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Small or large, farmers are not parasites, Mr Prime Minister!

Drawing on his personal experience, Bhanwar Meghwanshi argues that the three farm laws, against which the farmers are protesting on the borders of Delhi, are more damaging to small and landless farmers than to their richer counterparts

Replying to the discussion on the motion of thanks on the president’s address in the Rajya Sabha on February 8, Prime Minister Narendra Modi coined a new word – andolanjeevi. In a jibe aimed at the farmers’ agitation, he said that just as there are “buddhijeevis” (intellectuals) and “shramjeevis” (those who live by the sweat of their brow), so there are “andolanjeevis” (those who live off agitations). He described the “andolanjeevis” as parasites and warned the nation to beware of them. He also said that 12 crore small farmers in the country didn’t sell their produce in mandis and had nothing to do with the Minimum Support Price (MSP). What he meant was that the ongoing movement was of the big farmers and that the small cultivators were unconcerned by it.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE: Small or large, farmers are not parasites, Mr Prime Minister!

About The Author

Bhanwar Meghwanshi

Author, journalist and socio-cultural activist Bhanwar Meghwanshi is the editor of Shunyakal.com. His autobiography ‘Main ek Karsewak tha' is about his early days as a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) worker and how he left the organization and became its staunch critic. The English translation of the book was published recently under the title ‘I Could not be Hindu’.

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