Ashok Dhawale
Nearly a year after the first Kisan
Long March from March 6 to 12, 2018, the AIKS Maharashtra state council held at
Nashik on February 4, 2019, took the major decision of launching a second
massive Kisan Long March in defence of the rights of the peasantry. This Long
March, which will begin from Nashik on February 20, the martyrdom anniversary
of Comrade Govind Pansare, will culminate in Mumbai on February 27, the
martyrdom anniversary of Chandrashekhar Azad. The state assembly’s budget
session begins in Mumbai on February 25.
This Long March is expected to be
double in size compared to the one held last year. While the last Long March
began with around 25,000 peasants, this time the number at the starting point
is expected to cross 50,000. Along with the lion’s share of farmers from Nashik
district, this time there will be a huge contingent from Thane-Palghar
district, followed by Ahmednagar district. Several other districts in
Marathwada, Vidarbha, Western Maharashtra, Northern Maharashtra and Konkan
regions will also be well represented.
THREE MAJOR OBJECTIVES
The AIKS has planned this march to
condemn the BJP-led state and central governments for the utter betrayal of
their own assurances given to farmers and agricultural workers. This betrayal
has further intensified the grave agrarian crisis. This march is, therefore, being held with three major objectives in
mind.
The first objective is to take the BJP-led
state government to task for its poor implementation of the demands that it had
conceded in writing last year. At the insistence of the AIKS, the chief
minister had also placed the written agreement with the Kisan Sabha on the
floor of both houses of the legislature the very next day on March 13. In spite
of giving a commitment to that effect and in spite of the repeated reminders by
the AIKS, the state government did not hold even a single review meeting during
the whole of last year with the AIKS to take stock of the implementation of the
demands that had been conceded. Thus, issues like the implementation of the
Forest Rights Act (FRA), extension of loan waiver (only Rs 17,700 crore out of
the package of Rs 34,000 crore that it was forced to announce after the 11-day
Farmers’ Strike in Maharashtra in June 2017 has been disbursed), remunerative
prices, increase in pensions and other demands are still not implemented.
The second objective is to focus on the
grim drought that has severely affected half of Maharashtra this year. The
response of the state government to the plight of the people hit by drought has
been scandalous. The eight districts of Marathwada region are the epicentre of
this drought, although large parts of Vidarbha and other regions are also
affected. The AIKS in its demands charter has highlighted two types of demands
– those for immediate drought relief like drinking water, food, employment
under MNREGA, fodder for cattle, compensation to farmers for their crop loss, a
comprehensive crop insurance scheme to help farmers and not corporate insurance
companies, and those of a long term nature concerning completion on a war
footing of incomplete irrigation projects and diverting the massive water of
west-flowing rivers that empty into the Arabian Sea by various methods to the
chronically drought-prone areas of Maharashtra.
The third objective is to denounce
the Narendra Modi-led BJP central government for its callous and ‘jumlebaj’
attitude to farmers and agricultural workers. The BJP regime has betrayed both
the commitments made by its prime minister in over 400 election meetings in
2014, of giving a complete loan waiver and of implementing the recommendation
of the Swaminathan Commission of declaring MSP at one and a half times the
entire cost of production (C2 plus 50 per cent). While denying loan waiver to
the peasantry, it has had no qualms about granting loan waivers of lakhs of
crores to its crony corporates. And in its last budget, by promising crumbs of
Rs 6000 per year (which works out to a pittance Rs 3.33 per head per day) in three
instalments of Rs 2000 each to farmers with less than five acres of land, it
has added insult to injury and has rubbed salt into their wounds. Millions of
landless agricultural workers, tenant farmers, Adivasi farmers who have still
not been given land under the Forest Rights Act (FRA) and dryland farmers who
often have more than five acres of land, will be denied even this pittance
offered by the Modi regime. The BJP government’s undermining of MNREGA, the
lifeline for agricultural workers, is only too well known. Its forcible land
acquisition policies have been and are being resisted by the peasantry.
INTENSIVE AND EXTENSIVE PREPARATIONS
Intensive and extensive preparations
have been launched by the AIKS in the state to make a resounding success of
this Long March. On February 4, a large AIKS Nashik district convention was
held along with a press conference. Both were addressed by AIKS president Dr
Ashok Dhawale, former AIKS state president J P Gavit, MLA, state president
Kisan Gujar, state general secretary Dr Ajit Nawale, state joint secretary Sunil
Malusare and CITU state president Dr D L Karad. On February 6, a large 1500-strong
Thane-Palghar district convention was held in Talasari that was addressed by Dr
Ashok Dhawale, J P Gavit, MLA, Kisan Gujar, Sunil Malusare, AIDWA general
secretary Mariam Dhawale, AIKS state vice presidents Barkya Mangat and Ratan
Budhar and veteran AIKS leaders L B Dhangar and Lahanu Kom, ex-MP and ex-MLA.
On February 11, an Ahmednagar district convention was held in Akole and it was
addressed by Dr Ajit Nawale, Sadashiv Sable and Namdev Bhangre. Similar
preparations were made in several other districts.
The CPI(M) Maharashtra state
committee, the CITU Maharashtra state committee and the Peasants and Workers
Party (PWP) have committed to give funds for the organisation of the Kisan Long
March. Leaders and activists of all other mass fronts – CITU, AIAWU, AIDWA,
DYFI and SFI – will also take part in the march.
ATTEMPT AT REPRESSION
In order to stop the AIKS-led second
Kisan Long March in Maharashtra against the betrayal of farmers by the BJP's
central and state governments, the government has taken recourse to repression.
In Ahmednagar, a large farmers' convention was held on February 13 to prepare
for the Long March and a memorandum was submitted to the district collector.
Nowhere was there any breach of peace. All necessary police permissions were
taken.
But just for organising this
convention, police cases have been lodged against AIKS state general secretary
Dr Ajit Nawale and concerted attempts to arrest him for the last few days have
been foiled. Threats are being given to local activists in many places by the
police to prevent them from taking part in the march. News has just come in
that the police are trying to prevent farmers from Thane-Palghar district who
are coming in large numbers in vehicles from coming to Nashik. It is crystal
clear who is behind all these steps.
The AIKS at the national level has
condemned this act of the government as an attempt to crush a democratic and
peaceful satyagraha struggle. The AIKS has warned that such repressive attempts
of the government will not succeed in stopping the Long March. The government
must realise that farmers' issues can be solved only by accepting their just
demands and by implementing them.
TALKS WITH THE CHIEF MINISTER
During last year’s Long March, there
was no official response from the state government until the second last day,
when the march entered Mumbai, and tremendous public pressure was built up in
support of the march. This time around, the government was naturally nervous
and chief minister Devendra Fadnavis invited an AIKS delegation to meet him
well in advance. Two meetings were held by the chief minister with the AIKS
delegation – the first preliminary one on February 11 and the second full
meeting on February 17 in which other concerned ministers and officials were
also present. However, the talks were inconclusive and the AIKS made public its
determination to go ahead with the Long March.
The march begins today evening from
Nashik. AIKS general secretary Hannan Mollah will be in Nashik on the first day
to lead it. It remains to be seen what the government does.
But one thing is clear. Farmers in
Maharashtra will not rest until the major issues that are being taken up in this
second Long March are resolved.
(February 20 morning)
