It is beyond comprehension why the Prime Minister adopted the rigid stand and refused to find an acceptable solution. He was even willing to put new laws operation in suspended animation by 18 months to convince farmers of need for changes. The government also did not seek to remove gross misunderstanding that all three new laws did affect only marketing operations and not farming. Many like me believed that NaMo did not want to surrender the authority of his government to legislate. Many in official Quarters did believe that farmers in sit down protest would be dispersed in the last week of January to attend to needs of their standing winter grains crops in farms. Harvesting generally starts in the last week of January. Farmers planned their sit down protest meticulously with new teams replacing old teams every week. The strike sites were virtually converted into small self sufficient township to meet all basic needs of strikers.

The young actor who climbed atop the Red Fort dome gave away his game with his threat to expose farmers blaming the government or the ruling party. The assumed belief was he was supporting farmers’ agitation though many did not approve his actions that smacked of insult of the nation’s flag. In fact farmers had to take blame but the young actor exposed the forces behind his action in his rejoinder to accusations that the ruling party planned, with approval by the power his adventure. His rejoinder with threat to expose the agitating farmers does leave wide scope to suspect that agitating farm leaders had not sought what he did. Farmers are not devious minds to use him to pass the burden of blame in such manner of double game.

A retired senior police official wondered why the force deployment to meet the tractor rally on the Republic Day by farmers. At least one Lakh tractors were to participate. In flow of vehicles from agitating states clearly suggested participation by at least eighty thousand tractors. Yet the Delhi Commissioner deployed only four thousand men. All roads and crossings from Raj Ghat to the bridge near Pragati Maidan were left open and unmanned by traffic police and with shut down of signaling systems.

Unless and otherwise specific instructions from above, the Police Commissioner would not have assumed no trouble. At the time of agitation by 150 youth against the fresh registration of citizens in January last year the police deployment strength was five times bigger. The police commissioner could not have assumed that there would be no trouble on the Republic Day rally because there was no bad incident in the 65 days of sit in agitation by farmers. No attempt was made even to hinder the flow of pedestrians movement on their cycles. Motorists had avoided the routes expecting huge pile ups of vehicles waiting for long hours to cross. It is not believable that the Police Commissioner expected no trouble to keep the deployment of police force to the minimum and keep three killometre route on the ring road open without the instructions from the authority above.

The retired Wing Commander of Indian Air Force, Anuma Acharya has also virtually confirmed that the police bandobast was to invite trouble. On the Republic Day she was driving her tractor with four media men on board. She was frustrated in her attempts to take right route after missing it for she was enthusiastic to participate in the rally. She was not prevented from taking wrong turn but would not be allowed to take right route. She shared her experience on social media.

Nor could the Police commissioner have moved his force to break up assemblies of farmers and arrest 25 Kisan union leaders under the sedition charges. The Republic Day incident broke not only unity but also spirit of the striking farmers. Cracks were beginning to show from the response to the government offer by the ministerial team on January 21. As many as 15 Kisan unions favoured negotiations to narrow down differences with the government but 17 voted for rejection unless the government showed readiness to repeal news.

After the Republic Day, the farmers’ unity has become questionable. They threatened to come back and some old farmers did come back. But they are no more enjoying the same sympathy they had gained earlier because of their sit in for 65 days without a single bad incident. Many of them succumbed to bad weather conditions. It did not move the regime or the fan club. Their malicious propaganda reflected in messages on social media for two months is evidence. Many were abused as Khalistan proponents though the Punjab secessionist movement had collapsed in 1984.

Punjab farmers had given the measure of their affection for India with bumper crops in the same year and for three decades though underground-water levels in Punjab have been steadily going down for the past five decades. They continued to provide enough of wheat each year. India’s grain growers helped India to overcome era of grain shortages. The country also paid back by ensuring the minimum price for their labour. The system was functional for the past five decades though there was no law to ensure it. The government after government kept the word and gave enhancement of minimum ten per cent each year. Even NaMo government had followed the pattern for seven years.

The laws hurriedly adopted seven months ago without proper and elaborate explanation of need or them. The government continued to harp and even now claims that laws are for benefit to farmers. The government had even offered to delay operation of new laws for 18 months means for three crop seasons but firmly ruled out repeal of new laws. Why the Prime Minister was adamant even in the face of stiff opposition and persistent demand has not been explained. In the ultimate round he won but left the whole lot of marginal and small farmers dispirited. Its consequences cannot be imagined because no writ can make them to act as the nation needs.