Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s speech at tractor rally & farmer’s meeting in Wayanad, via INC India. Excerpts:
The entire world can see the difficulty faced by Indian farmers but the Govt in Delhi is unable to understand the pain of the farmers.
We have pop stars commenting on the situation of the farmers but the Indian Govt is not interested
They are not going to take back these three new laws unless they are forced and there is a reason for it; these three laws are designed to destroy the agricultural system in India and give the entire business to 2-3 of Mr Modi’s friends
The biggest business in this country is agriculture & there is a big difference between this business & every other business. While other businesses are mostly owned by one individual, agriculture is owned by 40% of India’s people
Who are all these people that own the agriculture business? They are farmers, labourers, small traders that work in mandis, small shopkeepers, fruit and vegetable cart vendors, millions and millions of Indians own this business
There are many people who want to own this business, they don’t want it to belong to 40% of India. Agriculture is the only business that belongs to Bharat Mata. These 3 laws are designed to allow 2-3 to own and control Indian agriculture
In my Parliament speech I said in Hindi, ‘hum do, humare do’. Two people in Govt partnering with two people outside the Govt. The idea is that these 4 people control agriculture, farmers sell their produce directly to these big businesses
They want to destroy the entire agricultural chain and the chain protects 40% of our country. The same chain gives food to 100% of our country
The first law says that the biggest businesses in the country and outside can buy the farmers produce anywhere and any amount. This law will destroy the concept of mandi, farmers market
Imagine if the biggest businesses can go directly to the farmers and buy, what is the need for mandis? The first law is designed to destroy farmers market
Second law says biggest businesses in India can store as much grain, fruits & vegetables as they want, for as long as they want. This is a direct attack on Essential Commodities Act, designed to ensure farmer can’t negotiate for price
Already a huge percentage of the grain that is kept in silos is owned by one man. He is the same man who is being gifted all the airports and ports
Third law is the most fantastic of them all. It says that if the farmer has a dispute about the price of what he is selling, he cannot go to court. It takes away the legal rights of the farmers
We oppose these laws. We’ll make sure Govt is forced to take back these laws. We are standing with the farmers, we will help them and ensure the BJP Govt takes back these laws
Buffer zone is going to pose tremendous hardship for the people of Wayanad and I wrote to the Govt in Delhi and said this is completely unacceptable. We asked a question in Parliament about the buffer zone and why it has been imposed
We were shocked to hear the Minister say that Govt in Kerala has recommended it. Everybody understands the damage that buffer zone is going to cause and I think it is very important that the Govt of Kerala change their position on this
I request the Chief Minister to please kindly do the needful and fix this problem
