>> The government has offered to suspend the laws for 18 months and let an expert committee re-evaluate it.
"We'll still do this, but not for 18 months...and in the meantime, we'll set up a committee that no doubt will report back whatever we ask it to" - Would you be stupid enough to take that deal?
Everyone who doesn't agree to you is stupid, right? You must be a really good negotiator with that attitude. The mob is not in favor of their comfort zones disturbed, so no debate / discussion needed .
>> Every expert in agriculture including the ones from the state of Punjab have advocated for these very changes - private investment, opening up of markets etc.
What qualifies one to be an "expert in agriculture?" Does being a farmer help, or are they just dumb hicks that don't know what's best for them?
"Expert in agriculture" means those who have done extensive research and studies on soil, crop patterns, markets, consumption patterns etc. for decades. One of these from Punjab Agricultural University who had published studies in favour of these reforms was proposed to be included in the committee but he withdrew because obviously loyalty to creed is more important than staying true to the topic. I can't blame him because he would have otherwise been subject to the usual vitriolic abuse, insults and hatred thrown towards anyone not towing the protestor line.
The green revolution was achieved because experts like Norman Borlaug had their say - not the fake internet warriors or social media black profile photo protestors. I don't think the farmers have enough education / time to research things which are not in their daily routine. By the way the real farmers in Punjab are the labour from UP and Bihar who actually do the crop sowing / cutting etc.
>> The farmers are being misled by their financiers who fear losing their commissions in cutting deals with the corrupt governments.
It all goes back to the Green Revolution. Instead of land reform (that awful Commie plot!), we figured out how to grow crops through atomic gardening, and turning fossil fuel into fertilizer. That saved countless lives, but it also destroyed topsoil and accelerated global warming.
Now the bill is coming due again, and Modi's answer (again) is to avoid land reform, and go even further in the wrong direction by ending farm subsidies. The farmers are right to reject the advice of "experts" who don't have expertise in anything but failed neoliberal market policies.
As usual the fake news brigade is in full force. How does allowing more buyers to buy crops and ending government monopoly going to "end subsidies"? Govt gives subsidy in fertilizer prices, procuring crops for supplying through PDS etc. - none of these issues are touched here. Where there is no real criticism the so called union leaders start scaring people in the name of imaginary boogeyman - Oh your land will be taken / Oh your MSP will go ... blah blah, when these are not the subject matters of the law. We are happy wasting 20% crop due to inefficient storage by FCI rather than have private investment in the supply chain - right from storage, transport to marketing. Increasing efficiency would mean some people would have to forego their cozy deals.
