There is no confusion despite efforts by a section of the media to portray the farmers as obdurate and the government as generous, considerate and willing to listen to their demands. At Singhu, every day farmers’ leaders jointly take stock of all the developments to decide the future course of action, including sending responses to the government. Everywhere one heard the common refrain: repeal the three farm laws, withdraw the Electricity (Amendment) Bill, and give a legal framework for minimum support price (MSP) and procurement.Įven the dipping temperatures have not diminished their resolve. At the other protest sites-Tikri and Palwal on the Delhi-Haryana border, Shahjahanpur on the Haryana-Rajasthan border, and Ghazipur and Chilla on the Uttar Pradesh-Delhi border-more and more farmers pour in to join the protesters in solidarity every day. “We are not going anywhere,” says a farmer at the Singhu border, one of the main protest sites on National Highway One which links Delhi and Punjab, determined to stay put. But the small and medium Indian farmers have shown a kind of resilience unprecedented in recent history. Their unity has been questioned and attempts have been made to break it repeatedly, by the government and a section of the media. They have been mocked at, accused of being misled by political parties, stopped at various points on the road to prevent them from moving towards Delhi, harassed and ridiculed for being leaderless, and termed reckless for taking on the government’s might. They have been branded leftists and separatists and called all sorts of names.
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