This is a poem on the ongoing farmer struggle in India; which has involved a lot of police brutality – including the arrest and sexual torture of young Trade Union activist Nodeep Kaur by the Haryana police; all because she showed support to the farmers and demanded the unpaid wages of 300 workers in Kundli. Here is the content:
We have watched and watched
For days and days
Weeks and weeks
Our farmers protesting day and night
Across villages, towns, cities and states
Against so-called market reforms
That actually favour the rich and the powerful
Leaving the farmers entirely at their mercy
We have watched and watched
Swift action from our government
Not to help the farmers
But rather, to put hurdles in their path
We have watched and watched
The farmers defiantly crossing these hurdles
And braving the extreme cold of north India
For us, it may be a mere drama
But for them, it is a matter of life and death
We have watched and watched
The media seizing the opportunity
To turn the farmers’ struggle
Into their own gains
From Times Now to Republic
From India Today to News18
From Mirror Now to NDTV
All have indulged in lies and half-truths
In order to divert the focus
Away from the farm laws
And into Khalistanis, China and what not
And thus shamelessly boost their TRPs
We have watched and watched
The police, raining blows upon blows
On the brave, unflinching farmers
Who refuse to cede an inch
Even as the death toll mounts
We have watched and watched
The arrest and sexual torture
Of a young Trade Union activist
Based on totally fabricated charges
By the notorious Haryana police
Only because she showed her support
For the farmers’ movement
All in all,
We have watched and watched
An alarming rise in atrocities
Inflicted upon the beleaguered farmers
And yet we continue to pretend
That this is an internal matter
We have watched and watched
And the time has come for us
To speak out and show unconditional support
To our farmers
In their seemingly never-ending struggle
Against the government and the industrialists
It really is now or never