Malaysian gurdwaras express solidarity for Indian farmers

By Asia Samachar Team | MALAYSIA |

Malaysian gurdwaras have expressed their support for the Indian farmers’ peaceful protest against three laws deemed detrimental to their interests.

At its annual general meeting in Kuala Lumpur today (Dec 12), Malaysian Gurdwaras Council (MGC) unanimously passed a statement expressing strong support and solidarity with Indian farmers leading a peaceful protest to repeal the three legislations passed in September 2020.

“The Malaysian Gurdwaras and the Sikh Sanggat stand strongly with the Kesaan on this issue,” MGC president Jagir Singh said in the statement. A copy was emailed to Asia Samachar.

THE LETTER IN FULL

MGC: We support Farmers Protest to Repeal the 3 Bills

The Malaysian Gurdwaras Council at its AGM held on 12/12/2020 and attended by representatives of Gurdwaras throughout Malaysia unanimously passed statement expressing strong support and solidarity with the Kesaan (Farmers) of India who are leading a peaceful protest to repeal the 3 Bills passed in September, 2020. The Malaysian Gurdwaras and the Sikh Sanggat stand strongly with the Kesaan on this issue.

2. We call upon the Honourable Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi to do justice in the case of the Farmers by repealing the 3 Bills. The Farmers should not be pushed into bondage of the Corporations. The Farmers are the backbone of the country. More than 85% of the Farmers are not able to make their ends meet. Do not push them further into debts and subjugation by the Corporations. A just and right decision under the circumstances is to repeal the 3 Bills immediately so that the Farmers can return to their farms and homes.
3. (i) The 3 Bills are oppressive. They protect the Big Corporations at the expense of the Farmers. The Bills provide that if there is any dispute between the Farmer and the Corporation (Trader), the dispute cannot be taken to Court. The contract forces the Farmer to go to a Mediation Board which invariably will be controlled by the Corporation.

(ii) The Bills further provide that “No one who is part of the State or Central Government can be sued”. This clause shields all arbitrary and wrongful decisions of the State and Central Government.

(iii) The Minimum Support Price (MSP) protection guaranteed by Government at present, has been abolished. Instead, the Farmers will be at the mercy of the Corporations who will use their massive stockpiles to dictate the price.

(iv) The Bills also provide for 3^rd party testing the quality of the food grain. This 3^rd party can be easily manipulated by the Corporation. The Farmers have no recourse to the Courts or to hold the 3^rd party accountable.

4. According to the 2011 official census:

• Average size of the Farmers holding has been considerably reduced from 2.28 hectares (1970-1971) to 1.15 hectares (2010 -2011) and to 1.08 hectares (2015 – 2016).
• Top 10% of the households are now cultivating almost 50% of India’s total Agricultural lands.
• Government sources show that average income of a farming household stood at a mere Rs8,931 per month in 2016/2017. This roughly translates to one lakh rupees per year.
• Overall, about 85% of Farmers fall in category of small farms with less than 2 hectares. [SOURCE: The WIRE, Vijay Jawandhya and Ajay Dandkar, Oct 01, 2020)

5. The above shows that about 85% of the Farmers are very poor earning about Rs1Lakh per year. For the last 4 decades, these Farmers are not even able to recover even their basic cost of cultivation. This has resulted in regular borrowing by these Farmers from Aarthias, etc.

Signed

JAGIR SINGH

President, MGC

RELATED STORY:

#FarmersProtest: All borders leading to Delhi are closed (Asia Samachar, 12 Dec 2020)