KHUN KI KHETI: FARM DISCOURSE AT A LOW
Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Tomar's bloody phrase is expected to resonate in political corridors
The word ‘blood’ recurs in Indian political lexicon with a monotonous regularity – ‘khun ki dalali,’ ‘maut ka saudagar,’ to recall a few; generally, it surfaces during electioneering. Often, the Congress has used the emotive catchword, hoping to change the national narrative, but has unwittingly brought the political discourse to a low.
On Friday, the evocative word emanated from none other than the Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, and that too on the floor of the House, with the government going ballistic against the Congress, accusing it of doing "Khoon Ki Kheti," in a veiled suggestion that the party was instigating the farmers and blocking a solution to the impasse.
‘‘Duniya janti hai pani se kheti hoti hai. Khun se kheti sirf Congress hi kar sakti hai, BJP khun se kheti nahi kar sakti,’’ Tomar declared as he tried to put the Opposition on the mat, asserting that they had failed to point out a single flaw in the three farm laws.
He further lamented that "nobody is ready to explain what is amiss," when the farm laws are dubbed as black laws (koi batane ko taiyar nahin isme kaala kya hai).’’ He also sought to underscore that the "government's offer to amend the laws to allay the farmers' misgivings did not mean they had any flaws". "For two months I kept asking farmer unions what is ‘kala’ in the laws, so that I can address the lacunae. But I could not get an answer," he said.
The Minister also asserted that the protests were "limited to only one state" and farmers were being instigated.
Tomar explained the ‘blood-soaked’ expression he had used was a take-off on the title of a Congress document. "The Congress had released a booklet in the presence of Rahul Gandhi a few days back. It was titled 'kheti ka khoon'," Tomar said, by way of explanation He informed the House that the Centre had followed "due procedure" before bringing the three laws and had held consultations with states and farmers for facilitating barrier-free trade. Citing reasons for "urgency" to promulgate the three Ordinances last June, Tomar said due to disruption of markets and supply chains during the COVID-19 lockdown, there was "utmost need to allow free direct marketing outside the mandis.’’ Meanwhile, the deadlock in the Lok Sabha continued for the 4th consecutive day with the Opposition protesting against the three contentious farm laws.