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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Agrarian Riots: The Countryside is Burning -Abeer Kapoor

Agrarian Riots: The Countryside is Burning -Abeer Kapoor

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published Published on Oct 21, 2016   modified Modified on Oct 21, 2016
-HardNewsMedia.com

A lack of jobs and an abundant workforce have meant that the agrarian states of India have become tinderboxes waiting to catch fire

Statistics released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB)’s annual report, “Crime in India”, reveal that in 2015, the number of ‘agrarian riots’ have increased by a whopping 327 percent. The number of cases of ‘agrarian rioting’ increased from 628 to 2,683 in one year. The bulk of these riots were recorded in three states: Bihar with the highest incidence of 1,156 (43%), Uttar Pradesh with 752 (28%) and Jharkhand with 303 (11%). Together these three states account for 82% of the total agrarian riots that were registered in the country. In total, only 15 states registered agrarian riots.

What is most peculiar is that the category of an ‘agrarian’ riot (which is one of eight subcategories of riots: industry, sectarian, student, communal, caste conflicts, political, and other) is a fuzzy classification with no clear definition. The riots recorded in “Crime in India” are those that have been registered between Sections 147-151 and 153(A) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the division between each is left to the discretion of the police stations. On being asked what is an ‘agrarian riot’ there is an almost indecisive chorus from police officers in different states. Prasanna Khamsera, the Superintendent of Police in Chittorgarh district, Rajasthan, in a conversation with Hardnews, said, “These are mainly land-related disputes, which could be over water, land acquisition or land disputes within villages that flare up.” This view is also shared by the NCRB, whose Akhilesh Kumar says the nature of these cases is broadly clubbed with land disputes.

What is most curious is how these 'riots' have largely gone unnoticed, and even after the data has been released, the government has not been bothered to look into the issue. Ashok Gulati, a renowned agriculture economist, in a conversation with  Hardnews said, "Back to back years of drought have acted as a sort of double whammy for the farmer. These [riots] however, sound like a manifestation of major unrest amongst the farmers, because development is driven by people like us, we want smart cities and bullet trains, and not those working in the fields. Two years of the Modi Government have been a disappointment, but what is more serious is how the media seems to be sleeping. But what is curious in all of this is how this unrest has not found its way into social media. It seems like the number of these riots might be many, but people involved might be few or they might not have the depth to shake things up. There is no mass contact farmer leader, right now, who can also carry the discontent and of the agriculture worker to any logical conclusion." What is more shocking according to Gulati is the lack of recognition that the government has shown, "These are official numbers, these aren't also little sparks, this a towering crisis, why is Delhi sitting in denial?" However, if the crisis is as serious as the data points to, according to him, the agrarian minister should be dethroned."

Suneet Chopra of the All India Agriculture Workers Union says, “We have to see what these riots reflect, they represent a profound political crisis that is not only limited by the economic agendas. There is a consensus that the spurt in these forms of cases suggests a clearer manifestation of the deep-rooted agrarian crisis that has hit the rural economy of the country: lack of agricultural productivity, the unavailability of jobs and the growing push to bring development through land acquisition.”

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HardNewsMedia.com, 14 October, 2016, http://www.hardnewsmedia.com/2016/10/agrarian-riots-countryside-burning


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