Rather Late: The TN State withdrawal of the controversial agricultural council act
Last week I had been away and could not blog this earlier. I think the State government's withdrawal of the TNSAC act is one of the best moments for the civil society groups representing farmer's interest in the state, particularly so for the small and articulate organic farming groups.
Two people I have had opportunity to interact stand out in their contribution for this, R. Selvam of Erode and Balasubramaniam of Tirumangalam, near Madurai. Selvam was the first to bring this Act to the notice of several people the day after this Act was passed in the Assembly. Since then, he has been consistently trying to use every possible lobby method to get the points across. Erode district farmers association was the first to submit a petition to the District Collector protesting on the issue, this was followed by almost every major farming district organic farmers submitting protest letters to the respective Collectors. Selvam also had organized an important meeting with Dr. Vandana Shiva in Chennai, where she spoke to the press about the issue at length.
When I first spoke to Bamayan (as Balasubramaniam is known by his pen name), couple of days after the Act was passed (around the 25th of July), he was leaving country for a week. But, he promised to write in depth on his return. He is one of our few writers who can combine knowledge of a scholar, passion of an activist and the language of a political writer in Tamil. So, was not surprised to see his exhaustive note circulated in the early Aug meeting of LIESA network in Trichy. This note in Tamil had become the base material for several articles that appeared in different local language papers. And finally, when Bamayan sent an invitation for a political meeting in Chennai presided over by Dr. Ramdoss of pmk and with participation of both communist parties in the state, that was the last straw for the government.
To give him the credit, the CM seems to have remarked that he had to wait for the farmers to learn of the pitfalls of this Act and the IAS had not briefed him properly on it. I haven't come across this remark of his, but, if that be true, the credit in listening to farmers and not to academics and officers certainly goes to him. But, it is Selvam and Bamayan who are the real heroes on this issue, for their persistence, their own styles of maintaining that the issue in the news, lobby with the friendly political parties to garner their support and eventually go public in large enough platforms (and ensure that it is in the media through some smart associations) to articulate their objection with clarity...there are several other farming leaders who lent their names, many who did their part, farmers groups in Nagapattinam (under the tutelage of an NGO that does not want its identity known) who placed posters outside their village protesting against this Act, several panchayats where resolutions were passed against the Act on Aug 15th, academics like Dr. Sultan Ismail of New College who stood besides the farmers n solidarity, journalists (pasumai vigadan and pasumai thayagam in particular)...
It is important to realize that here was an Act passed on the floor of the Assembly unanimously that has been since then withdrawn ONLY because of the public opposition to it, I don't know how frequently such things happen in any state, in Tamilnadu, this is a rare occurrence. Important to note that this is not the articulate middle class and their reflection in the English media, but, the farming communities, writing in Tamil, meeting in small villages and towns, no great show through rallies, bringing the change in the government stand. I think this needs to be reflected upon and its meaning understood.
I blog this despite being rather late just to acknowledge these two guys I know as much to acknowledge the rather sensitive response of a political leadership that had the power to ignore or steam roll these objections.
Two people I have had opportunity to interact stand out in their contribution for this, R. Selvam of Erode and Balasubramaniam of Tirumangalam, near Madurai. Selvam was the first to bring this Act to the notice of several people the day after this Act was passed in the Assembly. Since then, he has been consistently trying to use every possible lobby method to get the points across. Erode district farmers association was the first to submit a petition to the District Collector protesting on the issue, this was followed by almost every major farming district organic farmers submitting protest letters to the respective Collectors. Selvam also had organized an important meeting with Dr. Vandana Shiva in Chennai, where she spoke to the press about the issue at length.
When I first spoke to Bamayan (as Balasubramaniam is known by his pen name), couple of days after the Act was passed (around the 25th of July), he was leaving country for a week. But, he promised to write in depth on his return. He is one of our few writers who can combine knowledge of a scholar, passion of an activist and the language of a political writer in Tamil. So, was not surprised to see his exhaustive note circulated in the early Aug meeting of LIESA network in Trichy. This note in Tamil had become the base material for several articles that appeared in different local language papers. And finally, when Bamayan sent an invitation for a political meeting in Chennai presided over by Dr. Ramdoss of pmk and with participation of both communist parties in the state, that was the last straw for the government.
To give him the credit, the CM seems to have remarked that he had to wait for the farmers to learn of the pitfalls of this Act and the IAS had not briefed him properly on it. I haven't come across this remark of his, but, if that be true, the credit in listening to farmers and not to academics and officers certainly goes to him. But, it is Selvam and Bamayan who are the real heroes on this issue, for their persistence, their own styles of maintaining that the issue in the news, lobby with the friendly political parties to garner their support and eventually go public in large enough platforms (and ensure that it is in the media through some smart associations) to articulate their objection with clarity...there are several other farming leaders who lent their names, many who did their part, farmers groups in Nagapattinam (under the tutelage of an NGO that does not want its identity known) who placed posters outside their village protesting against this Act, several panchayats where resolutions were passed against the Act on Aug 15th, academics like Dr. Sultan Ismail of New College who stood besides the farmers n solidarity, journalists (pasumai vigadan and pasumai thayagam in particular)...
It is important to realize that here was an Act passed on the floor of the Assembly unanimously that has been since then withdrawn ONLY because of the public opposition to it, I don't know how frequently such things happen in any state, in Tamilnadu, this is a rare occurrence. Important to note that this is not the articulate middle class and their reflection in the English media, but, the farming communities, writing in Tamil, meeting in small villages and towns, no great show through rallies, bringing the change in the government stand. I think this needs to be reflected upon and its meaning understood.
I blog this despite being rather late just to acknowledge these two guys I know as much to acknowledge the rather sensitive response of a political leadership that had the power to ignore or steam roll these objections.
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