I am thankful to you for carrying out a series of interviews with leaders of peasant organisations on the recently promulgated agricultural ordinances. An excellent representative of these interviews is the one dated 17/8/2020 with Dr. Sunilam who is the Exec. Chairman of the All India Kisan Sangharsh Samanvay Samiti. The interview is highly incisive and educational and must be read by everyone concerned about the future of agriculture and our peasantry.
The interview shows that the Indian bourgeoisie is on the war-path to consolidate its hold on all sectors of the economy. Agriculture is the one sector with endless possibilities and one where a huge profit is to be made by the bourgeoisie as capitalism advances in that sector.
The Govt. has recently promulgated three ordinances under the cover of the Covid-19 crisis which are thoroughly reactionary, under the guise of efficiency and fighting corruption in the agricultural sector. While the existing system may have several deficiencies, these ordinances pave the path for untrammelled loot and plunder of the peasant and the agricultural produce. It is aimed at attacking the mandi system among other things which is prevalent in some areas of the country, and which actually provides a model that could be adopted across its length and breadth in order to offer a security blanket for the peasant and those that live off the produce of the land.
Dr. Sunilam points out during the course of the interview that the ordinance is geared towards facilitating `complete corporate loot’. Contract farming which is being pushed by the Government also benefits corporations which will dictate what will be cultivated and what will be bought and at what price. Dr. Sunilam has termed the contract law as a `land grab law’. In fact, the modus operandi is not very different from the tactics of the East India Company. There are also options being created with the amendment in the Essential Commodities Act that will allow hoarders to flourish and then carry out black market activities.
In view of all the aspects mentioned in the interview it is obvious that a major movement to oppose agricultural reform and ordinances is growing. All those concerned about the prospects of agriculture and the peasantry are advised to study these conditions and join the farmers and peasants in their struggle against the threat to their livelihood and their life. This interview is an important contribution in this regard, and I thank you sincerely for carrying it.
Sincerely,
Nair, Kochi