The wave of public support the current central government had been enjoying in the wake of the consecration of the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya suddenly seems to have suffered a dent in the popular psyche. What is the cause of this dent? It can be found in the collective rage of the ‘annadatas’ of our country spilling over onto the borders of the national capital. As this issue of Spark gets printed, the fate of the fascist BJP-RSS government is being etched with the blood of the militant farmers striving to get their voices heard and demands met by this anti-people Modi regime. Almost a century ago, Bhagat Singh declared that the state of war will continue as long as exploitation continues, be it through white skinned colonisers or their Indian counterparts. That is precisely what is being witnessed today.
16th of February saw thousands of workers and farmers carrying out a ‘Grameen bandh’ at a national scale. The same was observed in parts of Karnataka as well. In the run-up to the 16th event, the national capital saw hundreds of farmers marching on their tractors to surround the centuries-old centre of power in the Indian subcontinent. The Modi-Shah dispensation did not leave any stone unturned to stop the farmers from marching ahead. Elaborate arrangements of concrete barriers, barbed wires, tear gas, drones, water cannons, lathi, pellets, rubber bullets etc. were made to counter a peaceful march at the capital of the world’s largest democracy. The militant farmers, the heirs of Tebhaga-Telangana-Naxalbari, remained undeterred nonetheless. The irony lies in the fact that the standing police, an arm of the instrument of class oppression, more often than not comprise peasants in uniforms. Tragically, 21-year old farmer Shubhkaran Singh was martyred by police bullets on the 21st of February. This state-sponsored murder has led to a nationwide outpouring of rage.
Massive farmers’ protests witnessed right now have a very clear anti-imperialist message. One of the ten demands that has been put forward to the central government is immediate with-drawl from all World Trade Organisation (a US-imperialist institution) and free trade agreements. Similar sentiments are being echoed by farmers protesting at the same time in different parts of the world against their respective governments.
In Germany, nationwide protests erupted on January 8 in response to subsidy cuts. Similarly, in Italy, farmers gathered in Rome for a convoy to protest the reduction of support for the agricultural sector, echoing concerns shared by farmers across Europe. Greek farmers took to setting up blockades in central and northern regions of Greece, seeking government assistance to tackle challenges posed by higher energy prices and the escalating impact of climate change. Meanwhile, hundreds of Belgian farmers converged in Brussels to demonstrate in front of the European Parliament, decrying high taxes and mounting costs. The lifting of quotas on grain exports from Ukraine compounded the challenges faced by farmers across the continent. Spanish farmers launched nationwide protests on February 6, targeting issues such as EU-imposed environmental regulations, excessive taxation, and bureaucratic obstacles. Lithuanian farmers expressed their dis-content with agricultural policies through a two-day protest in the capital, Vilnius, on January 23. In France, extensive protests involving the blockading of highways near Paris and throughout the country highlighted farmers’ dis-satisfaction with concessions offered by President Emmanuel Macron’s government, as they demanded better pay and protection from foreign competition. In Romania, farmers protested against low produce prices, rising expenses, imports of inexpensive food items, and constraints imposed by EU climate change initiatives. Polish farmers resorted to blocking roads across the nation to voice their opposition to EU environmental policies and unfair competition from non-EU countries. The month-long general strike, which commenced on February 12, underscores the collective demand from farmers for measures to address rising production costs, dwindling profits, and unfair competition, both from within and outside the EU.
From Ludhiana to Lithuania, the common thread seems to be the interference of foreign institutes that aim to dictate the market limits of the farmers, extent of subsidies etc. Similar to India, the brunt of US imperialist diktats is conspicuous in all these cases. These regulations disproportionately benefit corporate interests, jeopardizing traditional agricultural techniques, and harming their livelihoods. With the rising instances of such popular anti-US resistance, it seems that the golden days of US imperialist hegemony may eventually come to an end. In occupied Palestine, the Israeli forces backed by billions of US dollars are facing a slow and painful retreat despite their immense military and technical prowess. Neither could Israel decimate Hamas, nor could they retrieve all hostages, rather, Hamas is regaining control over parts of Gaza. A situation similar to the Vietnam war period has been created with the people of the world united in solidarity with the Palestinians fighting for their right over Palestine and the US imperialist bloc united with the Israeli offensive. The assertion of erstwhile colonies like South Africa, Brazil, Ireland etc. against the genocide conducted by Israel, albeit at the toothless UN, shows a weakening of Uncle Sam’s grip on them. Worldwide, the sharpness of imperialist unipolarity seems to be on the wane. Such situations give rise to many spontaneous movements, primarily high-lighting economic demands. It becomes the task of the left forces to unite these movements and direct them beyond economic barriers, to a political dire-ction. In the Indian context, fascism may receive some setback if defeated ele-ctorally. However, the two biggest blows to the Modi regime in the last ten years have been the anti-NRC-CAA protests and the 2020 farmers’ movement. It is only movements of such massive scale that can create a dent on this US-supported neoliberal Hindutva regime.
