{"id":1309,"date":"2021-12-07T19:50:24","date_gmt":"2021-12-08T00:50:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.ryerson.ca\/extraocadsmhr\/?post_type=chapter&p=1309"},"modified":"2022-02-14T19:50:26","modified_gmt":"2022-02-15T00:50:26","slug":"why-indian-farmers-protests-are-being-called-a-satyagraha-which-means-embracing-the-truth-short-news-article","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/extraocadsmhr\/chapter\/why-indian-farmers-protests-are-being-called-a-satyagraha-which-means-embracing-the-truth-short-news-article\/","title":{"raw":"5d. \"Why Indian farmers\u2019 protests are being called a \u2018satyagraha\u2019 \u2013 which means \u2018embracing the truth\u2019\" (Short news article)","rendered":"5d. “Why Indian farmers\u2019 protests are being called a \u2018satyagraha\u2019 \u2013 which means \u2018embracing the truth\u2019” (Short news article)"},"content":{"raw":"

Introduction to the article \"Why Indian farmers\u2019 protests are being called a \u2018satyagraha\u2019 \u2013 which means \u2018embracing the truth\u2019<\/a><\/span>\"<\/h1>\r\nNon-violent protest has a long history.\r\n\r\nClearly one of the most important figures in this type of protest is Mahatma Gandhi, a leader in the Indian nationalist movement.\r\n\r\nIn his article, \"Why Indian farmers\u2019 protests are being called a \u2018satyagraha\u2019 \u2013 which means \u2018embracing the truth\u2019,\" the author Sumit Ganguly discusses the long lineage of protest from Gandhi to today's India's farmer movement.\r\n\r\n
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Why Indian farmers\u2019 protests are being called a \u2018satyagraha\u2019 \u2013 which means \u2018embracing the truth\u2019<\/a><\/span><\/h2>\r\nSumit Ganguly, The Conversation<\/em>, February 17, 2021 8:20am EST\r\n\r\nFor the past few months, farmers protesting in India\u2019s capital, New Delhi, have been<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>demanding the repeal of three farm laws<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>that were passed last year. These largely peaceful protests have been referred to as a \u201csatyagraha\u201d by many in the<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Indian media<\/a><\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>politicians<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>and<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>activists<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\r\n\r\nAs a<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>political scientist<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>who writes on Indian politics and society, I argue that the choice of this word, which means \u201cembracing the truth,\u201d is important to note.<\/span>\r\n\r\nIt evokes a long political history that goes back to the Indian nationalist movement against British rule.<\/span>\r\n
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The first satyagraha<\/h2>\r\nIn 1917, Mahatma Gandhi, one of the leading icons of the Indian nationalist movement,\u00a0<\/span>started a political protest<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>in the village of Champaran in what is today the eastern state of Bihar.\r\n\r\nThe movement was on behalf of poor farmers who had been forced to grow indigo used in the making of dyes. The British colonial authorities who saw this as a lucrative trade coerced the farmers into growing the crop even as they were poorly paid. If the farmers refused, they were heavily taxed.\r\n\r\nGandhi\u00a0<\/span>organized a nonviolent protest<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>on behalf of the farmers. That was when the word satyagraha was used for the first time in the context of a political protest.\r\n\r\nThe use of this form of protest was both ethical and instrumental. The moral dimension sprang from Gandhi\u2019s convictions. The practical element had to do with the realization that violence against the might of the British colonial empire was counterproductive.\r\n\r\nGandhi had first arrived at the idea of using nonviolent protest as a tactic in his\u00a0<\/span>early years as a lawyer<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>in South Africa, where he was concerned with the maltreatment of the Indian community under British rule.\r\n\r\nThe\u00a0<\/span>concept of satyagraha<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>was in turn\u00a0<\/span>drawn from his extensive reading<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>of the works of the British poet and social critic John Ruskin, the Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy and the American philosopher Henry David Thoreau.\r\n\r\nGandhi melded their ideas into what he had learned from the ancient\u00a0<\/span>Jain faith<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>about the concept of \u201cahimsa,\u201d which involves minimizing harm to all living beings.\r\n

Dandi march<\/h2>\r\nIn Gandhi\u2019s view, and that of his followers, satyagraha involved a passionate commitment to nonviolent civil disobedience. To that end, he and his followers not only shunned all violence but steadfastly fought against social injustices.\r\n\r\nGandhi used the concept effectively in a protest against the colonial salt tax laws.\r\n
<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\nThe Salt Law under colonial rule had prohibited the private production of salt, forcing Indians to buy this vital dietary staple at high market prices set by the British.\r\n\r\nIn 1931, Gandhi\u00a0<\/span>organized a march that went across much of the country<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>to the seaside town of Dandi, in the western state of Gujarat. In a gesture of defiance to the Salt Law, Gandhi and his followers picked up natural salt from the beach as a way to demonstrate that they had a right to produce their own salt.\r\n\r\nThe British colonial authorities met this resistance with\u00a0<\/span>considerable violence<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>and imprisoned Gandhi along many of the protesters. However, Gandhi and his supporters refused to back down. They conceded that they had broken the law by collecting salt from the seashore and were prepared to suffer the legal consequences.\r\n\r\nThe memories of this episode have become part and parcel of the history and folklore of the Indian nationalist movement. Accordingly, it is hardly surprising that the protesting farmers embraced the concept of satyagraha as part of their protests.\r\n\r\nFor over six months they have led protests as a tactic and have steadfastly refused to budge from their principal demands, which involve repealing the three new farm laws that the Indian Parliament passed in September 2020 which, if implemented, would dramatically\u00a0<\/span>cut back on government support<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>for agriculture and move farmers toward an open national market.\r\n\r\nFarmers fear these drastic changes and, despite\u00a0<\/span>government entreaties<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>as well as\u00a0<\/span>crackdowns<\/a><\/span>, they have refused to budge.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n
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Quiz<\/h2>\r\nQuiz on \"Why Indian farmers\u2019 protests are being called a \u2018satyagraha\u2019 \u2013 which means \u2018embracing the truth\u2019<\/a><\/span>\"<\/strong> <\/a><\/span>\r\n\r\n[h5p id=\"108\"]<\/span>\r\n\r\n[h5p id=\"109\"]<\/span>\r\n\r\n[h5p id=\"110\"]<\/span>\r\n\r\n[h5p id=\"111\"]<\/span>\r\n\r\n
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