La Via Campesina, Spain - Solidarity with Indian Farmers - Sunday, December 17, 2006
La via Campesina in its Mid-term Conference showed the solidarity to the farmer's
situations in India and did a candle light vigil in Malaga, Spain - Let the candle
light the lives of farmers.
Indian NRI's Raise Issue in Washington - Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Volunteers from the Maryland Chapter of the " Association for India's Development" -
AID, and other NRIs gathered, along with farmers' rights activist Arupathy Kalyanam, in
front of the Indian Embassy in Washington, D.C. to bring attention to the plight of
Indian farmers on World Human Rights day.
New Delhi, Nov 27, 2006 : What began as a sombre exercise to express anguish at the continuing demise of the farming community -- triggered by the anti-farmer policies of government -- by lighting a candle at the Jantar Mantar on Nov 16, has now spread throughout the country. Candlelight vigils are being organised across the country in solidarity with the fast-unto-death undertaken by the veteran freedom-fighter Mohan Dharia in Pune, and also to draw the attention of the people and policymakers towards the terrible agrarian crisis that afflicts the countryside. "Every five hours one farmers commits suicide somewhere in the country," says food and trade policy analyst Devinder Sharma, adding: " This is in reality an organised murder. Farmers are falling because of the anti-farming policies that are being propagated. The tragedy is that the hand that feeds the nation is being deliberately chopped-off." The crisis in the agrarian sector is driving the farmers to increasing debt and suicide. Official statistics put the total suicides in a decade to 150,000. Concerned citizens organised a candlelight vigil at Bhubaneshwar on Nov 18. A day later, on Nov 19, some members of the Telangana Jana Parishad went on hunger protest at Hyderabad in support of veteran freedom fighter and Socialist Leader Mohan Dharia (82) who is on a fast- onto- death in Pune. A candlelight vigil was organised at Thiruvananthapuram on Nov 21. Among the organisers of the Candlelight vigil held at Statue Junction in the heart of the city, Sridhar R of the NGO Thanal, asked: " The big question remains - Why is the Prime Minister silent over the hundreds dying every week? Would the Government have done the same if a few corporates or even if a few officials in the governments or any other organised sector is forced to such extents?" Farmers across the country has been asking the Dr Manmohan Singh Government and Sri Sharad Pawar's Ministry of Agriculture to take effective steps to address the agrarian situation and stop farmers from suiciding. The packages that the Government has offered in the Vidharbha region and for the other states including Andhra pradesh, karnataka and Kerala has not done anything to redeem the situation. The government should immediately write-off the outstanding dues of farmers owing less than 5 acres of irrigated land or 20 acres of unirrigated land. Added to this, the Government should stop the policies that will further fuel the crisis, all in the name of helping the corporate and MNC-driven industrial growth to prosper. Candlelight vigils were also held at Kolkata in West Bengal, Dharwad in Karnataka and Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh on Nov 22. Similar vigils have subsequently been organised at Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh and Faridkot in Punjab and Badalkot in Karnataka on Nov 23. Among the other places where candlelight vigils were held are Kochi and Thrissur in Kerala; Jaitu and Bagtuana in Punjab On Nov 27, the well-known humanitarian society in Punjab, Pingalwara, had held a candlelight vigil at Amritsar. Similar candlelight vigils are also planned at 45 mofussil towns in Uttar Pradesh, and 11 in Punjab. Meanwhile, Vidharba Jan Parishad, a federation of civil society groups, has given a call to hold a day-long dharna in front of the offices of the district collectors of the 11 districts of Vidharba region on Nov 28. "We will follow Mahatma Gandhi's principle of non-violence to bring the greatest tragedy to the public fore," says Mr Sharma. "But what is shameful is that the government continues to bring the industrial-driven model of agriculture and is trying to push farmers out of agriculture." For more details, contact Devinder Sharma: +91-9811301857 ------------------------------------
"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. " - Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi