Before you go ecstatic and start bursting crackers at the withdrawal of the three farm laws by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, here are some questions that the Kisan Morcha needs to consider before deciding if it wants to wind up stuff and call it a victory. Narendra Modi has chosen the occasion of Gurpurab of Guru Nanak Sahib, clearly indicating that he is addressing the farmers of Punjab, more than anybody else.  The struggle was and is much bigger and has wide-ranging implications. The World Sikh News enlists 15 questions that need to be answered.

NARENDRA MODI has defined what VICTORY should look like. DO YOU HAVE your own definition of what you will call VICTORY?  The World Sikh News presents a list of unanswered concerns and demands.

JUST A REMINDER OF PENDING DEMANDS RAISED AND FOUGHT FOR BY THE FARMERS:

1. A law to give a guarantee of MSP on all crops across India.

2. Augmentation and strengthening of the procurement system, anaaj mandis, storage system of godowns or silos across India, including in regions where there is virtually no state or FCI procurement in place.

3. The release of all dissenters, civil society activists and those arrested for expressing opinions contrary to the regime’s narrative of hate, Hindutva & neo-nazi philosophy. The accountability for all the farmers who died during the year-long struggle.

4. Reinstatement of real federalism in the country – since the three agriculture-related laws were passed by violating the federal structure the same way the regime had passed a law to scrap Art 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.

5. Action against and accountability of those who termed the protesting farmers as ‘terrorists’ and built a hate campaign against them in the country.

6. End to the pauperisation of farmers and agricultural labourers.

7. Rehabilitation of those whose earning family members were pushed towards committing suicide.

8. Structural changes in agriculture since 2,500 farmers are pushed out of agriculture every single day.

9. Punjab’s three universities counted the number of farm suicides in Punjab’s 23 districts and found these to be several times more than the Government of India’s official data. Now, the Punjab government has stopped giving any funds to the three universities to count how many committed suicides last year, and the Central government has refused to make any changes in data gathering to get the real numbers.

10. Where is any deal with the agricultural labourers and wider Dalit sisters and brethren who made an immense contribution to the Kisan Morcha in the last year?

11. What about the raise in the minimum wages mandated by the Government of India?

12. Why is MGNREGA run so poorly in Punjab? Where are the legal provisions and guarantees for the proper operationalisation of MGNREGA?

13. Why is the MGNREGA wage not linked to the minimum wage?

14. The question of land reforms has not even been touched by the Kisan Morcha, and there has been no intervention on this score by the Central government. Is this the final and most effective settlement deal between the Modi government and the Kisan Morcha? Why is everyone silent on Land Reforms?

15. The Kisan Morcha was widely seen as a bulwark against the hate machine of Modi-Yogi-Amit Shah. Has it any further job left to do, or was it only meant for three economic demands?

To a people brought up on ‘Guru in Mecca’ fables about the direction in which God resides, here is a gentle reminder about our situation today: Within a stone’s throw of the Kisan Morcha, people of a community are facing a life-threatening situation if they try to offer namaz in public. Some Sikhs have set an example by offering Gurudwara premises to them to say their namaz. That’s how you fight hate –full frontal and openly.

The Kisan Morcha should do the same. It has to stand up and stay standing. There is much work to be done. YOU WENT TO FIGHT A WAR. Don’t end it just because you won a battle.