On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly defended the three farm laws enacted by his government that intend to bring major reforms in the farm sector. Standing firmly behind the country’s small and marginal farmers, PM Modi asserted that the farm laws would not be repealed. The PM, however, added that the government was open to negotiations.
Replying to the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address in Rajya Sabha, PM Modi spoke of how attempts are being made by left-wing ecosystem to create roadblocks against reforms just like they did during the days of ‘Green Revolution’.
In his speech in Rajya Sabha, Prime Minister Modi draw a parallel between the farm sector reforms initiated by his government in the last six years to the Green Revolution that started in the mid-1960s and remembered how the leftists had hounded the then Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri just as they created impediments to the Modi government from initiating reforms.
After the death of Nehru and the defeat in the Indo-China 1962 war, the country was facing a bad time, coupled with massive food shortages, monsoon failures, etc. At the time, India was dependant on the American assistance for food under PL 480 scheme in which the US would send India food grains so Indians would not starve.
However, Former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri took a resolve to end this food insecurity by bringing in new varieties (of crops), hybrids, plant breeding, fertilisers and modern irrigation — which led to the Green Revolution.
Leftists had called Lal Bahadur Shastri an ‘American Agent’: PM Modi
Remembering the former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, PM Modi Modi recalled how Congress leaders did not have the courage to take up the challenge and refused the post of Agriculture Minister when Shastri attempted to bring in these reforms. PM Modi also pointed out the hue and cry against Lal Bahadur Shastri for taking courageous decisions to achieve food security and initiate farm sector reforms during the ‘Green Revolution’ era.
“No one was ready to become Agriculture Minister in Shastriji’s time. Planning Commission also opposed the agriculture reforms then. But Shastri Ji moved forward. Left parties said the same thing then that it is being done on America’s instructions,” remembered PM Modi.
In his speech, PM Modi revealed how the Green Revolution had met with the same kind of resistance and opposition that the current farm reforms are experiencing. Attacking the left-wing ecosystem in the country that is fueling the protests currently, PM Modi said that Left is using the same language to attack the Green Revolution as they are doing now.
During his speech, PM Modi also recalled how Congress leaders were called “American agents” by the leftists. He added that Shastri move moved forward on his resolve to achieve surplus food production.
PM Modi defends farm laws, says perennial parasites are fuelling current protests
In a scathing attack against the ‘perennial’ protestors, Prime Minister Modi also said that while protesting is the right of the people of India, the so-called protests against the farm laws were a result of some career protestors misleading farmers.
Quoting a few familiar names, PM Modi said that people are familiar with words like ‘Shramjeevi, Buddhijeevi etc., however, PM Modi said that a new ‘Jamaat’ had taken birth in India in the form of ‘Andolanjeevi’ – a sly term for career protestors who literally survive on these so-called protests.
He said that these ‘Andolanjeevis’ plant themselves in whatever protest is ongoing. If there is a protest by lawyers, they will be seen amidst the lawyers. If there is a protest by students, they will reach there, and if there is a protest by labourers, they will appear there as well. They sometimes function in front of the public eye, and oftentimes, function behind the scenes. “Ye poori toli hai ji”, said PM Modi (this is an entire cabal).
Further, PM Modi said, “They can’t live without protests, and they keep looking for protests to live. We need to recognise such people who reach everywhere and take big ideological stands, mislead people. The country needs to save itself from such ‘andolanjeevi’ people”.
He also mocked such individuals by saying that they have no power to create a protest on their own, but they join an on-going protest to make themselves visible. Further, he said that such andolanjeevi are ‘parjeevis’ (parasites). Chuckling, he also quipped that any party that runs a government in any state, would have perhaps come across such parasites and hence, they will enjoy what he is saying right now.
Talking about these Icchadhari protesters, PM Modi also warned the nation about a new kind of FDI which he termed as ‘Foreign Destructive Ideology”.
