IN SOLIDARITY WITH PROTESTING FARMERS
Date: 08-Dec-2020
For their courage, resilience and peaceful protests, we salute all the farmers who are calling for the
withdrawal of the THREE AGRICULTURE RELATED ACTS. We support their demands for abrogating
these Acts, for the government to call for a parliamentary session to consider alternatives, and
overall to recognise the negative implications of these Acts for all agriculturists and for the rural
sector as a whole. This movement which has gained national support must also dovetail into a
movement to reclaim our democratic structures, processes and culture. It must also become a
moment to re-instate the rural sector as a viable and foundational part of India’s economy and
society. Drawing on several years of studies, research and consultation we call for a consideration of
alternative ideas for rural and agrarian India. These ideas and approaches must address issues of
entrenched inequities, ecological unsustainability, and economic instability of the agricultural and
rural domains. Details of these ideas and suggestions are available in our recent report, THE STATE
OF RURAL AND AGRARIAN INDIA 2020.
We encourage all NRAS members to support this movement and to initiate supportive activities
where ever they are. These could be by writing to their elected representatives, especially the
Members of Parliament in their constituencies, conducting discussions at various levels, sharing
ideas and suggestions from the report, writing in local publications in various Indian languages, and
integrating these debates and issues in on-going classes and seminars.
