His speech once again reflected his obsession to Congress. While he blamed the Congress for burning the tractor saying that the incident which took place during farm bill protests was an ‘insult’ to set ablaze the goods and equipment that are worshipped by farmers, he defended his action of bringing the three draconian laws as his government was giving the farmers their rights. As usual he derided the protesters and blamed them for not allowing the farmers of the country to sell their produce in the open market at their desired price.

His observation made it explicit that he was trying to divide and split the farmers and weaken their struggle. His remark came following a tractor set ablaze near India Gate on Monday morning during protests against the controversial farm laws.

Astonishingly he maintained a passive silence on the tractor parade and the police brutality on the farmers in which one youth was killed. What happened on the streets of Delhi on January 26, near the ITO and Red Fort, strictly followed the well written script prepared by the anti- farmer forces including BJP determined to discredit and malign the farmer’s movement.

The tractor parade taken out in protest against the government apathy to listen to farmers’ grievances and show their concern was effectively used by the government to discredit the movement and present them as villains to the people of this country.

One more development needs to be mentioned. It was expected of the President of India Ramnath Kovind to come out with some kind suggestion in his address to the nation in the evening of January 25, for ending the agitation. But it did not come. Instead he endorsed the stand of Modi government and described the three laws as the major step towards agricultural reforms. What was most shocking for the farmers was his oblique observation that the farmers’ movement was wrong.

In the backdrop of these two developments, the January 26 police action against the farmers’ has not come as surprise. Today’s police action makes it crystal clear that the Modi government has achieved what it desired; to malign and break the movement. This is manifest in launching of rancorous attack on the agitation, its leaders by the media loyal to Modi government. They were out to malign the protesters as anti-Indians.

Once the morning dust settled, by the evening it became clear that the youth who misled the farmers’ and made the protesters move towards the Red Fort was a BJP cadre Deep Sindhu. Amid slogans of 'Raj karega Khalsa', actor-turned-activist Deep Sidhu handed over a 'kesri' flag to a man to hoist on the ramparts of the Red Ford. On Monday evening, Deep Sidhu took over the main stage at Singhu, and along with gangster-turned-social activist Lakha Sidhana, announced they would hold the march “inside Delhi”. It is worth recalling that a month ago, one of the farmer leaders had termed Deep Sidhu and gangster-turned-activist Lakha Sidhana as “enemies of this struggle”

No doubt the Samyukta Kisan Morcha leaders owned moral responsibility for their failure to keep such elements away, they felt ashamed and took responsibility for the ugly development. But the charges leveled against government by Rakesh Tikait cannot be completely ignored. He blamed the Delhi Police for the farmers’ initial deviation from the agreed route, saying that because barricades were not placed at the right locations, tractors got lost and accidentally wandered into Delhi. “As a result, undesirable elements and some organizations got a chance and tried their best to disrupt this parade.” He said; “Violence brought a bad name to farm protest”. But it is at same time their responsibility to expose the nefarious game. He denied reports of violence and claimed that the march is peaceful.

Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi, has rightly mentioned in his tweet; “he government has taught the world how to turn a peaceful protest into a mobocracy.” How could the farmers leaders commit such foolhardy mistake when they are aware “Peace is the strength of any protest and gets weakened when you need to bank upon violence”.

The General Secretary of the CPI-Marxist Sitaram has rightly blamed the police for resorting to excessive force at ITO. “Tear gassing and lathicharging Kisans is unacceptable. Why, after the Delhi Police &Samyukt Kisan Morcha agreement? Why is the government provoking a confrontation? “

The Home minister Amit Shah has ordered his police to arrest the persons involved in the crime. Looking at his past action it can be safely said that none of the persons who actually masterminded would be arrested. Instead the police would crack down on the farmers and their leaders.

The police must have observed restraint. Violence resolves nothing and resorting to it reduces the state to the level of its enemies. The Modi government instead of making statements against the union leaders, must resolve the crisis through democratic means.

Though farmer leaders claimed that those who indulged in violence today were not part of the movement and were external elements, whoever they were, the fact cannot be denied that today’s incident has certainly weakened the Satyagrah which was going on so peacefully and in a disciplined manner. They admit violence will weaken their negotiating position but at the same time they have to tell the people of the country that some vested interest enjoying the patronage of the establishment had indulged in the game. Any dithering at this crucial stage would prove to be disastrous for them and would be like committing hara-kiri.

It is only a day earlier the farmers through out the country had shown their camaraderie and held peaceful protests in their states. Senior farmer leader Hanan Mollah was politically correct in saying "If you look all across the country, there may be over a crore people on the streets. There are a few hundred who are breaking rules here. Those farmers who are doing this are betrayers to the farmers' cause. Someone who is breaking the rules like this, causing disturbance, actually helps the government to win, and they cannot be called part of the movement”. He clarified “putting up a flag at Red Fort was never the aim for farmers. We want to get the government to listen to our demands. This will not help our aim". (IPA Service)