"Hijacked By Ultra-Left": New Spin As Farmers' Protests Escalate

As the ruling BJP commissioned a media blitz to tackle the stalemate with farmers protesting the new agricultural laws, the central government on Friday began pushing a narrative that the "ultra-left" has hijacked the demonstrations.

Through unofficial channels of communication referred to as "government sources" in media circles, functionaries in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration drew a parallel between the farmers' agitation and the Bhima-Koregaon violence near Pune in 2018.

Government sources blamed the "ultra-left" and "pro-Left Wing Extremist elements" - not different from those labelled as "Urban Naxals" by fanatical supporters of the BJP-led government on social media - for the farmers' movement taking a sinister turn.

They said there were "credible intelligence inputs" to suggest that the movement will spur incidents of violence, arson and damage to public property in the coming days. "Radical elements have advised farmers to block the Delhi-Jaipur highway," they said.

The claims, floated by officials requesting anonymity, were instantly rubbished by the farmers' groups who have staunchly maintained that their protest is apolitical and peaceful, rebuffing overtures from opposition parties.

"We reject this claim of the government. No one can influence us. This is the government's propaganda to defame us. All the decisions are taken by the Samyukt Kisan Union," Raminder Singh Patiyal, president of one of the 32 demonstrating groups Kirti Kisan Sangathan, said.

For days, while the government has faced off with farmers firmly set on having the new laws scrapped, supporters of the ruling BJP on social media and friendly news networks have strived to discredit the farmers' movement.

Detractors of the demonstrations have drawn links between the protests to everything from the separatist movement for a Sikh state of Khalistan and the anti-citizenship law sit-in at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh earlier this year.

Thousands of farmers have been camping on the outskirts of Delhi since late November demanding the government repeal the laws that they say will eventually dismantle the country's regulated markets and leave them at the mercy of private buyers.

The government has tried to engage leaders of the farmers' organisations with even Union Home Minister Amit Shah stepping in for talks, offering changes to the laws and written assurances, but the demonstrators have held their ground.

The protesters, who braved a brutal police crackdown last month in BJP-ruled Haryana before being allowed into Delhi, have threatened to intensify their demonstrations from Saturday by blocking national highways and by boycotting public events held by leaders of the party.

Voted through parliament in September with little debate, the laws only give an additional option to farmers to sell their produce, the government argues, but small farmers fear that once big corporate players enter the market, they will lose guarantees on prices.