In the fields of India’s former heartlands burn promises done to farmers, and consequently, their anger, despair, and resistance, leads them to flames. Indian farmer, who is often considered the backyard of India, is on the verge of the brink. No longer of quiet resilience, the life of a farmer for states like Punjab, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh is just a loud protest and desperate survival.

The statistics are chilling. Since 2020, more than 9,500 farmers have committed suicide, extend the window to 2019 and the number rises to an astonishing 42,000

The statistics are chilling. Since 2020, more than 9,500 farmers have committed suicide, extend the window to 2019 and the number rises to an astonishing 42,000. Broken family, broken promises, crushed dreams due to mounting debt, unpredictable weather, indifferent policies. This is not just a matter of farmers committing suicides, it is the case of silent screams, that are no one’s business, because a state that gives priority to corporate welfare over farmer welfare leads to conditions of abject misery.

Again, a land where the farmers have risen not only with their fertile soil but with a spirit of defiance is Punjab. The moment Delhi shuts the door to Punjab’s farmers, they take to the roads. To wit, real farmer demands have been repeatedly lost under bureaucratic apathy due to arrogance of the central government. “One farmer (said): ‘This is not democracy; This is dictatorship of neglect.'”

Among those leading these protests is farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who has resorted to a hunger strike, not to gain self-glory but to ensure justice

Among those leading these protests is farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who has resorted to a hunger strike, not to gain self-glory but to ensure justice. For their part, the Indian government has been dining on its apathy with little dialogue or solution on the table. It’s not witnessing governance when citizens must literally starve to get the government’s attention, but rather betrayal.

Their most basic of demands such as a Minimum Support Price (MSP), has not been met. MSP is a lifeline and not a luxury. For millions it is the difference between survival, and starvation. However, year in year out, government ignores this issue and prefers to obfuscate the issue with empty slogans and hollow promises. Yet is it any wonder then that farmers lose hope and go on hunger strikes, road blockades and mass revolutions?

Recognition without reform, in effect, is worse, and indeed, is an insult, for the Indian farmers

When the farmers are dying unheard, the day supposedly dedicated to them, ‘Kisan Diwas’, is ringing hollow. How does one respond to a celebratory tweet from the man supervising the team who left his son to die of pesticide poisoning because he couldn’t afford a proper fertilizer? And what is symbolic tribute to a village whose third farmer has died by suicide this year? That recognition without reform, in effect, is worse, and indeed, is an insult, for the Indian farmers.

It is not simply the pricing that is resented. This also extends to lack of access of fertilizers, absence of storage facilities, unfair procurement processes, and a total lack of safety nets. On the one hand, the corporates are shielded by subsidies, bailouts and regulatory relaxations; on the other hand, the farmer is up to his knees in the sun (literally). This is not reform; it’s a rural massacre purporting to be progress.

It is telling how the government responds to protests. It does not reach out with policy or compassion, instead retaliates with tear gas, arrests, barricades and internet blackouts

It is telling how the government responds to protests. It does not reach out with policy or compassion, instead retaliates with tear gas, arrests, barricades and internet blackouts. The brutality of the state, which was on display when farmers protested in 2021 against the now repealed farm laws, was the kind of brutality the writer regrets. History is repeating itself, only now a protest movement is being suppressed anew. Criminalizing survival under a sort of democracy.

International prestige based on the graves of the ones who feed the nation is not prestige but is a shameful farce

This in not simply inefficiency of the government, it is a wilful abandonment. In this time of farmers crying out for justice, India’s leadership does not want to listen, is too busy polishing the image to the world and serving headlines. International prestige based on the graves of the ones who feed the nation is not prestige but is a shameful farce.

It isn’t unreasonable what the farmers of India are asking for. What they want are fair prices, on time payments, better storage, fertilizer, debt relief and from the corporate monopolies going increasingly into Indian agriculture. However, they still want to be heard, most importantly. They want dignity, not charity. What they want is policies formed through consultation and not through compulsion.

The continued practice of ignoring farmer voices will place the food security of the nation at risk

The future of Indian agriculture hangs in the balancer. More suicides or more protests in the future will not necessarily forthright it, but the continued practice of ignoring farmer voices will place the food security of the nation at risk. The growth of cities and the roar of industries help us leave rural hands, more and more, out of our minds. However, if a nation’s backbone is broken, truly the nation cannot rise.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. They do not represent the views, beliefs, or policies of the Stratheia.