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ABSTRACT
This paper identifies and interprets the political and economic undercurrents of three farm laws passed by Indian Parliament in September 2020, triggering a year-long protest by farmers that eventually led to their repealing in November 2021. While the government argued that the farm laws were designed to foster private sector investment in agriculture, the protestors, opined that the laws were designed to pullback from the Minimum Support Price (MSP) (provided particularly on wheat and paddy). Through a close reading of Punjab's agricultural economy, we delve into understanding the economic and political undercurrents of [un]settling rubble of farm laws and protests.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 For example, see, Kaur (Citation1986), Singh (Citation2016), Ram (Citation2007); Jodhka (Citation2002), etc. We are aware that the terms Tribe and Caste have different sociological, historical, and theoretical connotations that formulate a hierarchical social structure based on occupational hierarchy and inheritance of races, represented through the Varna system. However, these terms also have culturally produced variants, meanings, and imaginations, reformulated through, what M.N. Srinivasan calls, ‘Sanskritization’ that is more practicable in socio-cultural dynamics of Sikhs. So many castes and tribes may or may not belong to a particular Varna, but their distinct social identities get fortified with endogamous conjugal practices that remain persistent in social traditions. We would, therefore, be using the term caste or sometimes tribe to point towards these culturally produced variants of castes and tribes, like Jat, Lubana, Kamboj, Saini, Khatris, Ramgarhias, Tarkhans, Rajputs etc., signaling a failure of their exact replication in Varna system demarcated by four classical entities of - Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, or Shudras with structured organization demarcated beyond the cultural memory of Sikh society. The population densities of each of these cultural entities present essential elements of electoral and political calculus even though historically the political narrative setup by elites landlord classes has overshadowed caste propensities under the blanket expanse of Jat-power.
2 Discussing rural indebtedness and suicides from different reports, Jodhka presents an account of diverse reasons, including economic hardships, debt traps, family discordance, alcohol and illicit drug usage, extravagant marriages, and some basic irrational traits of overspending on consumer goods etc., for chronic indebtedness of Punjab farmers. Drawing on these studies he points towards ‘unproductive’ dimensions of rural indebtedness that technically cannot be directly traced back to economic factors but are byproducts of socially induced complications. For further details refer to Beyond Crisis. Pages 1532–1534.
More reports on farmer suicides are consistently reported in many sections of media. Examples below:
https://borgenproject.org/farmer-suicide-in-india/.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/india-farmers-suicide-1.5968086.
https://www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/farmer-suicides-death-notes-from-the-field/cid/1815987.
3 Interestingly, there are multiple music albums, videos, and live performances by Punjabi folk singers on the sites of farmer agitations that continue to build a valorizing image of Jat-farmer during the ongoing farmer agitation. These albums are made in Punjabi language evoking a sense of Punjabi/Jat- pride that is in symbolic conflict with ‘Delhi'. Integrating conflict with humility, endurance, and intimidation as modes of outpouring resistance, these folk songs enable farmer agitation to operate in a more stable way that reinforces traditional modes of persuasion, resilience to overturn power structures, and social dominance of Jat-power in Punjabi society.
4 In following media reports, activists of organizations like Jakara Movement, World Sikh Organization, Sikh coalition etc., are noticeable in organizing or mobilizing the support to farmer agitations. Some of these reports also point towards Gurdwara spaces as sites of holding farmer protests.
4. https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/india-farmers-protest-explained_ca_5fcfdc0cc5b6636e0928d1e6.
5 Lessons of political nihilism are available from history. For example, during 1960’s and 1970’s, the political demands of Sikhs were put forward through Anandpur Sahib resolution drafted by Shiromani Akali Dal in 1973, which was undercut by the Congress government of that time. Sikh politicians regularly called upon the institution of Akal Takht beseeching its central role in these agitations that many times took violent turns during 1980’s. However, in due course as the political tensions eased, during 1990’s and later, most of the issues of those agitations remained unsettled and gradually buried under the course of history. The immense blood loss during 1980’s was politically irrelevant in 1990’s as most demands pursued during those times were eventually forfeited, if not completely abandoned. The political fallouts were later retrieved only for hollow political sloganeering. The Anandpur Sahib resolution was put in cold storage and subsequently forgotten. Negligible references to the resolution are made in political circles of the twenty-first century.
6 It is explicable to delve into an unnoticeable haziness produced by political encoding of dual entity of a ‘farmer’ and a ‘Jat’ simultaneously in cultural subjectivity of Punjab. On peeling the layers of this dual entity, it is conveniently noticeable that the term ‘farmer’ and the term ‘Jat’ are two sides of the same coin in cultural connotations that are readily exchangeable with dynamics of political circumstances. Examples for side-reference, can be drawn from a close look at recent Punjabi videos and music albums, termed as ‘Kisaan Anthem’, that were released during the peak of farmer agitations reflecting the intertwining of these identities, asserting the identity of Jat as central to farmer agitation. Nonetheless, a convenient exchange between Jat and farmer is like wearing two hats of the same entity that can be conveniently exchanged according to the demands of the situation. The term ‘farmer’ is often recalled in conditions of distress and adversity like that of farmer suicide or of farmer destitute. However, the same coin flips its side to identify itself as Jat in situations that render opportunities of social distinction, political authority, or ones rendering a scope of assertion of personal pride. Imagination of Sikh masses (including that of non Jats) is sometimes misled with the clever flipping of symbolic terms, politically tweaking Sikh imagination to weigh extra mass in political agitations.
7 Ongoing farmer agitation is marked by the conspicuous absence of a political slogan ‘Jai Bhim'. This slogan, along with images of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar which are attributed to the Dalit movement, is invoked in almost every recent political protest against the government including the infamous anti-CAA stir (Citizen Amendment Act) that made international headlines a year ago. Its absence in ongoing farmer protests points towards negligible participation of Dalits and landless peasants in these protests.
8 Connecting dots from media reports productively helps to lay out underlying political canvas that underlines the Jat v/s non-Jat electoral calculus. Although political parties avoid making any direct reference to caste factors from any political platforms, these are a significant part of electoral success in the subcontinent.
https://scroll.in/article/985739/ground-report-in-haryana-farmer-protests-run-into-a-caste-divide.
9 In the end, we want to clarify that the paper is only laying out the social reality of Punjabi subjectivity that is also found functional in the ongoing farmer agitation. However, we do not believe that doctrinally there is or should be any caste prejudices in Sikhi and therefore, would not want the arguments to be misunderstood, misled or disproportionately amplified in any other direction. The entire array of argument is made with utter sensitivity in mind to unwind Sikh politics from its much-needed cultural entanglements, along with a cautious endeavor to guard the scope of its dereliction in any unwarranted direction. It is important to mention that we are deliberately avoiding hasty contentions and direct references to our accounts that may lead to any overspills and political distractions. The paper is written only to de-hegemonize and decolonize the cultural psyche of Sikhs, which is also vibrantly pulsating in background of farmer agitation, rendering a theoretical apparatus to a reader to rethink and take note of spectral presence of casteism in Sikh politics. The casteist spirit, we believe, to a certain extent has led to a continuous gravitation of Sikhi into an ethnic or a localized group.
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