previous clear divide seems to have faded away, luckily.

Meanwhile, more than 600 farmers lost their lives. The diaspora in Canada, Australia, U.S. and U.K. overwhelmingly supported this agitation. If doctors of Indian origin from different countries camped there with the agitating farmers, the local artists (singers, lyricists, actors) threw their support for the farmers. Everybody had the farmers backs.

Some Indian provinces are going to elections early next year and this farmers agitation was a major hurdle for the Modi government in winning those elections. The prime minister in his address to the nation apologized, though Prof. Sukhpal Singh , the principal economist of the Punjab Agriculture University, Ludhiana (Punjab) calls it a half-hearted apology.

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No doubt the agricultural reforms are direly required, but the way the government intended to do so was not accepted by the majority. The biggest democracy in the world should have taken care of that.

Now, when these agricultural laws are on the verge of going back to the suitcase of the central agriculture minister, farmers and labourers have shown a new path to the new generation of India that big battles can still be won non-violently. The diaspora is happy!

Rishi Nagar is the news director at Red FM 106.7 in Calgary and a member of the City of Calgarys Anti-Racism Action Committee and the Calgary Police Services Anti-Racism Committee.

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Nagar: India's reversal of farm reforms a victory for non-violent protesters and the diaspora - Calgary Herald

Category: Diaspora
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