Chhavi Bhatia;
Singhu Border—A gentleman in his 50s takes to the stage and addresses hundreds of people sitting on the floor—men, women, children—who listen to him in rapt attention. He talks about the contentious farm laws and how it will cast a long and dark shadow on their future. Before he leaves, he reasserts, “saddi ladai jaari rahu”(We will continue to fight on). For the last 11 days since tens of thousands of farmers dug in their heels at Singhu on the Delhi-Haryana border, the stage has seen farm leaders, artists, sportsperson, youth activists speak on the farmers’ issues and their struggle. Not once has a political person made it to the cut, in a strong message being sent out by farmer leaders—the stage is out of bounds for politicians and anyone with an agenda other than farmers’ issues.
From day one, the farmers are resolute that politicians won’t be allowed to speak. Conscious of attempts to colour their peaceful sit-in as “sponsored” by “vested interests”, they are keeping a hawk’s eye on who makes it to the stage. “We want only our voice to emerge. It would take one loose remark, one incendiary or irresponsible statement and all our efforts will go down the drain,” says Jaswinder Singh, BKU member, Budhlada.
Farmer leaders daily address people to boost their morale as they brave extreme weather conditions camping in the open. In all the speeches, farmers’ issues remain at core. The speeches start around 10 in the morning and go on till 6PM. After that, Gurbani is read out from the stage as people stay on for evening prayers.
Even when Punjabi singer Diljit Dosanjh went on stage on Saturday, he was explicitly told to remain focused on farmers’ demands. Interestingly, a whole process of vetting goes into finalising the speakers. Special committees that include senior farm leaders, volunteers meticulously preen through the prospective candidates who are briefed beforehand on the dos and donts, the latter being “no political or personal agenda”. Dosanjh, Harbhajan Mann, Ranjit Bawa, Gurshabad, boxer Vijender Singh are some of the few names who have spoken from the stage. Among those banned is singer Deep Sidhu who caused a stir with his remarks that farmers saw as “provocative” and detrimental to their cause.
Presence of political figures like Yogendra Yadav at the venue only steels the farmers’ resolve to keep politicians at bay. “All of us, even the farmer leaders have no political ambitions. We are fighting for our existence. We want it to remain that. No provocative speeches are to be made using our platform. We won’t let anyone hijack it,” says Satwinder Singh, member, All India Kisan Sangharsh Samiti. The leaders understand the significance of keeping farmers’ spirits high very well. Historical references of farmers’ struggles and Sikhs’ valour are made during speeches. “We are one big family here who are standing with each other. This stage that you see is not to get votes or push your personal agenda. Getting distracted is easy. What is difficult is to keep this family intact in Chardhi Kala and we are striving to do that,” he adds.
