Indira: Government Sets up Small Farmers for Failure

By Drew B.

India, specifically New Delhi, has been in turmoil since late last year due to the recently implemented acts reforming previous agriculture laws. The Indian government stated that these were applied to benefit the farming industry. However the small time private farmers feel it is a ploy to assist larger farming corporations. Currently 60% of India's 1.3 billion population rely on agriculture as their source of income and livelihood (Mogul, 2021). These upset farmers have taken to the streets and are rebelling against these new bills passed. They are currently in the 7th month of protesting and are firm that they will not stop until their needs are met.




The Laws

The Bills were passed by the Prime Minister of India, Nerendra Modi and other supporting legislative members. These were intended to allow more freedom of trade and enlarge their markets. The farmers feel this reform was rather disrespectful and bestows all power within corporate walls leaving private farmers in shambles. These new laws consist of “The Farmers Trade and Commerce Act” along with “Farmers Agreement on Price Assurance Act” and the “Essential Commodities Act”. These laws revolve around global electronic trading which most private farmers in India can not afford. (Park, 2021)

The Outcome

The farmers openly have stated that they will not halt protests until these laws are repealed outright. The government has attempted to negotiate with the farmers and protest leaders but they refuse negotiations unless their needs are met, which once again is an outright appeal.





Havoc at the Capital

The protests sparked August 9th, 2020 and are still ongoing today. They began consisting of 200 farm unions throughout 22 different states and have grown to be much bigger over the past few months. The farmers refuse to leave the area and many have been even sleeping there for the past four months (Zargar, 2021). The protests started off fairly moderate and peaceful up until January 26, when a group of farmers stormed India’s historic Red Fort building. This attack left many protesters and police officers injured. In response to the farmer's ambush, the police officers were seemingly forced to use violence back. Prior to the charge, the government was actively trying to put an end to the farmers peaceful protests (Mashal, 2021).



Internet Shutdown

Recently many celebrities and influencers took to twitter to raise awareness for the events. Amongst those two were R&B singer Rihanna and environmental activist, Greata Thunberg (both pictured below). Indian government officials reacted by saying that “the temptation of sensationalist social media hashtags and comments, especially when resorted to by celebrities and others, is neither accurate nor responsible” (Mogul, 2021). In response to the internet traction and statements that were released, the government temporarily dismantled internet connection. These hubs were being used as an outlet for the protesters to publicize the ongoing acts.





References

Zargar, Arshad R. “Greta Thunberg Reiterates Support for India Farmers' Protest despite ‘Threats.’” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 4 Feb. 2021, www.cbsnews.com/news/india-farmers-protest-greta-thunberg-threats-rihanna-meena-harris-modi-government/.

Mogul, Rhea. “Indian Farmers' Protests: Rihanna, Greta Thunberg Lead Growing Support and Draw Furious Backlash.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 4 Feb. 2021, www.nbcnews.com/news/world/rihanna-greta-thunberg-lead-growing-support-india-s-farmers-draw-n1256700.

Mashal, Mujib, et al. “India's Farmer Protests Explained.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 27 Jan. 2021, www.nytimes.com/2021/01/27/world/asia/india-farmer-protest.html.


Park, Andrea. “India's Farmers Have Been Protesting New Agriculture Laws for Months-Here's Why.” Marie Claire, Marie Claire, 3 Feb. 2021, www.marieclaire.com/politics/a35397911/indian-farmers-protest/.

Coronavirus & Hungary: The New Way History Repeats Itself

“That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons that history has to teach.” ― Aldous Huxley, Collected Essays.

Viktor Orbán, Hungarian Prime Minister. Photo courtesy of https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/04/12/viktor-orban-is-just-getting-started-hungary/

        Since the onset of the Coronavirus Pandemic, governments worldwide have enacted strict measures to contain the spread of the virus–but not without infringing on their citizen’s individual freedoms, equality, and democracy itself. Aspiring autocratic leaders around the world have not let the Pandemic go to waste; they’ve taken advantage of it–seized control of their governments and implemented draconian legislation to expand their power. As per usual, during times of crisis, laws passed are often rapidly voted on without much reflection and almost always outlive the crisis they were supposed to solve. For example, the Patriot Act of 2001, drafted in response to the Terrorist Attacks of 9/11, expanded American government surveillance on American citizens, citing an increased need to intercept terrorism. Now, in 2021, twenty years later, the Patriot Act is still active. While many countries granted political elites emergency powers that would be unreasonable pre-Covid, nothing is as disturbing as the increasingly authoritarian regime of Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán. Since being elected in 2010, Orbán and his party have slowly dismantled the systems of democracy within Hungary by rewriting the constitution, redrawing parliamentary districts, expanding the constitutional court’s size, and buying 90% of private media, among many other tactics. Emergency powers granted to Orbán due to the Coronavirus Pandemic have aided him in successfully dragging his country into authoritarianism; the Hungarian Prime Minister now has the power to suspend existing laws, bypass Hungarian parliament on new laws that he disagrees with, limit freedom of speech, suspend all Hungarian elections, and imprison anyone who’s distributed “distorted” or “false” information, as defined by Orbán and his party–and, these emergency powers are indefinite. After a little more than a decade in power, Orbán has now become the democratically elected dictator of Hungary.

Hungarian Parliament. Photo courtesy of https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/9/13/17823488/hungary-democracy-authoritarianism-trump

        Like that of Hungary, the regression towards a more authoritarian-like state is, unfortunately, common during times of calamity. Specifically, during Covid; Israel Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has granted his intelligence agencies the power to track citizens with their mobile phone data; President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, has been granted extraordinary powers, such as assuming ownership of private companies that “unjustifiably refuse or signify that they are no longer able to operate due to the outbreak,” as defined by President Duterte himself; Thailand Prime Minister, Prayut Chan-o-cha, has been granted the authority to censor the media if they spread “disinformation,” as defined by Chan-o-cha himself; and, the United States just barely dodged legislation that would’ve allowed the indefinite detaining of citizens without trial–directly opposing the Sixth Amendment.

The Fall of the Roman Empire. Photo courtesy of https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3cszjvq

        While we need to take immediate, drastic measures to contain the Coronavirus, we must not forget that those in power will take advantage of the crisis for their own benefit. While the Coronavirus itself may be new, its history has been playing on repeat since the human species gained sentience. Political elites in Ancient Greece fostered conflict and competition between their city-states to further their own agenda, contributing to the fall of the Athenian democracy. The Roman Empire's political elites used their status to gradually shift their representative democracy to a dictatorship, which contributed to the Roman Empire’s ultimate demise. Hitler used the tragedy of World War 1 and Germany’s severe economic depression to establish the Nazi party, evoke a wave of German nationalism, and establish the harmful myth of Aryan grandiosity. Coronavirus has only modernized these dangerous political tendencies. Fighting for the preservation and expansion of democracy is the moral and ethical obligation of every citizen in every country–not just those on the brink of dictatorship like Hungary. If we do not apply history’s lessons to the present day, we will undoubtedly seal our fate as part of the repeating cycle.

References:

Beauchamp, Zack. “It Happened There: How Democracy Died in Hungary.” Vox, 13 Sept. 2018, 

        www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/9/13/17823488/hungary-democracy-authoritarianism-trump.

Borbáth, Endre. “How Does the Corona Virus Strengthen Authoritarianism in Hungary?” Berlin Social 

        Science Center, 15 Apr. 2020, www.wzb.eu/en/research/corona-und-die-folgen/how-does-the-corona-

        virus-strengthen-authoritarianism-in-hungary.

Kingsley, Patrick. “As West Fears the Rise of Autocrats, Hungary Shows What's Possible.” The New York 

        Times, The New York Times, 10 Feb. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/02/10/world/europe/hungary-

        orban-democracy-far-right.html.

Guerra, Gustavo. “Global Legal Monitor.” Philippines: President Granted Temporary Extraordinary 

        Powers to Combat COVID-19 | Global Legal Monitor, 30 Apr. 2020, www.loc.gov/law/foreign-

        news/article/philippines-president-granted-temporary-extraordinary-powers-to-combat-covid-19/.