India is in throes. India is faced with a dilemma. India is faced with a choice between proverbial “Devil and Deep Blue Sea”. In Hindi this situation is called: “इधर कुंआ, उधर खाई”. What can India do?
India belongs to Indians – and almost 80% Indians are farmers or connected with agriculture. They live in villages and directly or indirectly depend on agriculture for their living. India is called a country of “Kisans”.
The world is an open market today. You can sell your Indian products in China, USA, Japan, Russia or anywhere in the world. And, likewise Chinese, Americans, Japanese, Russians etc. can sell their products in India. World is a free and easily accessible “Madi” – market – today, thanks to the developed science and technology.
Chinese or American farmers produce tomato of a half kilogram weight each, apples of better in color, quality and size, almonds of bigger in size and of better in quality. It is because of this that they are able to sell their produce in the world market.
Chinese can do it so but Indians cannot do it. China has a dicatorship to govern it and large farming area to do agriculture. There government can dictate farmers what to do and what not to do and invest capital and technology in the farming sector. India cannot do it so because in India there is democracy – voters make its government – and government cannot dictate farmers what to do and what not to do or invest capital and technology in farming sector on their behalf. It is because of this that Indian farmers are not able to sell their produce in the world maket.
Americans can do it so but India cannot do it so. Americans can do it so because farmers there have large areas of farming land, sufficient capital at their disposal to be invested in farming and technology available to be utilized in their farms. Indian farmers cannot do it so because they have small – in fact, very small – size of their land holdings, have no capital at all to invest in their agriculture and to purchase technology needed to produce big and better tomatoes, apples and almonds. It is because of this that American farmers are able to sell their produce – and Indian farmers are not able to sell their produce – in the world market.
Indian farmers are poor – in fact, very poor – and on that account even some of them comit suicide. They simply somehow make their two ends meet and survive. They have been living so – in abject poverty – for the last 73 years, that is, since India became free. It is desirable that they too come out of their abject poverty. They can come out of this dismal condition – extreme poverty – only if their produce too are sold in the world market, as Chinese, American, Russian farmers are doing. This can be done only if they are able to produce competitively better quality of their produce. But they cannot so produce.
But Ambani or Adani can do it on behalf of Indian farmers because they have enough capital to invest in farming and buy technology to utilize therein. Ambani, Adani and their ilk are calling farmers for this miracle to happen. Government of Modiji has created the necessary legal framework also for this purpose (by enacting the three controversial farm laws) on the advice of experts in the economic field and obviously in consultation with Ambani, Adani and their tribe. But Indian farmer is apprehensive of this move and is restless. He is protesting against all this mechination of the government – he is fearful of his future.
Indian farmer is fearful of his impending future and the Modi government is saying he need not fear. He has reason to fear and government has no ground to say he need not fear. This is all about the present, i.e. which is going on today – the “kisan” protest (still better “Commission Agents” or Adhatiya’s protest using the cover of “kisan”) and their agitation in Delhi. But let us talk about the future, i.e. what will hapen to these farmers and about the normal human nature – including the nature of Ambani, Adani and their ilk.
Capitalist takes his proverbial “pound of flesh” in whatever work he does and whenever he does. And what does he do? He does nothing but invests his capital. This “pound of flesh” out of his venture is his “profit”. He does nothing without profit. Unfortunately for humanity, this profit of capitalist knows no limits. It is human nature – nobody can help it, not even the best wishes and well-intentioned plannings of Modiji can change this human nature. A capitalist (one who has capital to invest) is capitalist only till he gets his profit – till he is concerned with his profit only.
What Ambani, Adani and their “ferocious” tribe will do by coming to farming sector is not a speculation – it has been done again and again by their tribe the world over and without a single exception.
It was done by Amazon – wherever they went in the world and in whatever they did. They initialy sold their products cheap on the strength of their enormous capital, thereby destroyed their competitors, created their sole monopoly in those products, ear-twisted the elected governments who dared to try to keep them under check, later on sold those products at exhorbitent price to common men and in this “evil way” reaped colossal profits. They extracted, proverbialy, the very “last drop of blood” of the common people, of farmers and not farmers both.
It was done so in the past in India when FlipCart was wrested by Amazon out of the hands of its owner Bansals; it was done when CocaCola wrested Fanta out of the hands of a Sikh gentleman, who was its owner; and it was so done endless times by endless capitalists the world over. There is no ground to believe that this time it will be different in India in the case of farmers – after all Ambani, Adani etc. do not come from heaven.
What they will do – rather they are bound to do (and it is our forecast, so to say) – is this: They will create monopolies in farm products, make it impossible for stray disagreeing farmers to sell his own produce on his own “in free way” in a market (whether in “inter” or “intra state” trading) and make him fall in line. They do not allow their competitors in the market – (a farmer envisioned under the three controversial farm laws selling his own products independently and on his own would be a competitor of these “sponsering” capitalists). Such petty farmers are no match to such capitalists in the matter of quantum of money they are holding. Very soon these capitalists will transform farmers into their paid “Chowkidars” of their (capitalist’s) produce on their own (farmers) land. They will make these farmers of today workers tomorrow. Farmers will be made without doubt completely dependent on these capitalists for their living, either by being bound to sell the produce of their fields to the “sponser” capitalists or by being employed on their own fields by them.
But, then, India too would produce big tometoes, better apples and best almonds to be sold in competition with Chinese, Americans, Japanese, Russians etc. in the world market. But alas the seller of these produce will not be the Indian farmer but Ambani or Adani and the hordes of other such capitalists.
Modi is the best political leader India ever had since its independence. He is honest to the core of his heart to the cause of India. He is honest in his personal life too – a fact that cannot be dispelled by the contrary propaganda by the throughly corrupt opposition political leaders, who are now looking to fish in the troubled water and dethrone him with the power of this colored “kisan agitation”. If India is to ever rise as a nation within the comity of nations with its glorious and ancient civilization, then there is presently no alternative to Modiji in India.
The dilemma that India faces today is this: Either continue with the present obsolete system of Indian farming and forgo the path of India’s economic progess, fail to compete in the world market and do not rise as a respectful power with wealth and technology or allow Ambanis, Adanis and the like and put at stake the very survival of Indian farmers – farmers as we have been knowing them for thousands of years.
In addition to this dilemma, India faces another danger – the danger to its very existance; the danger to the existence of its ancient civilization. This danger comes at the hands of its those corrupt politicians who are in cahoot with the religious fanatics, terrorists and religious zelots working to either kill or convert this Hindu India. These politicians and fanatics are on the path to destroy this India.
We know India cannot win – even survive – without selling in the world “Mandi” better tomatoes, apples, almonds etc. (a symbolic meaning is intended) but India cannot also preserve its glorious civilization without saving these Indian farmers from the “bloody claws” of these capitalists who are hungry for more and more profit.
Perhaps, it would have been better that these Indian farmers were made by government to be entitled “by law” to have a share of some percentage of the “profit” in the agricultural business of these “sponsering capitalists”; perhaps, it would have been better for India that there was a political system of some kind of a “dictatorship” in place of its hypocrite democracy (as was felt by Subhash Chandra Bose a necessity – at least for 5 or 10 years – for our ignorant and slave-minded Indians so that they become alert and responsible citizens to elect proper leaders) and there was no need for Modiji to fear for votes going to his corrupt political opponents; perhaps, it would have been better for India that a “dictator” was able to “weild a lathi and strike a blow” to these capitalists who are hungery for more and more profits and causing miseries to millions, instead of begging them for their money to win election after election every five years – endlessly; perhaps, … perhaps, …. !!!
Nobody know what is in store for the fate of this dear India – whether a degenerated culture dominated by money or a disciplined, strong and civilized nation of Sri Aurobindo’s vision as a spiritual guide of humanity. Nobody knows!
India is faced with a choice between “Devil or Deep Blue Sea”!