The repeal of the three farm laws came about not because the PM failed to ‘persuade’ some farmers, but because many farmers stood resolute, even as a craven media devalued their struggle and strength.
Credits to P.Sainath
Why is it so hard for the media to admit that the farmers at Delhi’s gates represent the largest peaceful democratic protest the world has seen in years – that too, organised at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic?
Prime Minister Modi ‘apologises’ to the nation not for bringing in obnoxious anti-farmer laws but because, he says, he failed to persuade ‘a section of farmers despite best efforts’ to accept them. So which sections of farmers did he persuade?
Denying them entry to Delhi, blocking them with trenches, barbed wire and water cannons, converting their camps into little gulags, vilifying them daily – these were the government’s ‘best efforts’ at persuasion? I’d hate to see their worst ones.
Mr. Modi made seven trips overseas this year alone. But found no time to drive down a few kilometres from his residence to speak to the countless thousands of farmers at Delhi’s gates. Now that would have been a genuine effort at persuasion.
The farmers defeated not just the government and corporations, but also thoroughly discredited Big Media. On the farm issue (as on so many others), corporate media functioned as extra power AAA batteries (Amplifying Ambani Adani +).
The farmers know theirs is a fantastic victory but realise there’s a long road ahead. The larger agrarian crisis and its issues remain unresolved. Still, their unflinching courage and resistance is an inspiration.
Full Article: https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/articles/farmers-win-on-many-fronts-media-fails-on-all/