#KisanLongMarch And Reclaiming Civic Space

On 11 March 2018, in an expression of their dissent over crushing loans, low prices and contested land rights, fifty thousand farmers exercised their freedom of association and assembly when they reached Mumbai. On the very next day, they called off their protest after the Maharashtra government agreed to most of their demands and gave a written assurance with a timeframe for implementing them. Their peaceful protest and collective action is a reclaiming of civic space in India, a democratic space which many contend is shrinking, writes Kaustuv Chakrabarti. Democracy is the most favoured and acceptable form of governance, because in a democracy citizens have the right to assemble and show dissent without fear of victimisation — as long as such protests do not lead to inhuman or unconstitutional action. Democratic freedoms provide civic space, which enables organising for the achievement of collective aims and for the engagement of citizens with one another and with government. In its truest spirit, civic space constitutes of loose communes of people coming together for a specific purpose, keeping the best interests of a larger community of citizens at the forefront. The well-being of citizens reflects in the freedoms associated with civic spaces, which provides an enabling political and social environment, and which in turn promotes citizen participation and engagement. Article 19 of the Indian constitution guarantees the right of citizens to assemble peacefully without arms. India has witnessed some of the most powerful and peaceful people’s movements which brought the entire nation together. Satyagraha in Colonial India, the Chipko movement of the 1970s, Narmada Bachao Andolan in the 1980s, Jan Lokpal bill and Nirbhaya movement, and #NotInMyName are some of the vigils when people came together in large numbers to protest, claiming civic space for common good. [caption id="attachment_3508" align="alignright" width="396"] Jal Satyagraha in Khandwa District, Madhya Pradesh (2015). Another major example of people's movements. Image courtesy: Akshay Hunka/Twitter.[/caption] In July 2017, at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, forty children from Maharashtra — children of farmers who had committed suicide in recent years — appealed to other farmers to abstain from committing suicide. They were part of the ‘kisan ekta’ movement which saw  thousands from  Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu exercising their republican freedoms of assembly, association and expression in their demands for farming to  be made remunerative and for the waiver of their debts. In April 2017, farmers from Tamil Nadu peacefully assembled at Jantar Mantar once again, demanding the waiver of farm loans in the wake of the worst drought Tamil Nadu has seen in the last century. Over the years, Azad Maidan in Mumbai has also witnessed multiple public protests with citizens demanding their rights from the government. Nevertheless, the popular support which greeted the #KisanLongMarch when the farmers reached Azad Maidan in the wee hours of 11^th March will be etched in public conscience. Fifty thousand farmers had marched from Nashik on foot over five days to demand for an unconditional waiver of loans as well as electricity bills; implementation of the Swaminathan Commission recommendations, including an announcement of minimum support price for agriculture produce; and a pension scheme for farmers. Their agitation comes on the back of successive droughts, inequitable water management and pricing policies, which have seen a slow impoverishment of the farmer community everywhere in Maharashtra, reports The Indian Express. These farmers braved the summer heat, walking in broken or temporarily mended footwear and tattered clothes, barely having managed a square meal in their long march from Nashik. As thousands waving red flags strode into Thane that night, residents flocked to the streets to interact with them, and to offer food, water and footwear. The Thane Matadata Jagran Manch provided nearly 500kg of food grains to the farmers who camped at BMC octroi ground. As a considerate gesture, the farmers abandoned rest and marched to Azad Maidan in the middle of Sunday night to avoid inconveniencing students appearing for the ongoing board examinations and the average officegoer. True to the spirit of the city, Mumbaikars distributed vada pav to the farmers when they arrived at Azad Maidan in the morning. Medical staffers of Thane civil and JJ hospital were seen distributing first aid and medicines. Such was the human outpour and mass support, that the Maharashtra chief minister agreed to almost all the demands of the farmers. Will the farmers, by exercising democratic freedoms of assembly, association and expression, create a new history, where the security of the farmer is at the core of any agricultural policy? Apart from the Green Revolution of the 1960s, there has been little to no agrarian reform in India keeping the small farmer centre-stage. While India has seen a six-fold increase in agriculture production between 1950 and 2017, small farmers have been exposed to market volatility. Successive droughts and rising debt have further marginalised the farmer in India. The worst affected are the poor and marginalised farmers and farm labourers who lack savings and social security. With every failed crop, their indebtedness increases; for many, the only way out has been to commit suicide. A change in agricultural policy may not be the only victory of the #KisanLongMarch. It goes down as an example of citizens reclaiming their civic space peacefully to achieve a collective goal. Such processes strengthen our democracy and the government has done well in not criminalising the peaceful march. Keeping aside the political ideologies under which such farmers may have gathered, the spirit of collective bargaining and democratic citizen action they exhibited needs to be celebrated. [caption id="attachment_3507" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Farmers' rally in Bhopal, 2011. Image source: Wikimedia Commons. For representation only.[/caption] Photo attribution: By TheInnocentBystander (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

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