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Written by: Daniel Xie

Since November 26, 2020, Indian farmers have organized nationwide strikes against three new farm acts passed by the far-right Narendra Modi government. These farm acts, passed by India’s Parliament in September of 2020, sought to further privatize India's agriculture sector through reforms that would:

Relax restrictions governing the purchasing and sale of farm produce

Relax restrictions on stocking under the Essential Commodities Act (ECA)
Introduce dedicated legislation to enable contract farming based on written agreements.

The aim of the government’s agricultural reforms was to better allow farmers to enter into pre-arranged contracts and access multiple marketing channels. While the government touts these as much-needed reforms that would improve the livelihoods of the farmers, many farmers perceived the government’s attempts at reform as detrimental to their livelihoods.

The opposition of many Indian farmers to the provisions of the so-called “black laws” passed by the Modi government stemmed from the fact that these reforms sideline protective frameworks allowing farmers sell their grain at fixed “minimum support” prices, threatening the livelihood of farmers unable to sell their grain for high prices. In addition, farmers also railed against the opening of the agricultural sector to corporate and financial interests, particularly given the lack of bargaining power and grievance mechanisms that would allow Indian farmers to stand up to any abuses carried out by agri-businesses passed. According to former Indian prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda, the bills were rushed through the Indian Parliament without much discussion, despite massive opposition from other parties such as the Indian National Congress, which accused this bill of making farmers the slaves of capitalists.

The farmers’ opposition to the agriculture privatization laws being rammed through by the Indian government manifested in the form of an ongoing nationwide strike, considered to be the largest strike in human history. The strike was organized by 10 trade unions, and supported by both the Communist Party of India and the Indian National Congress. According to the unions organizing the strike, 25 crore (250 million) attended the strike on November 26th. The strike culminated in a march by many farmers’ organizations on the capital city of Delhi.

Initially the government tried to contain the strike by granting the farmers permission to protest in a distant corner of Delhi, far from the centre of the city. This order was defied by most of the farmers, who remained at the border of the capital. Farmers were reported on social media to have used tractors to break the barricades set up by the police to keep them out of the city, with one farmer explaining to police that this was the beginning of a revolution. Many farmers and strikers also brought food and provisions to allow them to remain at the border of Delhi for months, intending to remain until their demands are met.

The police have responded to the massive strike with tear gas and violence. On December 18, it was reported that 25 people had died in clashes with police. While an Indian Supreme Court ruling has stated that the farmers’ strike was constitutionally legal and called for a mediated settlement between strikers and the government, the ruling did not specify if police could prevent farmers from entering Delhi, which leaves the strikers open to further police brutality. As of January 1st, efforts by farmers to enter Delhi have continued to be met with the use of tear gas by the police.

Solidarity for the Farmers’ Strike in Canada

The strike has received support from various Canadian progressive organizations. According to Jay Watts, the central organizer for the Communist Party of Canada, more than a dozen progressive organizations, along with the Communist Party of Canada, have expressed their solidarity with the farmer’s strike in India through the formation of the Farmer’s Support Coordination Committee (FSCC). On December 27th, 2020, the FSCC organized a demonstration in support of the Indian farmers in front of the Consulate General of India.

The organizations that make up the FSCC include:

Sarokaran de Awaz
North American Tarksheel Society
Alliance of Progressive Canadians
IndoCanadian Workers Association
GTA West Communist Party of Canada
Disha
Desh Bhagat Sports
Bharti Kissan Majdoor Ekta
Homestead Seniors
Punjabi Kalman da Kafla
Canadian Punjabi Sahit Sabha
Sirjhanharian

As shown in the list of organizations making up the FSCC, many of the organizations are of Punjabi Canadian origin. Many in the Punjabi diaspora community in Canada were spurred into action in solidarity with the farmers in India by Modi’s crackdown, which has made those living in Canada worried about the fate of their friends and family in India. Canadian Punjabis have also expressed support for the struggle in India as defending the Punjabi cultural identity of owning and working the land in harmony with nature; a cultural identity under threat by the encroachment of agribusiness seeking to push Punjabi off their ancestral farmlands.

Solidarity was also expressed by the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation, Canada’s largest teachers union. In a written statement, the OSSTF praises the three-week strike by Indian Farmers as demonstrating the deep solidarity of the Indian farmers and their resolve to stand firm against a government prioritizing corporate greed and the commercialization of agriculture over the rights and livelihoods of farmers. It highlights peaceful demonstrations by 10,000 farmers and members of the Indian Farmers Union in the streets of New Delhi as a clear example of the powers of workers coming together in solidarity, and expresses hope that the continued peaceful struggle of the Indian farmers would pressure the Indian government to change newly imposed laws and protect the rights of farmers.

Canadian government’s professed support obfuscates policy of opposing protections for farmers in the global South

On a surface level, the Canadian government appeared to express support for the Indian Farmers’ strike. On December 4th, 2020, Justin Trudeau expressed support for the right of Indian farmers to peacefully protest at an online event commemorating the 551st birth anniversary of Guru Nank. Similar statements of support were also expressed by the leadership of the NDP and the Conservative party. The Indian government condemned the position seemingly taken by Canadian government and opposition leaders as “ill-informed”.

Underneath this rhetoric of support however, the policies advocated by the Canadian government on the world stage regarding agriculture privatization are detrimental to farmers in Global South countries such as India. When Justin Trudeau expressed support for the right of peaceful protest on the part of the strikers, Business Today reported that Canada’s rhetoric actually ran opposite to it’s aggressive posture at the World Trade Organization (WTO).

As noted by Business Today, Canada is a part of the Cairns group within the WTO, which has sought to increase market access for companies that export agricultural produce, particularly in large markets such as India. To achieve this goal, the Cairns group sought to challenge tariffs placed on agricultural products, as well as domestic agriculture subsidies that are provided to local producers. For their part, Canada has raised sixty-five questions over the past four years critiquing India’s minimum support policies as negatively impacting the global market via the accumulation of large food stocks.

Ultimately, despite professing to support striking farmers in India, the Canadian government’s policies on the global stage actually favor greater privatization of the agricultural market at the expense of farmers in countries such as India. Once again Canada’s foreign policy rhetoric has failed to match up with the actions Canada has taken on the world stage.

Conclusion

The massive farmers’ strike in India against Modi’s neoliberal reforms has received significant support from progressive organizations in Canada, particularly organizations aligned with the Punjabi diasporic community. Even the Trudeau government expressed support and hopes for a peaceful settlement to the grievances of the farmers.

Despite this seeming support on the part of the government, the Canadian government advocates on the global stage policies favoring greater privatization and open markets globally favoring agri-export companies regardless of their impact on the livelihoods of farmers. Conversely, policies limiting free trade such as India’s minimum support policies, are seen as having a detrimental effect on the global agricultural market by the Canadian government.

Progressive organizations within Canada seeking to support the strikes in India should not only pressure the Indian government negotiate long-needed reforms that could genuinely benefit the majority of Indian farmers through an independent agricultural committee, but also push for a reassessment of the policies championed by our own government on the global stage favoring greater privatization of agriculture at the expense of farmers worldwide.

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