“Sirf hungama khada karna mera maksad nahi, meri koshish hai ki ye surat badlni chahiye”.
This famous ghazal by Dushyant Kumar was recited by Pooja More from Beed, Mahashtra during ‘Kisan Mukti Sansad’ in Delhi. It loosely translates to "I don't want to make empty noise, I want to force real change."
It doesn’t matter that the dates of the winter session of the Parliament haven’t been announced. Hundreds of farmers from 184 organisations across the nation gathered in Delhi to form a unique ‘Parliament’ of their own.
They had just two demands – farm loan waiver and that Minimum Support Price (MSP) should be 1.5 times the cost of their produce.
Speaking to The Quint, Pooja More said:
My mother was paid Rs 100 for a day’s work. If we asked her for footwear, she had to work for three days to manage money for it. A lot of farmers committed suicide in my village. I don’t want my father to be one of them.
Similar stories were heard from other farmers who had come to Delhi to participate in this ‘Parliament’. Kulsumben from Gujarat lost her 8 acres of cotton produce due to untimely rainfall.
Farmers are always in loss. Either their crops are destroyed or they don’t get the right price when they sell it.Kulsumben, Farmer, Gujarat
The ‘session’ was presided under the leadership of All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC). They formulated various ‘Bills’ related to farmer issues during this ‘session’ that can be presented to the government.
Speaking exclusively to The Quint, the national President of Swaraj India, Yogendra Yadav said:
We are formulating a bill. We will pass that bill and present it to the government. Hopefully the government will pay attention. If that doesn’t happen, then the farmers will continue to protest. It is the only way to ensure justice.
In 2015, there were 12,602 farm-related suicides. Of these, 8,007 were farmers while 4,595 were labourers that worked on other’s farms.
Video Editor: Vivek Gupta and Mohd Ibrahim
Video Producer: Anubhav Mishra
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)