-Countercurrents.org Real life has a way of surprising theory. One of the most intensely discussed theoretical questions on the Left has been how to bring agricultural labourers and peasants, including well-to-do peasants, together in a common struggle against landlord domination in India’s countryside. Numerous Marxist gatherings have for years discussed the contradiction between peasants and labourers holding up a decisive resolution of the contradiction between the landlords and the rest of...

-Hindustan Times The BJP leadership has explicitly instructed the cadre to reinforce that the ongoing farm protests are “motivated” and an attempt to “destabilise” the country, a party functionary claimed The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has redoubled efforts to distance the farmer protests from the farm issues ahead of elections in states such as Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, where the demand from a section of farmers’ for repealing the farm laws enacted...

-The Hindu Punjab CM demands PM’s intervention to begin immediate procurement The Punjab government and a number of farm unions from Punjab and Haryana have raised objections to the Centre’s decision to postpone procurement of paddy in both States until October 11, citing higher moisture content due to rainfall. The unions have called on farmers to protest the move outside the homes of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Jannayak Janta Party (JJP)...

-The Tribune The farmers’ protests reflect the western region’s pre-election zeitgeist Uttar pradesh’s regions spanning the west, east, centre and Bundelkhand, exist in silos, each with their own preoccupations and concerns conditioned by economics, geography and demography. However, come an election, political imperatives transcend the distinctive characteristics. UP votes as one state, and has lately, rooted for a single party or coalition. The fractured verdicts that threw UP into disarray in the...

-Foundation for Agrarian Studies blog The announcement on September 8, 2021 of the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for the upcoming Rabi Marketing Season (RMS) will be seen as adding insult to injury by thousands of protesting farmers who have sustained their agitation against the three anti-farmer Farm Acts for over a year. This is because the procurement prices offered are not merely grossly inadequate but also because the package comes dressed in...