An archive of protest actions, events and mobilisations against the three farm-laws in India
Noam Chomsky terms Indian farmers’ struggle “a beacon of light in dark times for the entire world.”
June 26, 2021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cB79IEuyfx4&t=75s
About the archive
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The protest of Indian farmers against the three contentious farm-laws promulgated in September 2020 (now withdrawn) lasted for over a year, making it one of the longest and united rural struggles in the recent history of the country. This archive is a documentation and record of the progression of this movement. The archive puts together information on the protest actions, mobilisations and events which took place during the course of the struggle.
Process and methodology
The process of the documentation began due to a keen interest in the development of the movement. The information in the archive has been sourced, during the course of the protests, primarily from media reports and the social media platforms such as Facebook and YouTube. Protest action calls publicised by farmer unions, activists, organisers, mass organisations, and journalists covering the protests have been recorded in anonymous form.
The main content of the archive has been divided in to two categories- Protest actions, Maha-Panchayats, and other mobilisations across different States, and calls given by the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM). These entries have been arranged and displayed in chronological order in the master Timeline. SKM calls have been shown separately as well. A more detailed description of these entries is available on the monthwise archive.
Since there is a regional variation in the intensity of the protest actions, more entries from the regions which were the epicenter of the protests have featured, however the effort is to make the documentation as wide as possible by gathering information on events from across the country and abroad. For sending information on events see Contact us.
The archive will have a repository of the scholarly work produced on various stages and aspects of the movement to make this scholarship more accessible. We will also be working on creating an archive of the visual (images, videos, and artwork) resources in the future. The images/artwork used here are either personal collection or have been sourced from individuals with due permission to display.
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.Why this archive
The archive is an outcome of voluntary engagement with the movement and the interest in the field of agrarian relations and rural society. The objective behind this exercise, firstly, is to create a repository of the events and developments that took place during the course of the movement to develop an understanding of the progression, nature and character of the movement. Secondly, to make this information available in the public domain for creating scholarship on the agrarian issues and rural mobilisations.
The wider participation and solidarity from different sections of masses, institutions, volunteer groups, and ideologies sustained these protests and turned it into a people’s movement. The protests received significant international coverage and solidarity. Display of the varied approaches, interests, processes the society witnessed, the production of cultural resources, and the dynamic socio-political character of the movement made it an important site of study. All this attracted the curiosity of researchers and activists working in the field of rural India who wanted to understand this movement, its impact, and contradictions through a close proximity. The archive serves as a public repository of the unshaking resolve and determination of those who participated and supported this movement while going through a great deal of sufferings and sacrifices.