Punjabi Sikh Farmers are leading the Largest Protest in Human History… and there’s no media coverage?
When we were leaving home, we told our families to consider us dead. We will only return when we win this fight. — A Sikh farmer from Punjab
What are India’s draconian farm bills?
Farmers in India, led by Sikh farmers in Punjab, are peacefully protesting three anti-farm bills. These bills can only be described as a death sentence to farmers and were strategically passed by India, the “world’s largest democracy”, amidst a pandemic without any democratic vote or voice from farmers to stifle dissent. If you think this doesn’t effect you, 60–70% of our food is imported.
The first bill eliminates Minimum Support Price (MSP), which is minimum wage for farmers, allowing corporations to pay as little as 50 cents for a crop that takes 5 dollars to grow. Mind you, farmers in India already receive well below minimum price for their crops and as a result over 90% are in debt (we’re talking starvation + millions of dollars in debt). This would exacerbate the problem. The second bill takes away due process and farmers’ right to take corporations and entities to court for disputes, labor violations, etc. The third bill removes food from the Essential Commodities Act and allows corporations to hoard food in order to deprive the market and inflate costs. Food was previously under the Essential Commodity Act, meaning essential goods such as food and water cannot be hoarded. Imagine if the U.S. government allowed corporations to buy and hoard all the hand sanitizer available during a pandemic, and then charge triple the cost knowing people are desperate. Now, imagine doing that with food in a country that is 97 on the starvation index.
What is happening now?
Suicide rates amongst farmers have skyrocketed since these bills were passed. More than 300,000 farmers have committed suicide. Below is a very common situation in regions like Bihar where the farm bills have been implemented.
Since September, farmers in Punjab have been peacefully protesting the Indian government’s recent series of anti-farm bills, which allow for the further exploitation and downright slavery of already struggling farmers, many of whom are Sikh and Punjabi. Currently, millions congregate at Delhi’s borders, where they have been for two months, as they demand the laws’ repeal. Protestors brave the relentless cold and the Indian government’s increasingly hostile responses, knowing the new bills themselves are a death sentence to the country’s farmers.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is notorious for corruption and violence against minorities and was banned from the U.S. from 2005–2014 for human rights violations.
The Indian government is ordering police to harass, torture, and arrest protesting farmers and their families. The government controlled Indian media is running a campaign of misinformation against farmers and have gone as far as arresting and beating journalists, singers, and writers who have spoken up against the violent and corrupt regime. They are beating elderly farmers, slashing tires of tractors, physically taking away protestors’ keys, and have installed internet jammers in certain areas of the protest in hopes of a media blackout.
Farmers have packed 6 months worth of food to march to Delhi and as they eat themselves, they’re also providing free food and water to the surrounding homeless population while picking up trash and sweeping the streets. Farmers have been protesting at the Delhi border for nearly 2 months. Delhi had its coldest recorded day in 70 years and freezing water cannons were being shot. Farmers, many aged 60–90 years, are already sleeping on the streets outside in the relentless cold and rain and many have died of hypothermia. Farmers are braving trenches, barricades, expired tear gas, and violent beatings to march hundreds of miles on foot, bicycles, and tractors to Delhi and peacefully protest these farm bills. The expired tear gas fired by Indian police is causing bomb-like explosions and setting fire to their tractors and food supply, the same food supply they’re using to feed Delhi’s starving population. 170+ farmers have died just in this protest alone.
Majority of farmers are of Punjabi Sikh minority in the Hindu-majority country, and have faced ongoing religious persecution, mass rapes, torture, extrajudicial murder, ethnic cleansing, and mass genocide sanctioned by the Indian government. (Look up the 1984 Sikh Genocide). Farmers from other regions of India have joined the protest and an estimated 250 million workers, farmers, and allies worldwide are supporting this peaceful protest, led by Punjabi Sikh farmers, making this the largest protest in human history. As tens of thousands of farmers from other regions of India, such as Haryana, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and UP join the protest, the Indian government has started labeling Punjabi Sikhs as terrorists to undermine the protest and justify their abuse and violence. Indian gas stations have stopped selling diesel and gas for tractors and in cans/bottles, to harm and deter farmers from other regions from joining the Sikh-led protest, forcing farmers to walk hundreds of miles to Delhi. The Indian government has even gone as far as labeling Khalsa Aid, a humanitarian nonprofit that was founded by a Punjabi Sikh and recently nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize 2021, a front for a terrorist organization because it’s founder is Punjabi & Sikh.
“We spend the nights on our tractors, in this cold. I’m 70+, it isn’t easy for me to do so. There’s a reason why I’m here, and the government must understand that.”
The Indian government is duplicitously agreeing to talks with farmers, but is stating very clearly that they have no intention of revoking these bills and are getting increasingly more violent with protestors.
Who is behind these draconian farm bills and what is U.S.’s role?
Two of Asia’s criminal businessmen and corporate billionaires, Ambani & Adani have a monopoly over India and are behind the anti-farm bills. Ambani and Adani quite literally own the Indian government and the Indian media, including Modi. This is no surprise, considering an estimated 47% of officials appointed in the Indian government by Modi have ties to criminals and been convicted of crimes, including fraud, rape and murder.
After the U.S. ban on Modi was lifted during the Trump administration, Modi (who has killed a confirmed 2,000 people, if not more) was greeted with open arms at Facebook Headquarters. Subsequently, Ambani & Adani secured 5.7 billion dollar funding from Facebook. Google, KKR (an American investment global firm), Intel and Qualcomm have invested in Ambani and Adani’s corporations as well.
US regulations state that American corporations are not allowed to work and deal with any corporations that might have corruption elements. So, it’s alarming to see that tech companies like Facebook have invested over 5 billion in Ambani & Adani, the corporate billionaires behind India’s anti-farm bills. Recently, SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) has also fined Ambani for fraud raising further questions as to why U.S. companies are breaking regulations with no consequence. Ambani & Adani have investments in U.S. companies. The same companies that many of us have our 401k investments in.
We’re witnessing the resurgence of slavery. As American citizens, global citizens, and supporters of basic human rights, and democracy, we must call attention to the farmers’ protest. India doesn’t care about its farmers, but it does care about its international reputation. Punjabi Sikh farmers are leading the largest peaceful protest, and we can’t stay silent. We need to keep India accountable for their human rights abuses against farmers and minorities.
Find more information at Ask India Why, Explanation of Farm Bills, Ensaaf, Sikh Expo, Saving Punjab, Dr. Prabhjot Singh, The Sikh Story, Kisaani Co., Prbdlln, Sim, and hashtags: #FarmersProtest #KisaanEktaZindabad #NoFarmersNoFood #NoFarmerNoFood #KisaanMajdoorEktaZindabad
“Physical death I do not fear, death of the Conscience is a sure death.’ — Human rights activist, Saint Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale
