Through every crisis in the nation’s history, wars, pandemics, sanctions, recessions, Indian farmers have filled the nation’s granaries and the soldiers’ rations without hesitation. Their sons guard the frontiers; their toil sustains every household. Yet when the same farmer demands justice for his rights, he is branded a “protester,” even a “traitor.” From the Red Fort, Prime Minister can list farmers with glowing praise, yet in Parliament, the silence over the deaths of hundreds of protesting farmers remains one of Indian democracy’s deepest ironies. The question is clear: will “Jai Kisan” remain a slogan, or will it become a reality through a legally guaranteed MSP law?
Red Fort Applause: A Bitter-Sweet Echo
This Independence Day, Prime Minister Modi invoked the farmer no fewer than fifteen times from the ramparts of the Red Fort, an unprecedented acknowledgment. It felt good to hear the farmer’s echo at the nation’s highest forum. Yet, one cannot help but ask: were these not the same farmers who braved Delhi’s bitter cold and monsoon rains at its borders three years ago? Farmers whose appeals went unheard, whose deaths, over seven hundred in number, did not merit even a formal condolence in Parliament.
Farmer’s Grief and the State’s Deafening Silence
In India’s villages, the death of even a neighbor silences the entire community; kitchens go cold in shared mourning. But when farmers died on Delhi’s borders, the state remained unmoved. No words of empathy, no gesture of respect. Even the habitual weepers of Indian politics, those adept at theatrically choking with emotion, fell silent. The world watched. History recorded it as a black chapter. And the nation called it what it was: the shamelessness of power.
Crisis-Manager, Forever Humiliated
History bears witness: in 1965, in 1971, at Kargil, during nuclear sanctions, and in the COVID-19 lockdown when GDP collapsed by 24%, agriculture alone kept India afloat. The farmer has never betrayed the nation. He has always been its unarmed sentinel, its silent warrior. Yet today, he is mocked as “anti-national,” dismissed as “agitational,” demonized by politics and pliant media alike. The farmer’s question cuts to the bone: “If I turn the soil to gold and feed every mouth, why is my share only of thorns and insults?”
MSP: The Broken Promise
The legal guarantee of Minimum Support Price (MSP) was the central demand of the farmers’ movement. The Swaminathan Commission recommended it; electoral manifestos promised it. Yet, after eleven years in power and three successive mandates, the law remains unborn. In 2018, the government told the Supreme Court it was “impractical.” Committees were formed, reports gathered dust, costs of seeds, fertilizers, and diesel soared, but MSP rose at half the pace. Losses accumulated in the farmer’s ledger; suicides became a permanent scar on India’s conscience.
Political Amnesia: A Convenient Disease
Those who once branded protesting farmers as “anti-national” now, under American trade pressure, call them the nation’s backbone. When the US raises tariffs by 25% on Indian farm exports, the farmer suddenly becomes essential, even sacred. Such is the selective memory of politics, it remembers the farmer only when power trembles, never when justice calls. Yet the Indian farmer stands firm. Against Trump’s tariff arrogance, against global pressure, the farmer declares: “No nation, however mighty, can browbeat the sons of this soil. We stand with India. We stand for India.”
Beyond Vote Banks: Farmers Are the Nation’s Spine
The state must awaken to a simple truth: farmers are not mere vote banks; they are the backbone of the Republic. If agriculture were ensured cost-plus-50% returns as promised, India would need neither loan waivers nor subsidies. Rural prosperity would replace rural despair. Agriculture still contributes 18% to India’s GDP and employs 45% of its population. It sustained growth even in the lockdown when the economy shrank by a quarter. Yet MSP law remains elusive. Why is it so difficult to legislate justice for the sector on which two-thirds of the country depends?
Parliament’s Silence, Democracy’s Shame
It is easy to chant “Jai Kisan” from the Red Fort; why then does Parliament choke when asked to honor dead farmers? Is democracy only about votes and not voices? The field that feeds the nation’s leaders is silenced when it seeks fairness. Why?
Road to Justice: Courage, Not Slogans
The time has come for courage, not tokenism. For laws, not lip service. A legal guarantee for MSP, cost control, fair credit, modern storage, farmer participation in policymaking, these are not favors but fundamental rights of those who sustain India’s sovereignty.
Real Atmanirbhar Bharat
India dreams of self-reliance. But Atmanirbhar Bharat is impossible without Atma-samman (self-respect) for its farmers. “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan” must be more than a slogan; it must be the nation’s soul. The question now is moral, not merely economic: will India honor the farmer who never abandoned her in crisis? Or will it keep sacrificing him at the altar of politics? The answer will decide not just policies but the very direction of the Republic.
Way Forward
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Legal MSP Guarantee: Implement the Swaminathan formula (C2+50%) through legislation to ensure farmers’ income security.
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Cost Control: Regulate prices of seeds, diesel, and fertilizers; strengthen cooperatives; provide direct subsidies where needed.
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Infrastructure Expansion: Build warehouses, cold chains, and modern markets in every district to prevent distress sales.
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Transparent Insurance & Credit: Reform crop insurance, waive compound interest on farm loans, and provide time-bound relief measures.
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Policy Participation: Include farmers’ representatives in policymaking bodies at both state and national levels.
Trump’s tariffs have challenged not just India’s economy but its dignity. Farmers stand with the nation, as always. But the nation must now stand with its farmers. The day India ensures justice for its annadata will be the day “Jai Kisan” stops being rhetoric and becomes the living heartbeat of the nation. The sooner that day arrives, the stronger India will be, morally, economically, and spiritually.
