The farmer protests were sparked by these three oppressive bills that were introduced under false promises. One claimed to give farmers more leeway to sell crops outside the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee without paying the necessary taxes; that bill’s official name is “The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020.” The second, called “The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020” allows private/corporate companies to invest in farming. The third, the “Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020” deregulates production, storage and movement of essential commodities. On the surface some aspects of these bills seemed to benefit farmers, but ultimately the legislation promoted corporate financial entities into the agricultural sector will take away people’s land and livelihoods.

The farmers’ protests started early in 2020 and faced major repression from the BJP government. Protesters were beaten and subjected to water cannons and left bloodied. The victory of the farmers came at a huge price. 700 protesting farmers from all over India were killed by the police, hired goons and state agents while peacefully demonstrating. The Modi government is solely responsible in this regard. The BJP would lay down barbed wire near the Delhi border to discourage protesters to drive into the city. They would also dig trenches to entrap farmers protesting on tractors. They would use the corporate media to malign the farmers’ protest and jail journalists reporting on the conditions of the protesters.

Though, despite this victory, there are concerns which linger on, regarding improving the conditions for the farmers. The fundamental demand of this historic farmers’ struggle was a Central Act to guarantee Minimum Support Price (MSP) to all crops of all farmers at one-and-a-half times the comprehensive cost of production (C2+50%) which remains unaddressed. The failure to address this demand aggravated the agrarian crisis led to the suicide of over 400,000 farmers in the last 25 years, of whom around one-fourth have ended their lives in the last seven years of the Modi-led BJP regime.

This was the second defeat for the BJP government at the hands of United Kisan movement (United Farmers Movement). Earlier, they were forced to put on hold the Land Acquisition Ordinance that allowed the government to acquire private land.

Prime Minister Modi's announcement rang the victory bell for the farmers. The efforts from the government's side to pursue neoliberal policies in corporatizing the farming sector failed.

The All India Kisan Sabha, the peasants wing of the Communist Party of India, Marxist were heavily involved in organizing the peasant farmers and congratulated the farmers on their massive earth-shattering victory. The All India Kisan Sabha are part of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, a coalition of over 40 farmers unions that were involved in organizing and carrying out protests throughout India. The Samyukta Morcha celebrated jointly celebrated the victory of the farmers and congratulated their tireless efforts as well.

#UnitedStates #Asia #PeoplesStruggles #India #NarendaModi #BharatiyaJantaPartyBJP

Columbia Heights, MN – Nearly 400 people protested along Central Ave on September 22 to demand an end to the atrocities being committed against Muslims in India by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his right-wing government.

On August 5, the Indian government announced its decision to revoke Article 370, which guaranteed the Muslim-majority state of Jammu and Kashmir special status, which allowed the region to govern its affairs autonomously in all areas except defense, communication and foreign policy.

Currently, Kashmir is under media blackout, with the cutting of phone, internet and TV access with very little information getting out of the human rights violations being committed by India’s military.

Richa Nagar, a University of Minnesota professor, spoke on these violations. “There have been continuous incidents of abuse and torture in prisons and in night raids. People are afraid to leave their homes. Violent processes of othering, hatemongering, criminalizing, disenfranchisement, dispossession, and displacement including brutal incidents of lynching are reported regularly from one part of India or another. The targets of this violence are Muslims, Dalits, Adivasis or indigenous people, Christians, journalists, civil rights workers, and others deemed 'anti-national'”

The speakers also expressed concern about Modi's expanding anti-Muslim policies including the setting up of detention camps and requiring Muslims to prove their citizenship.

Meredith Aby-Keirstead of the Anti-War Committee explained the connection between Islamophobia in India and the oppression being inflicted on immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. “As people of conscience we cannot be silent about the concentration camps on the U.S.-Mexico border or in India. And we need to understand that when we let Trump cage children on the border we are sending a message internationally that this is acceptable. As international solidarity activists we call on both governments – the government of the U.S. and India – to stop their repressive policies targeting Muslims.”

Imam Asad Zaman, executive director of the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, spoke on some of the atrocities that have been committed thus far. “Churches have been burned, mosques have been confiscated, people have been arrested, people have been disappeared, minorities have been killed, and lynchings are occurring on a weekly basis. For all of these reasons we gather here to bring the world's attention to these problems.”

After the speeches, protesters marched down the sidewalks of Central Avenue, which stretched out a half a mile. Chants heard throughout the march included “Stop genocide in Kashmir, right now, right now!” and “Hey ho hey ho, Modi needs to go.”

Signs seen across the protest included: “Allow media in Kashmir,” End human suffering in Kashmir,” End military presence in Kashmir,” and “Why is the media silent? The atrocities are real.”

This action was organized by the MN chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the MN Anti-War Committee and the Muslim American Society of Minnesota.

#ColumbiaHeightsMN #OppressedNationalities #Asia #PeoplesStruggles #AsianNationalities #India #Antiracism #Antifascism #kashmir #NarendaModi