Back in 26 January 1950, India took a pledge to live by the spirit of the Constitution and walk on the path towards making India a better, safer and happier place to live in. While the entire nation was abiding by the pledge taken in 1950, a handful of people disguised in the form of farmers not only disobeyed the values of the Constitution but insulted and crushed the essence of it on the very same day it had been created, in perhaps a devised manner.
It won’t be wrong to comment that on a day when every Indian is filled with pride—on January 26—we saw Indians in a state of sorrow, seeing the mayhem unleashed in the national capital for over six hours. Rioters disguised as the farmers took to the streets on Tuesday, turning the capital into a zone of violence and behaving mercilessly with every living and non-living thing in their way.
It is often said that “a violent mob doesn’t have a face”. If that is the case, then those claiming themselves to be the champions of this ‘Swaraj Abhiyaan’ and other instigators of this protest must be held responsible. The administrative as well as enforcing authorities had apprehended these violent outcomes, but the self-proclaimed pseudo farmer leaders weren’t ready to budge and continued with the tractor march to the capital, the consequences of which is now being witnessed by the entire nation.
If the chronology of the entire process is analysed, one aspect is evident. These selected farm leaders and farmers, apparently backed by political outfits, have a clear lack of conviction and knowledge of the cause. The highlights of the past few days explicitly exhibit how these farm leaders turned a deaf ear to the optimistic combination of solutions to their problems offered by the Government of India. However, it is unlikely of those who are motivated by the principles of anarchy to understand the significance of maintaining the holy fabric of the Republic of India.
The pseudo secular intellectuals, now advocating the rights of the farmers on the basis of hypocrisy, have forgotten that they are now opposing something which was once strongly backed by them. Leaders like Sharad Pawar and company expressing their bonhomie with the farmers protesting against the three farm legislations have exposed themselves.
After horrifying and heart-breaking visuals from the capital emerged, where innocent police personnel were seen running from the tractor trying to crush them and female constables were seen with bloody broken heads due to violent rioters, it is imperative for us to ask who is behind these incidents. It has become indispensable to identify the need and the motivation of these rioters to push police personnel to the extent that they had to jump off the historic Red Fort and injure themselves, especially when legitimate permission had been given for a peaceful tractor rally.
The turn of events makes it clear that it was all properly devised. What is even more dangerous and intolerable is that it was done on the day when the spirit of the Constitution is celebrated. Every Indian citizen takes pride today in supporting the Delhi Police and the security forces who, despite being pushed to their limits, didn’t respond to the rioters with violence. The Delhi Police and Government of India, despite having all the authority, behaved with the utmost wisdom and didn’t reciprocate with violence due to reservations against instigating it further.
It is now for the citizens to ponder on whether these elements reflect the ideals of ‘Urban Naxalism’ or not. It is now for leaders like Yogendra Yadav to be held accountable for the instigation of such an unfortunate incident in the capital. Merely expressing the sentiment of anguish and announcing their dissociation from the violence only exhibit the mindset of the curators of this protest, who are knowingly or unknowingly responsible for this violence. With this horrifying and unfortunate turn of events, the intentions of the masterminds hiding behind the name of innocent farmers are now in the public domain. It takes years of collective and genuine effort for real farm leaders like Sharad Joshi and others who with their hardships battle for farm rights. However, these elements with an air of supercilious righteousness are aiming for a complete collapse of the democratic system.
The Republic of India is based on democratic values, strengthened by our Constitution. But these elements of society have decided to completely reject the basic ideals of the Constitution. All the three farm legislations were passed in a democratic manner in the Parliament of India, followed by their implementation in many states. However, these supposed farm leaders erupted into protests and rejected the system. Not only did they refuse the government’s attempt to achieve a common consensus, they also rejected the Supreme Court’s decision on the matter. These aspects only reflect the anarchical mindset of some specific protagonists.
It was excruciating to see a rioter with a sword in his hand, running to attack a police guard, and the mob chanting the rousing slogan of ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’. These are not farmers. These are none other than rioters disguised as farmers with the hidden agenda of causing anarchy. The entire nation has now witnessed them in action. This marks the beginning of the end to this motivated protest as the hidden agenda of these people lies exposed before the nation now.
In our country, satyagraha is considered as a very powerful tool of protest. However, satyagraha implies a protest without violence. What the nation was privy to on this Republic Day was an instance of satyagraha which even Mahatma Gandhi would have never wanted to happen.
The writer is BJP Media Head for Maharashtra. The views expressed are personal.
If the chronology of the entire process is analysed, one aspect is evident. These selected farm leaders and farmers, apparently backed by political outfits, have a clear lack of conviction and knowledge of the cause. The highlights of the past few days explicitly exhibit how these farm leaders turned a deaf ear to the optimistic combination of solutions to their problems offered by the Government of India. However, it is unlikely of those who are motivated by the principles of anarchy to understand the significance of maintaining the holy fabric of the Republic of India.