The All India Kisan Sabha is organising four Kisan Sangharsh Jathas which will culminate at Delhi Ramlila maidan with a massive Sangharsh Rally on 24^th November 2016. The Jathas will mobilise the peasantry against the neo-liberal policies responsible for the present acute agrarian crisis and expose the anti farmer policies of the Narendra Modi led NDA Government which have aggravated the crisis further.

Intensifying Corporatisation of Agriculture under Modi Raj

The Modi Government’s half term will be completed by November 2016 and our experience is that its policies are not only pro corporate but deeply against the peasantry and working class. The largest promise made in the election manifesto of BJP was providing remunerative price to all crops to the tune of 50% in addition to cost of production. But the Prime Minister betrayed the poor peasants by not ensuring even the cost of production. The NDA promised to stop peasant suicides but it has only further intensified under Modi Raj. Uncontrolled rural to urban migration reflects the depth of intensification of agrarian crisis. The much propagated Prime Minister Bima yojana has been turned into ‘Bima for big private Bima companies’ (insurance may be used)  through compulsory premium and imposing additional burden on peasantry and non transparency in distribution of compensation.

The Modi Government has become infamous for the abortive attempt of acquisition of agricultural land to gift to corporate giants. The government is allowing the large corporate trade houses to loot the people by not preventing price rise and not regulating price of petroleum products. Above all now the government has decided to allow 100% FDI in agriculture that will lead to take over of agro processing and marketing by MNC’s and further intensify the agrarian crisis.

The communal politics aimed to break the unity of peasantry and working class

The divisive and communal forces led by RSS-BJP combine work consistently to break the unity of the basic classes of workers and peasants which could emerge as the bulwark against the corporate loot over the people. The issues like protection of cow, right to expression, uniform civil code, Article 370 on Jammu &Kashmir etc. have been used to divide the people on communal lines and unleash murderous attack on Minorities, Dalits, Student activists, intellectuals and progressive activists all over the country. The RSS is hell-bent to create communal riots and tension in order to make political gain without considering the loss of peace and progress in social life for many generations.

The issue of cow protection has negatively affected the life of peasants by taking away their right to sell their asset of cattle thus forcing them to give up more than 25% of their annual income and on the other side the increasing number of stray cattle in villages has become a big menace that devastate the standing crop. The economic impact of this serious issue will intensify in future.

For Cooperative Agriculture

The AIKS demands that the Government stop its policies of corporatisation of agriculture and support the peasantry to develop cooperative agriculture. The largest exploitation faced by peasants and agriculture workers under capitalism is unremunerative price of crops and lack of minimum wage for daily labour. This issue could be solved only by helping the peasant cooperatives to develop agro processing industries and marketing network and modernise agriculture by changing petty production to large scale production through promoting peasant-worker cooperatives. Only under large scale production minimum wage could be ensured and convert wage labour into salaried modern farm worker.

Such a policy change only will help to ensure distribution of the surplus developed through value addition of primary produce to the peasantry and thus prevent the present pauperisation and indebtedness and resultant acute agrarian crisis.  For this the Modi government should reverse its policy of allowing 100% FDI in agriculture and privatisation of crop insurance and ensure credit for social cooperative institutions of peasantry that focused on agro-processing, marketing and insurance.

The need of worker- peasant alliance and greater unity of people

The AIKS has been in the forefront to build the countrywide alliance of peasant and agriculture worker organisations and social groups named as Bhoomi Adhikar Andolan which was instrumental in defeating the Modi government from walking away with the infamous Land Acquisition Ordinance.  Similar unity is emerging among Dalits, Adivasis, students and other social groups in the recent period.

The working class of the country has been united for many years as a bulwark against the neo-liberal policies and the Bhoomi Adhikar Andolan has extended its full solidarity by supporting the all India workers strike being organised in the last two years. The need of the hour is to build solid worker –peasant alliance and on the virtue of which all the social sections presently facing consistent exploitation and suppression could unite and fight the forces of exploitation, authoritarianism and communal hatred.

We hope the All India Kisan Sangharsh Jathas and Delhi Rally will be a historical initiative in this direction. Hence we appeal to all progressive and democratic minded people to come forward and support this campaign to make it truly massive and successful.

The popular slogans and demand charter

The Kisan sangharsh jatha will popularise the following slogans of Land to landless, Remunerative price to farmers, Waive loans of small and middle peasants, Interest free credit to poor and middle peasants, farm credit at 4% interest, Cheap inputs and water to all fields, MNREGA with 200 days of work and Rs 300 minimum wage, Rs 10 lakhs compensation to suicide victim families, Crop insurance for all, Rs 3000 monthly pension to small middle peasants and rural poor. The Jatha will campaign against corporate land grab, Corporate E marketing and FDI in agriculture, Ban on farmer’s right to sell cattle and Atrocities on Women, Dalits, Tribals and Minorities.

A 15 point demand charter is annexed which will be submitted to all authorities at all levels from village officer to Prime Minister.

Inauguration of Jathas

The Jatha from Virudhu Nagar, Tamil Nadu will be inaugurated on 2^nd November by K Varadarajan, senior vice president of AIKS and it includes ten members with Vijoo Krishnan as leader and Malla Reddy as deputy leader.

The Jatha from Jammu will be inaugurated on 8^th November by Amra Ram, the president of AIKS and it includes nine members with Amra Ram as leader and Harpal Singh as deputy leader.

The Jatha from Kolkata will be inaugurated on 8^th November by Hannan Molla, the General Secretay of AIKS and it includes nine members with Hannan Molla as leader and Madan Ghosh as deputy leader.

The Jatha from Kanyakumari will be inaugurated on 10^th November by Pinarayi Vijayan, Chief Minister of Kerala and it includes nine members with P Krishnaprasad as leader and Ashok Dhawale as deputy leader.

The Four Jathas will cover various states, address the public meetings and facilitate unity of leaders and activists of all mass and class organisations. Thousands of leaflets, notices, posters and books will be popularised as part of the campaign.

Delhi Chalo

All four Jathas will culminate at Delhi with a massive Kisan rally at Ram Lila Maidan and thousands of farmers will march to Parliament. Leaders from various social and political sections and people’s representatives will address the gathering.  The Charter of demands will be submitted to the Prime Minister.

If the government is not willing to reverse its pro-corporate economic policies, and save the peasantry from the acute crisis and stop peasant suicides, then the AIKS along with other like-minded peasant and agriculture worker organisations will unleash countrywide militant struggles till all the demands are met with.

Annexure I. Kisan Sangharsh Jatha- Team Members

Jatha-1     From Jammu- Amra Ram – Leader, Harpal singh- Deputy Leader, Master Sher singh, Sukhvinder singh Shekon, Gurchethan Singh Bassi, Kushal Bharadwaj, Kuldip Singh Tanwar, Chhagan Choudhury, Pema Ram

Jatha -2      From Kolkata- Hannan Mollah – Leader, Madan ghosh- Deputy Leader, Nripen Choudhury, Deblina Hebron, Lallan Choudhury, Surjeet Sinha, Tiken Das, Dinanath Singh, N K Shukla .

Jatha -3       From Virudhu Nagar- Vijoo Krishnan- Leader, Malla Reddy-  Deputy leader, K Balakrishnan, P Shanmugham, MarutiManpade, SubbaRao, Peddi Reddy, Chandra Reddy, Jasvinder Singh, ArjunAdde

Jatha – 4      from Kanyakuamari- P Krishnaprasad – Leader, Ashok Dhawale- Deputy Leader, Adv. S K Preeja, Omallur Shankaran, U. Basavaraja, DulichandMeena, KishanGujjar, K V Ramakrishnan, MM Mani.

Charter of Demands

1. Implement progressive and comprehensive Land Reforms all over the country and protect petty production in agricultural by upholding the interests of small, marginal and middle peasants.
2. Implement the Land Acquisition Act 2013 with protection for all dependants on land. Stop attempts to acquire agriculture land through draconian State Acts. Strictly implement Forest Rights Act and stop indiscriminate snatching of Tribal Land by corporate companies. Protect the rights of tenant farmers.
3. Implement comprehensive package of loan waiver for poor, marginal peasants and middle peasants. Reverse the anti-people Neo-liberal Economic Policies to stop farmers’ suicide. Provide Rs. 10 lakhs to compensate the families of all victims of farmers’ suicide. Provide interest free agriculture credit to small and marginal peasants, share croppers, tenant farmers, agriculture workers and middle peasants. Fix the interest rate of agriculture credit at 4%.
4. Ensure Minimum Support Price at the rate of 50% in addition to cost of production as recommended by M S Swaminathan Commission and ensure direct procurement by Food Corporation of India from farmers.
5. Immediately withdraw Foreign Direct Investment in agriculture and Food processing industry and E-marketing of agricultural products that serve corporate companies. Provide government funding to promote agro-processing industries and wholesale and retail marketing networks under social cooperatives of peasant and agriculture workers to manufacture and sell value added consumer products.
6. Ensure proper implementation of MGNREGA, 200 days of work per annum and fix the wage as not less than Rs 300 per day.
7. Enact central legislation for agricultural workers to ensure minimum wage and social security. Provide house sites free of cost to all landless agricultural workers and poor peasants.
8. Ensure supply of inputs at subsidised rate and promote agro-ecological practices.
9. Ensure crop insurance to all crops and full compensation for the crop loss due to natural calamity, wild animal attacks, and crop diseases and fix revenue village as the unit for assessing compensation. Provide effective drought relief and compensation to the affected peasantry.
10. Ensure proper storage including cold storage, cold chain facilities, warehousing and marketing system for agricultural produce.
11. Ensure food security by enhancing agriculture production, procurement and distribution.
12. Ensure social security by providing minimum Rs 3000 monthly pension for all the peasants and agriculture workers all over the country. Ensure right to safe drinking water, house sites, housing, education and health to all.
13. Repeal proposal of anti-worker amendments in the labour law, child labour law, stop attacks on the working class and intensification of exploitation.
14. NDA government should desist from allowing free hand to communal and casteist
15. Stop growing atrocities and attacks on Women ,Dalits, Tribals and Minorities.