After the 26th January insurrection, Rakesh Tikait has made another ‘promise’ ahead of his call for Chakka Jam on the February 6th. Rakesh Tikait has said that the Chakka Jam will not take place inside the premises of Delhi but outside the premises and everyone who would be ‘stuck’ would be provided food and water.
BKU leader and the mastermind behind the farmer protest, that led to an insurrection on the 26th of July, has this time around claimed that the three-hour-long Chakka jam is going to be ‘peaceful’.
It is pertinent to note that even before the 26th of January, Tikait had claimed that the tractor rally would be peaceful and that they would adhere to the terms and conditions set by the Delhi Police. However, on the 26th of January, they deviated from all the promises they had made. The number of tractors were far more than they had permission for and they deviated from the agreed upon path and went to the Red Fort and India Gate instead. Upon reaching the Red Fort, the Indian Flag was disrespected, slogans about Khalistan were raised and over 400 police personnel were injured in the violence on the 26th.
The so-called farmers and Khalistanis did not only indulge in violence at the Red Fort, but several visuals of these “farmers” attacking police personnel with stones, swords and sticks emerged.
The Delhi Police, for good reason, is not taking the empty words of Tikait seriously this time. Ahead of the Chakka Jam, a series of meetings were held and by the Delhi Police top brass.
The Police, on the other hand, has also reportedly said that strict action will be taken by the Delhi Police against the agitators if the traffic is blocked and, a close watch will be kept on people entering the national capital.
The Haryana ADGP (law and order) has also issued directives to the SPs and Commissioners in view of farmers’ proposed ‘chakka jam’ tomorrow. “Maximum force shall be pulled out from non-operational duties. Intelligence network should be geared up and necessary preventive action may be taken,” it reads.
The Chakka Jam plans ahead of Delhi anti-Hindu Riots and why the Delhi Police needs to be cautious of Rakesh Tikait
It is pertinent to note that even ahead of the rampant violence in Delhi in 2020 during the anti-Hindu riots, it was the calls for Chakka Jam by Islamists that had reverberated.
While there were myriad of other factors like shaming India internationally, retaliating for the Ayodhya verdict and getting international attention while pushing the ‘Muslims under attack’ trope, the phenomenon that raised its ugly head during the Delhi Riots was ‘Chakka Jam’. A way to cripple the national capital and ultimately, the entire country.
“There are over 30% urban Muslims in UP. Do you have no shame at all? Why cannot you do Chakkajam in UP? The area in Bihar where I am from, the rural Muslim population is 6% while the urban Muslim population is 24%. Indian Muslims mostly live in cities. So it is upon you. You can bring your cities to a halt. If anyone asks you not to, disown them”.
Further, in another video, amidst controversial slogans of “Allah-u-Akbar” and “Naara-e-Taqbeer”, a stunning revelation was made about how rallies organised by Kanhaiya Kumar can be used to instigate 5 lakh Muslims to create riots.
“If 5 lakhs Muslims are organised then we can cut the North-east from rest of India. If we cannot do permanently, at least we can cut North-east from India for months. Our responsibility is to cut the Assam from India then Govt will hear our voice. If we have to help the Assam then we will have to cut the Assam from rest of India.”
These were the words of JNU student and The Wire columnist Sharjeel Imam. The Islamist who is now being credited with organising the Delhi Riots to a large extent. He wanted to get Muslims to bring cities to a halt. He wanted Muslims to do Chakka Jam and occupy Chicken’s Neck (which is a 22 Km strip that connects the rest of India to the Northeast), thereby cutting Northeast off from the rest of India. He wanted Muslims on the road, everywhere, throughout the country, to ensure that we come to a standstill. We, of course, should not forget that he was the mastermind of Shaheen Bagh. And the aim of Shaheen Bagh was to do exactly that. Disrupt peace and civil liberties of other citizens of the city, in the name of protest, with the help of the Islamist media – they succeeded in doing that for a long time.
Even during the farmer protests, these nefarious designs have raised their ugly head and the Chakka Jam model seems to be getting replicated by Rakesh Tikait. The Delhi Police is therefore taking precautions before the 6th February Chakka Jam.
What are the farm laws
One of the biggest factors plaguing the growth of agriculture sector in the country is the inability of the farmer to find a market and to get a fair price to his produce. To address the issue, the erstwhile governments of different states enacted the Agricultural Produce Market Regulation Acts (APMC Acts), which authorised them to set up and regulate marketing practices in wholesale markets.
The objective of these markets was to ensure that farmers get a fair price for their produce. However, with each passing year, the APMCs turned out to be inefficient with increasing cartelisation of middlemen, ban on private players to enter the trade, increasing corruption etc.
The Modi government recently introduced three bills to promote much easier trade for the farm produce and to provide a competitive market for the producers outside the existing APMC system. The three laws were:
- The Farming Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020: This law aims at creating additional trading opportunities outside the APMC market yards to help farmers get remunerative prices due to additional competition
- The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020: This law relates a framework for contract farming through an agreement between a farmer and a buyer prior to the production or rearing of any farm produce.
- The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020: This law aims to regulate the supply of certain food items only under extraordinary circumstances.
It is pertinent to mention that the farm laws are set of three laws that allow farmers to sell their products outside APMC act (most states make it compulsory for the farmers to sell at APMC mandis). It also allows farmers to directly have a contract with corporate houses.
That farm laws don’t do away with APMC, and if someone is not willing to trust markets outside the current system, they are free to stick to the ongoing system. It doesn’t do away with MSPs either. However, the prevalent narrative that seems to be motivated by political concerns falsely claims that APMCs and MSP are being done away with.
They also allege that due to these laws, big corporations would have the upper hand in a deal with farmers, however, that again is a lie. In fact, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 ensures that a contract is agreed upon and gives the farmer the power to even cancel contracts.