Thread by @gauravsabnis

In case you're a non-Indian (or even an Indian) confused about what #Farmlawsrepealed exactly means and why everyone from Rihanna to Martina to Mia Khalifa were tweeting about it, here's a very simple thread laying out the simple facts.

60% Indians make a living through farming.

The modern Indian state plays a big role in agriculture, as a result. It tries to be the guarantor for all produce, set minimum support prices, provide a basic safety net. It's a progressive system put in place by INC people mostly. It has several problems too.

There are sectors of agriculture where government involvement causes more harm than good. And there are sectors of agriculture where government involvement causes more good than harm.

It's a complex world, right?

So anyway, Modi is always looking for some big "WIN".

Modi practically controls the Parliament. In US politics terms, it's like he has filibuster proof and veto proof majorities in both houses.

So he decided to try these "farm reforms". Which are basically bills written by neo-liberal US think tanks funded by Big Agri companies.

But he didn't go talk to farmers or their interest groups or anyone really. He just decided to introduce and quickly pass, without any debate, these bills that give private corporations a bigger systematic role in Indian agriculture and reduces the government's role.

Because there was no real debate or discuss or back and forth, like in healthy democracies, on these bills reshaping a sector that employs 60% of Indians, the bills didn't really seem like genuine reforms. They seemed like nakedly transparent pro-corporations bills.

Which they literally were. They came out of the neo-liberal American legislation writing think tank machinery. But the thing is, in America, all sides are writing such bills. The eventual legislation is a result of long messy negotiations. As things should be.

Turns out that when 60% of your population makes their living from a sector and you just upend it overnight, a significant chunk of those 60% feel peeved that they weren't even consulted. That some random think tank guy decided what Indian farming should be, not Indian farmers.

So started #FarmersProtest in northern India, where a significant chunk of farmers depend on government procurement to make a living. They weren't thrilled with the idea of switching to contract farming without so much as a conversation about the policy. Farming is complicated!

No one on the Farmers side was demanding a status quo forever. They were also up for some reforms in agriculture laws. But they weren't fans of these bills. For a variety of nuanced reasons they tried to explain. But the government was like, talk to the hand!

Modi fans think Modi can do no wrong. Modi fans also think that anything that is pro-corporations is a great step towards making India an economic superpower. Lots of corporate shills on the Modi side.

Modi voters embraced the bills because Modi said they were great bills.

So suddenly there is this new schism in the Indian society and polity that never existed before.

On one side, a lot of farmers, many of them Sikhs, who take farming seriously and say, dude, how can you just do this overnight without consultations?

On the other side, bhakts.

Because Bhakts always start from a "if Modi has done it, it must be good for India" mindset, they started thinking that farmers protesting the laws are foreign agents, traitors, anarchists, separatists, George Soros employees and whatever possible random motive they could imagine

Farmers around the Delhi region coordinated their protests and marches very well. Using social media. And got traction on social media. A very clear David v Goliath story. Of course Greta, Martina, Mia, Rihanna etc spoke up for the little guy. It's a question of fairness.

Plus the farmers weren't really demanding anything too outrageous if you think about it. Modi rammed through those bills in a matter of weeks. Farmers were just saying, dude, you didn't even talk to us. Modi's attitude was, trust me, I know best. Farmers said, nah you don't.

This whole thing could have ended months ago if Modi had just said, okay, let's suspend the bills for now. Let's talk. Let's figure out something together.

After all, privatization or corporatization of agriculture isn't exactly part of the traditional hindutva platform.

But that "if modi has done it, it must be right" mentality starts with Modi himself. The right wing, for some reason, decided to turn this into some "patriotic" cause. If you oppose the farm bills, you're anti-India. Eh? Well, that's how fascists fash.

Over 700 lives were lost because Modi hoped to just stare down protesting farmers with force and condescension. Putting literal road blocks in their way. But soon, it became clear that the farmers weren't going anywhere. They were genuinely pissed. And why wouldn't they be?

You don't just change the countries biggest economic sector overnight based on some quickly rammed through legislations no one read. You don't do that in democracies at least. So the basic demands of the #FarmersProtest were absolutely benign and straightforward. Talk to us!

Finally, Modi has realized that he can't just wait out the farmers. He thought he could. But he can't. Or if he does, there will be political costs.

So he's repealed the laws. Smart move. But his fan base is suffering from major cognitive dissonance whiplash.

All these people who decided to tie privatization of agriculture to the prestige of the nation or whatever, just to stan Modi, are now feeling vewy vewy sad. That those corporation friendly bills will be repealed. Poor lil corporations.

Much like Demonetization and CAA/NRC and 370 and GST, this is yet another self-inflicted polarizing wound on the Indian nation for no rational reason. We have gone from a country that said "Jai Jawan Jai Kisaan" to a lot of us saying farmers are either gullible or seditionists.

Remember that in a democratic republic, even if you win an election, it's not like you can just do whatever you want for 5 years. I mean technically, legally, you can. But that's not how democratic republics work. We debate transformational legislation for months if not years.

You can't just be like, okay, I'm PM till 2024 with a big majority so I'm going to ram this idea through and just trust me, it's good. You certainly can't do that for a sector employing 60% of your people. It's not some MBA assignment with a deadline, dude.

Plus this. Even its constitutionality is suspect.

https://twitter.com/Nikhil_P_B/status/1461689310273437698?t=YBVj_0YzL3k7tBcmQg8YkA&s=19

Anyway, in this thread, I've just tried to present objective facts. Don't ask me on my takes on whether the laws themselves are "good policy" or not. I'm not interested in that at all. Go talk to policy wonks for that. I'm more into the idea of a democratic republic than $ growth

So I'm not at all going to get drawn into debating the merits of the laws themselves because it's irrelevant. What is relevant is the process, which was decidedly undemocratic. And countered by textbook democratic and peaceful #FarmersProtest. It's about that, not money.

If you sacrifice democracy in the pursuit of economic growth, you end up with neither.

Your farm laws are your farm laws and indeed your "internal matter". But when you start attacking protestors and going after them like an authoritarian, that is not at all an "internal matter". It's then a human rights matter. On which Rihanna deserves as much say as Tendulkar.

If you're interested in the policy details about why farmers were actually protesting (not "foreign hand") and would like a simple explanation with nuance, here's Vivek.

https://twitter.com/kaul_vivek/status/1461721322094952450?t=dykmuP-MEE6evpDBFHFdGg&s=19