Land Bill: Drunk on power govt resorting to dadagiri, says Govindacharya

New Delhi: Drunk with power after securing a majority in Lok Sabha, BJP leaders at the Centre have forgotten the commitment they had made to the people of this country, former RSS ideologue KN Govindacharya told Firstpost. He questioned the development model being aggressively advocated by the government and said it is being challenged in several countries. Terming the Modi government as “pro-rich, pro-corporate and anti-farmer”, he also criticized the obstinate zeal with which the government is pushing through its version of the Land Bill. Referring to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s recent statement that the government might consider calling a joint session of Parliament for the passage of the contentious bill, Govindacharya said the fact that the government has promulgated the ordinance thrice speaks a lot. [caption id=“attachment_2312626” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. PTI[/caption] “The government is resorting to ‘dadagiri’. It exposes their undemocratic trait. (Arun) Jaitley should have made such a statement only after the submission of the JPC report and not now, when the proceedings are in progress. It’s incomprehensible that Jaitley, who was imprisoned during the Emergency for raising voice against the violation of democracy, would push a bill that will cause immense damage to farmers so insensitively,” he said. Govindacharya, once an important part of the BJP’s think-tank and now leader of Bharat Vikas Sangam and Rashtriya Swabhiman Andolan movements, had appeared before the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) a couple of days ago to put forward his point of view on the land bill. “There’s a serious conflict between the visions of development of the Sangh Parivar and the Modi government. The latter’s development model, which is oblivious to the Indian reality, will render 40 crore small and marginal farmers landless, and in turn convert them into industrial labourers. According to this model of development, small landholdings are unproductive. This myth was busted long ago. The government is simply ignoring the people belonging to the RSS-affiliated bodies and other farmers’ organizations who have been opposing the bill by branding them as ‘jhola-chaap’ activists,” he said. The entire focus of the Modi government is on large agricultural land holdings, he said, adding the methods they are now trying to implement in India have long been facing severe opposition in many European and western nations. “The most surprising part of the model is to delink traditional cow rearing and dairy from agriculture. Unlike our traditional culture, the use of cow is now only for milk production and later for slaughtering.” “The problem with this government at the Centre is that it wants to introduce the American and the Brazilian models in India’s agricultural sector. By the term ‘pro-farmer’, prime minister Narendra Modi only means large agricultural farms and corporatisation of the farm sector. The promises made by the BJP in its manifesto are falling flat, and the government seems to be in a hurry to snatch away land from the poor and marginal farmers. And the urgency to get the bill passed by any means whatsoever, is the proof,” he said. Besides his foremost demand for ‘land against land’ for farmers, he has been demanding fixing responsibility of government officials in land acquisition, written consent from Gram Sabhas (village councils) for land acquisition, constitutional commissions at the centre and states to assess social impact, provision for strict punishment for those resorting to irregularities and corruption and a clear definition on land acquisition for industrial corridors. Govindacharya added, “Food security is a big challenge. The size of agricultural land is gradually diminishing. Why doesn’t the government consider the wasteland in the country for industrialization? There are more than five crore people in India who are living even without a thatched roof on their heads. Has the government thought about them?