Govt afraid of public support for farmers: Sainath

Gandhinagar, Jan 31 Terming the ongoing farmers' protests against the three farm laws brought in by the BJP-led NDA government, as the biggest ever agitation and a direct fight of farmers against the corporates, noted agricultural journalist P. Sainath has said that the government is afraid of the wide support the farmers are receiving from all sections of society.

Sainath, the 2007 Ramon Magsaysay Award winner, asked for a special Parliament session to be held for the agrarian crisis and the farmers' welfare and requested that district committees be formed to put forth this demand.

The noted journalist, who has authored the book, 'Everybody Loves a Good Drought' asked the people to take a stand on the farmers' issue as ultimately the farmers were fighting for the public. He was speaking at an event organised by an Ahmedabad-based people's collective and Gujarat Khedut Samaj on Saturday. The event was held in context of the new farm laws.

"I ask, which side of the border would have Mahatma Gandhi stood, which side of the border do we stand? Is it on the side of the government that is favouring the corporates or the side where around 200 farmers are martyred for a cause which affected us all?" asked Sainath.

"The people should right now decide, do we want corporate-driven agriculture or agriculture driven by the farmers? This is an inescapable question posed to us right now," he said.

"People from all sections of society are extending their support to the farmer's cause and to the agitation on the Delhi borders and that is what the government is extremely afraid of," said Sainath.

"In my entire journalistic career, I have never seen such a large protest and of such a huge magnitude at Delhi borders as a people-driven, peaceful agitation is being held," he said.

When asked what would happen if the new farm laws are implemented, Sainath said, "It will destroy the Public Distribution System (PDS) within 3 to 4 years. The first 2 to 3 years it will all be good, but thereafter, the corporates would be deciding. The government would be forced to procure from the corporates."

( With inputs from IANS )