To the editor,
As we write this on January 18, a day to collectively remember the non-violent leadership of Martin Luther King, Jr. during the civil rights movement, we also recognize National Women Farmers Day in India where farmers are leading the largest protest in human history. Over 250 million farmers and farm workers are protesting, brought together through farmer and union organizations with a clearly articulated stance delivered without violence.
Indian farmers are protesting three laws that were enacted by the Modi government in September 2020. These laws that take away the guarantee that purchasers pay reasonable prices to farmers are the same kind of bipartisan policies that destroyed parity prices for farmers in this country from the 1950’s onward. Those policies have resulted in lower and lower prices that farmers get for their products, and thus, the kind of agriculture we have today where pasture and hay ground has been plowed up to grow more corn and soybeans to feed corporate animals raised in CAFOs and feedlots. With the erosion of soil, pollution of water, hollowing-out of rural communities, and few farm families left, these kinds of policies can’t make sense to anyone who cares about rural communities, farmers, and the environment.
It is vital to recognize the importance of protests that demand that a democratic government represent people and not just the most wealthy individuals and corporations. The civil rights movement led by MLK and many other respected leaders who were willing to stand up and speak out, the peace movement against US imperialism and militarism, and the current India farmer protests represent these human-rights based actions.
In contrast, the “protestors” at the US Capitol on January 6, wrapped themselves in the American flag, claimed to be patriots and to support the US Constitution. Their violent actions resulted in political disarray and confusion and in very serious threats to our most-needed rights of free speech.
In India, the Modi government has used nationalism connected with religious and national prejudices to gain power and to pit Indian against Indian for the benefit of the wealthy. Has not this come from the Trump playbook?
Internationalism, defined by the principles of cooperation among nations for the benefit of all humanity, is a worthy goal. As farmers, we recognize food sovereignty, where each country has policies to protect its own farmers and food production, and to protect the vital sources of life – water, soil, and air – as priorities, without free market trade agreements written for the benefit of multinational corporations that have taken away those rights. We need the kind of solidarity exhibited by Indian farmers and their allies to restore a truly democratic system of government here in the United States, one that works for all of us.
George and Patti Naylor, Churdan
