LET ME TELL YOU A STORY

(I think this has happened with you at least once)

Imagine your father or mother or any of your close relatives asking you how to use a smartphone. He/She is hesitant to adopt this new technology. What will you do? Rationally you will start teaching him smartphones from basic functions and considering his ability to grasp things. And if he has any doubt or is unable to use any of its functions then he will call you (the person who taught him how to use the smartphone).

Now imagine the scenario that you helped your father or mother or any of your close relatives but you told him that in the situation of doubt or difficulty, go to this person. He is an expert in all such matters related to mobile, he will guide you better than me. Do you believe that he/she will be comfortable approaching that person as easily you are approachable to him/her? And will he be able to allocate the amount of time to listen and to act and the involvement to solve the problem? I don’t think that answers will be affirmative.

Now put protesting farmers in place of your father/mother, the government in place of you, and court or judicial system in place of that expert in smartphones. Let me make myself clear, Farm laws are good, they will bring competition and puts a step in bringing farming as a full-fledged industry. And the violence that happened in Delhi on Republic day should be equally condemned.

But the problem lies in two or three matters.

Absence of redressal mechanism – I think the above story is sufficient for putting the point. Some of the major reforms in our country have started from setting up a regulator or a proper redressal mechanism like RBI for banks, SEBI for security markets, NCLT for companies, CCI for overseeing the market is functioning correctly, IRDAI for insurance companies, NABARD for ensuring proper allocation of funds to the agricultural sector, etc. examples are numerous. Then why not for this? And this is when people neither have monetary resources to take a fight against corporates (I am not saying that corporates will extort farmers but they are doing business for-profits) nor they will be able to or willing to allocate time for this. And also, when our judicial system is overwhelmed with its existing workload.

Question of MSP – The protests are mainly situated in the Punjab region. Farmers in Punjab and Haryana are highly dependent on traditional crops and hence on MSP that they get from Government, unlike farmers in Maharashtra or the southern part of India who are mainly engaged in the production of cash crops (whose prices are determined by market forces) that’s why not mainly dependent on Government. The government should have provided a roadmap to facilitate a smooth transition between these two systems. It seems to be missing in the act. Instead, what we get are promises from ministers, which I hope should stand true in near future.

Foreign influence/ opinions – Today we just can’t complain about opinions from any foreign individual on our matter or our opinion on theirs. It’s just globalization, we enjoy its fruits so we have to also agree on the price with which it comes. They will speak. You should always be ready for criticism. Yes, you may certainly disagree with comments made but denying altogether the idea of giving opinions on such matters is something that in my opinion should be avoided. As far as the question of opinion on foreign matters, we also have criticized some of Trump’s policies when was president, we have also talked about Great Britain’s decision of Brexit and also on other foreign matters. And for the matter, if all this is propaganda or something by any party then I think you are an adult who has completed 18 years of age and who is equipped with enough resources and conscience to decide what his stand should be. In my opinion “Talking of someone should lead to you making your opinion and not making his opinion your opinion.”

So to conclude I will say one thing you just don’t have to take anyone’s side. You may have your own opinion and position when it comes to these bills or protests. For me my opinion is this, the idea of protest is appraisable but the handling of the situation has been poor from both sides. Don’t support or oppose farm bills because they are passed by Modi Government. Support or oppose it based on your opinion formed by you after collecting information from at least two to three sources (as diverse they are better for your overall understanding).