Nuancing our response as support to farmers’ agitation goes global

The Centre needlessly hyperventilated to dismiss the likes of Rihanna, Greta Thunberg and Meena Harris, who have supported the ongoing farmers’ protests, as mere pinpricks. After all, foreign policy, diplomacy and international relations are not and will never be shaped by the views of celebrities, however huge their following is on social media. But when the US government weighs in on the biggest challenge the Narendra Modi government has so far faced, as it did in the early hours of Thursday, it is time to take note and not be dismissive of international opinion.

In the first reaction to the protests, the Biden administration gave a very nuanced view. While it supported the reforms to make the markets more efficient and stressed     on the need for peaceful protests, it questioned the internet crackdown and called for a dialogue to resolve the deadlock. The Biden administration is most likely to be very different from Donald Trump’s. During this month last year, the former President was visiting India when parts of Delhi were engulfed in the worst communal riots since 1984, yet he chose to ignore the violence as one of India’s internal affairs.

But the new US government is unlikely to be a mute spectator to events that impinge on human rights, religious tolerance, free speech and an independent media. This does not mean that only such issues will underpin Indo-US relations in the coming years. The relationship will more likely depend on geopolitical, strategic, commerce and business needs. So while South Block mandarins need not be overly concerned at the US comments, they cannot be ignored either. 

Going forward, the government needs to make another sincere attempt at breaking the ice. The strategy to tire out the protesters or paint them as anti-national has not worked. It could agree to a structured, standalone debate in Parliament to discuss the issue threadbare, based on which it could go back to the farmers with a new offer that is qualitatively different from the ones on the table so far. The biggest learning for the Centre would be to not rush future legislations through—however sound they might be—in Parliament based on its brute majority, else they would be blocked on the streets with copycat protests.