A number of Sikhs living in Kolkata, many of who still own farmlands in Punjab, organised a rally on Sunday celebrating the repeal of the three controversial farm laws.
The rally started from Gurdwara Sant Kutiya on Harish Mukherjee Road in south Kolkata and went to Garcha Gurdwara on Garcha Road in south-central Kolkata. There were slogans like “Kisan Mazdoor Ekta Zindabad”. The rallyists included kids, women and elderly men. There were posters remembering those who died while taking part in the protests against the farm laws on Delhi’s borders.
The rally was followed by ardas, a prayer.
A leader of the Calcutta Sikh Sangat, which organised the rally, said they thanked God for being with the farmers through their struggle.
“The leaders of all farmer unions who had been at the Singhu border for nearly a year visited the Gurdwara Harmandir Sahib, or the Golden Temple, on Sunday,” said Ajit Singh, an organiser of Sunday’s event in Kolkata.
“A farmer leader from Punjab had said that before all farmers go back home, they would visit Harmandir Sahib. We decided that we, too, will visit our gurdwaras in Kolkata as a token celebration. Since we, the Sikhs in Kolkata, stood by the farmers who protested in Delhi, we decided to mark this day with a rally from one gurdwara to another,” said Singh, a resident of Bhowanipore in south Kolkata.
The Narendra Modi government had in June 2020 passed three ordinances that diluted the control on sale, pricing and storage of agricultural produce that had for long insulated farmers from free market forces. The ordinances later became laws.
After a year-long sit-in by farmers, the government had on November 19 announced that the farm laws would be withdrawn.
In Sunday’s rally there were many who still own farmlands in Punjab, whose families are actively into farming.
Jagmohan Singh Gill, 56, a resident of Dum Dum, owns a 9-acre farmland in Moga district’s Dhudike village. Gill, a social historian, said he had not forgotten his roots.
“I still go back to my village and tend to the land when needed. Others in my family who stay in Punjab are actively into farming. If there is something that affects the farmers, it affects me, too,” said Gill.
Ajit Singh, too, owns an 11-acre farmland in Ludhiana’s Bhani Darara village.
There were others who have sold their farmlands but said they owed their education and upbringing to the income from farming.
“My father and grandfather were into farming. I was raised with the money they earned from farming. How can I forget it? I share the pain and happiness of farmers,” said Tarsem Singh, who retired from the air force.
Those who took part in the rally said that if the farm laws were not repealed, Punjab’s farmers would have suffered at the hands of a few corporate conglomerates.
They credited the minimum support price for the well-being of Punjab’s farmers.
