Report from KARNATAKA
400 KM . KISAN MARCH ON FOOT IN KARNATAKA ( From BASAVA KALYAN , BIDAR TO BELLARY )
“ Country means not the territory but the people ” said Gurajada . But it seems these words echo like ‘ country means Ambani ’’, ‘ country means Adani ’ to the ruling government . It is well known that farmers across the country are fighting against the black agricultural laws enacted by the Central Government to enrich these two men . But these laws devastate the lives and livelihood of the farmers and labourers of the country . The phrase ‘ farmer is the backbone of our country ’ lost its relevance to the rulers . The three Corporate-friendly laws and the Electricity 2020 Bill severely affect the lives of small , weak farmers and the majority of the people of this country .
Many agitations and protests are taking place across the country , especially in North India , enlightening to the people and the peasantry the impending losses and hardships caused by these laws . In Karnataka , too , agitations started from the beginning and are in progress . As Karnataka Rajya Raithu Sangha , we have been agitating against these laws since the bills are tabled in the Parliament and we are also agitating as part of a united movement . The Karnataka Rajya Raithu Sangha has been a part of many protest movements in Bangalore and elsewhere in support of the peasant movement in Delhi . On 23 rd January , hundreds of farmers and labourers staged a protest rally in Bellary with bullock carts and tractors . We have now decided to undertake a 400 km March on foot from Basava kalyan ( Bidar ) to Bellary as part of the ongoing peasant movement across the country .
The central government is nakedly resorting to comprador activities for the profits of corporate and multinational companies ; jeo paradising the rights of the peasants . In Punjab , Haryana , Rajasthan , Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka , the peasantry have been agitating in various forms for the past six months . Hundreds and thousands reached Delhi , and are protesting there withstanding initially the freezing winter and now the heat waves , and thus showing the world their suffering and impending devastations . Yet the government is acting tyrannically . People from all walks of life and intellectuals extended their support , became part of the movement and reached their tents setup on the highways around Delhi . The government not only became deaf to the speeches and voices from the tents , but vehemently looking to tie the 24 country ’ s agriculture to corporate companies ; it is promoting its policies and propaganda in the media , looking to hand over the future of this country to the foreign companies .
At this juncture , the Karnataka Rajya Raithu Sangha determined that only long-term efforts could save our land , water and agriculture as a whole and has initiated this March to mobilize the peasantry . It will start on 5 th March from Basava Kalyan of Bidar District in the Karnataka-Hyderabad Deccan region . This March- on- Foot goes through many Talukas , District headquarters and main villages creating awareness among the people . The first round of this March will reach Bellary on 23 rd March , the death anniversary of Bhagat Singh , who sacrificed his life for the country and concludes with a large public meeting . We urge the farmers of different districts , poor people , doctors , lawyers , teachers , thinkers , poets , artists and people from all walks of life to attend the public meetings to be held at various locations during the march and be part in the struggle that will continue till the anti-agricultural black laws are repealed . We ask for your cooperation in all possible ways . Our Demands :
1 . Repeal the three agricultural black laws and the electricity bill 2020 .
2 . Repeal the anti-labour and anti-people laws enacted in the Parliament in the dark times of Corona . Also revoke all the pending bills aimed at privatizing drinking and irrigation dams .
3 . Stop plans to repeal the Karnataka Land Reforms Act . in the Assembly .
4 . Stop treacherous plans of selling all public sector industries to the corporate .
5 . Corporatization of agriculture means making small farmers beggars like in America . It enslaves the peasantry of the country . Stop all such attempts .
6 . Bring the MSP Guarantee Act for all produce and implement it strictly .
7 . Build free warehouses in every village or at least in every panchayat , to enable small and marginal farmers to store their crops and sell them at better price . contd . on page 20
Class Struggle