IN THE COVID CRISIS, SUPPORT INDIAN FARMERS
UNJUST FARM LAWS MUST BE REPEALED
India is in the grip of a Covid catastrophe caused by criminal inaction on the part of the national Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government of Prime Minister Modi. It chose to prioritize its electoral and ideological agenda and disregard assessments and predictions based on Covid mapping scenarios by experts. This is consistent with the BJP’s governance model since 2014 weakening and decimating every countervailing centre of power be it media, judiciary, opposition political parties, trade unions or human rights groups. These divisive governance practices negatively impact the working poor, the marginalized and oppressed sections of society, while providing huge dividends for their crony capitalists friends.
The current situation was not inevitable, proven by the state of Kerala where proactive measures resulted in them having a surplus of medical oxygen, or that the city of Mumbai chose not to dismantle large-scale temporary medical facilities created during the first wave because it foresaw a second coming.
In this context, we note the on-going struggle of millions of farmers demanding that PM Modi’s government repeal the three farm laws passed in September 2020, without consultation or debate in the midst of the first wave of the Covid pandemic.
This farmers’ movement, the largest and longest non-violent peaceful protest in world history, is now entering an unprecedented sixth month. Farmers rightly fear that these laws will empower corporations to seize their land, jeopardize their livelihood and deepen the agrarian crisis facing the country. Since November 2020, hundreds of thousands of farmers have camped at the borders of the capital New Delhi, in the bitter winter cold and now, the searing heat of summer, despite police tear gas, water cannons and barricades. Several hundred of them, young and old, men and women, have perished due to weather, disease, police violence and traffic accidents. Many have been injured by vigilantes of the ruling party. Yet the struggle endures and grows. But the Modi government continues to turn a deaf ear to their demands. With the current wave of Covid it is feared the government will opportunistically invoke public health and attempt to demolish the camps, just as it did last year, at the onset of the first wave of this virus, with the massive mobilization against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) designed to strip many Indians of citizenship. While the farmers know the health risks they face by staying encamped at this time, they remain resolute because it’s a devil’s bargain between threat of covid infection or farm laws that spell death for them.
The farmers’ protest has garnered amazing support from all sections of Indian society and outside the country as well. In Canada, city councils such as Vancouver, Victoria, Burnaby, Port Coquitlam, Surrey, Brampton and others, along with many Canadian labor organizations, including Canadian Labour Congress, Canadian Union of Public Employees, Federations of Labour, and UNIFOR, have passed resolutions or issued statements in support of the demands of the farmers. In the midst of the second wave of the covid pandemic ravaging India, we the undersigned, call on the Indian government to pay heed to the demands of the farmers and to ensure that the poor and the marginalized do not disproportionately bear the burden of the ferocious second wave. It is important to remember that farmers feed the nation and working people build it.
IMMEDIATELY REPEAL the farm laws passed in September 2020 so the farmers can protect themselves from COVID and return to their homes, secure in the knowledge that the futures for themselves and their families are not jeopardized.
RELEASE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS being held under draconian laws and now also facing COVID infection.
FREE COVID-19 VACCINATIONS for all in India aged 18 and above.
DANS LA CRISE DE LA COVID, SOUTENIR LES AGRICULTEURS INDIENS
LES LOIS AGRICOLES INJUSTES DOIVENT ÊTRE ABROGÉES
L’Inde est en proie à une catastrophe Covid causé par l’inaction criminelle du gouvernement national Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) du Premier ministre Modi. Il a choisi de donner la priorité à son programme électoral et idéologique, et de ne pas tenir compte des évaluations et des prévisions basées sur les scénarios de cartographie Covid par des experts. Cela est cohérent avec le modèle de gouvernance du BJP depuis 2014 – orienté vers la logique de l’affaiblissement et l’anéantissement de tous les centres de contre-pouvoir, qu’il s’agisse des médias, de la justice, des partis d’opposition, des syndicats ou des groupes de défense des droits humains. La logique du BJP est aussi celle de pratiques de gouvernance divisionnistes ayant un impact négatif sur les pauvres, et sur les secteurs marginalisés et opprimés de la société, tout en procurant d’énormes dividendes à leurs amis et copains capitalistes.
La situation actuelle n’était pas inévitable. L’État du Kerala l’a prouvé avec des mesures proactives qui ont produit un surplus d’oxygène médical. Idem la ville de Mumbai, qui a choisi de ne pas démanteler les installations médicales temporaires à grande échelle créées lors de la première vague car elle prévoyait la seconde vague.
Dans ce contexte, nous notons la lutte continue des millions d’agriculteurs exigeant que le gouvernement du PM Modi abroge les trois lois agricoles adoptées en septembre 2020 sans consultation ni débat au milieu de la première vague de la pandémie.
Ce mouvement paysan, la plus grande et la plus longue manifestation pacifique et non violente de l’histoire mondiale, entre maintenant dans un sixième mois sans précédent. Les agriculteurs craignent à juste titre que ces lois autorisent les entreprises à saisir leurs terres, à mettre en péril leurs moyens de subsistance et à aggraver la crise agraire à laquelle le pays est confronté.
Depuis novembre 2020, des centaines de milliers d’agriculteurs campent aux limites de la capitale, New Delhi, dans le froid glacial de l’hiver, et maintenant dans la chaleur torride de l’été, malgré les gaz lacrymogènes, les canons à eau et les barricades de la police. Plusieurs centaines d’entre eux, jeunes et vieux, hommes et femmes, ont péri à cause des intempéries, de la maladie, de la violence policière et des accidents de la circulation. Beaucoup ont été blessés par des miliciens RSS du parti au pouvoir. Pourtant, la lutte continue et se développe malgré le fait que gouvernement Modi fait toujours la sourde oreille à leurs demandes. Avec la nouvelle vague de la Covid, il est à craindre que le gouvernement invoque de manière opportuniste la santé publique et tente de démolir les camps, comme il l’a fait l’année dernière, au début de la première vague de ce virus, avec la mobilisation massive contre la loi d’amendement de la citoyenneté (CAA) conçue pour priver de nombreux Indiens de leur nationalité. Les agriculteurs connaissent les risques de santé qui les menacent en restant dans leurs camps de protestation. Mais ils demeurent résolus et déterminés car ils savent qu’ils sont coincés entre deux menaces diaboliques et mortelles : le virus létal de la Covid-19 et les lois agricoles qui signifient leur mort socio-économique.
La protestation des agriculteurs indiens a reçu un soutien étonnant de toutes les sections de la société indienne, et également à l’extérieur du pays. Au Canada, des conseils municipaux tels que Vancouver, Victoria, Burnaby, Port Coquitlam, Surrey, Brampton et d’autres, ainsi que de nombreuses organisations syndicales, y compris le Congrès du travail du Canada, le Syndicat canadien de la fonction publique, les fédérations du travail et l’UNIFOR, qui ont adopté des résolutions ou publié des déclarations à l’appui de leurs demandes. Au milieu de la 2è vague de la pandémie qui ravage l’Inde, nous, soussigné.e.s, appelons le gouvernement indien à tenir compte des demandes des agriculteurs et à faire en sorte que les pauvres et les marginalisés ne supportent pas de manière disproportionnée l’impact mortel de cette nouvelle agression covidienne. Il est important aussi de se rappeler que les agriculteurs nourrissent la nation et que les travailleurs la construisent.
ABROGEZ IMMÉDIATEMENT les lois agricoles adoptées en septembre 2020 afin que les agriculteurs puissent se protéger du COVID et rentrer chez eux, en sachant que leur avenir et celui de leurs familles ne sont pas menacés.
LIBÉREZ TOUS LES PRISONNIERS POLITIQUES détenus en vertu de lois draconiennes et maintenant également confrontés à une infection au COVID.
VACCINATIONS COVID-19 GRATUITES pour tous et toutes en Inde âg.e.és de 18 ans et
Signatories
- Feroz Mehdi, Alternatives International, Montreal
- Catherine Pappas, Alternatives, Montréal
- Mohammad Imran, Retired, NJ, USA
- Patrick Farbiaz, PEPS-Pour une Ecologie Populaire et Sociale, Paris
- Dolores Chew, Marianopolis College, Montreal,Canada
- Sophie Toupin, University of Amsterdam, Montreal/Amsterdam
- Ishita Tiwary, Concordia university, Montréal
- Richa Nagar, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, US
- Dipti Gupta, Dawson College, Montréal
- Cory Legassic, Dawson College, Montréal
- Rahul Varma, Teesri Duniya Theatre, Montreal
- Prashant Keshavmurthy, McGill University, Montreal
- Afshan Nasseri, McGill University, Montreal
- Sid Shniad, founding member, Independent Jewish Voices Canada
- Jooneed J KHAN, Journalist and Writer, Montreal
- Jaswant Guzder, child psychiatrist, Montreal
- Chiara Letizia, Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada
- Bindu T Desai, Albany, CA, USA
- Robert Apter, Retired United Auto Workers Local Rep, New York, NY, USA
- Lakshmi Sharma, Montreal, QC, Canada
- Jody Freeman, Montréal, Québec, Canada
- Bill Skidmore, Carleton University (Retired), Ottawa, Canada
- Anita Lal, Poetic Justice Foundation, Canada
- Carmen Jensen, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
- Pasha M. Khan, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
- Adrienne Piggott, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
- Sadeqa Siddiqui, IMA Quebec , Montreal Canada.
- Robert Hornsey, President,Bergthorson Academy of Musical Arts, Maple Ridge, Canada
- Malcolm Guy, International League of Peoples’ Struggle, Montréal, Québec, Canada
- Niti Sharma, Richmond, B.C., Canada
- M. V. Ramana, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
- Lavanya Narasiah, MD MSc, McGill and Sherbrooke University, Quebec, Canada
- Steve Orlov, playwright, Montreal, Qc
- Omer Morad, Montreal, QC .
- Sushil Handa, Saint-Lambert, Quebec
- Gilles Sabourin, Saint-Lambert, Québec
- Daniel Guerrier, ancien délégué national Service civil international, France
- Christiane Baril, Longueuil, Québec, Canada
- Amrit Krishnan, Montreal, Québec, Canada
- Vijay Kolinjivadi, University of Antwerp, Montréal/Antwerp
- Caroline Kunzle, Montreal, Québec.
- Debdeep Chatterjee, Concordia University, Montreal
- Julie Vig, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
- Ayesha Vemuri, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
- Darin Barney, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
- Freda Guttman, Montreal, Canada, Independent Jewish Voices
- John Price, University of Victoria
- Gracy Fernandes -Haiti
- Prashant Olalekar – India
- Vinod Mubayi, Insaf Bulletin, New York, USA
- Penni Mitchell, Herizons Magazine, Winnipeg, Canada
- Anne Caines, RECAA, Montreal, Quebec Canada
- Judy Wong
- Salman Kureishy, Mississauga, Canada
- Burç Köstem, Montreal, Quebec
- Samir Gandesha, Director, Institute for the Humanities, SFU
- Denise Nadeau, Concordia University, Montreal
- Carrie Rentschler, McGill University, Montreal
- Ian Angus, Professor Emeritus, Simon Fraser University
- Jessica Fontaine, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
- Stephen Aberle, Independent Jewish Voices member, Vancouver, Canada
- Andrew Stuhl, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
- Rana Khan, Working for Change, Toronto, Canada
- Mark Stiles, Stiles Associates Inc., Ottawa, Canada
- Sana Ahmad, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
- David Barsamian, Alternative Radio, Boulder, CO USA
- Koushik Ghosh, Central Washington University, WA. U.S.A.
- Democracy, Equality and Secularism in South Asia (DESA), Winnipeg, Canada
- Geopolitical Economy Research Group (GERG), Canada
- Nicole Ranganath, UC Davis
- Jyotsna Vaid, College Station, TX, USA
- Jeremy Isao Speier, Artist, Vancouver, Canada
- Jerry Dias, Unifor President, Canada
- V.K. Tripathi, New Delhi, India
- Carolyn D’Cruz, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia
- Svend Robinson, JS Woodsworth Resident Scholar, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver
- Rami Katz, Vancouver
- Glenn D’Cruz, Deakin University, Melbourne
- Hanako Hoshimi-Caines, Centre de Creation O Vertigo, Montreal, Canada
- Aparna Sundar, Toronto, Canada
- Chantale Ismé, Montréal, Canada
- Roopjit Sahota, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada
- Tanveer Sahota, Simon Fraser University, Burnany, Canada
- Navkiran Poonia, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada
- Jaspreet Singh, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
- Dilsher Athwal, Simon Fraser University, Surrey, Canada
- Kishore Gajbhiye, Mumbai, India.
- Gurman Sahota, Simon Fraser University
- Jean-Claude Icart, sociologue, chercheur autonome, Montréal, Canada
- Harjaap Singh, Simon Fraser University, Canada
- Anjali Choksi, Dawson College Montreal, Canada
- Saleha Athar, Toronto Canada
- Patricia Gruben, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada
- Sadaf Rathod, UMass, Amherst
- Madhumita Dutta, Columbus, Ohio, USA
- Geneviève Rail, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
- Chinnaiah Jangam, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada.
- Anthony Dias, SJES SAsia, Delhi
- Prabhjot Parmar, SANSAD (South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy) Vancouver, Canada
- Natalie Kouri-Towe, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
- Norma Rantisi, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
- Sharanjit Kaur, University of British Columbia, Canada.
- Kris Foulds, The Reach Gallery Museum Abbotsford, BC Canada
- Olivia Daniel, University of the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford, BC Canada
- Mo Dhaliwal, Poetic Justice Foundation, Canada
- Renel Exentus, doctorant en études urbaines, Montréal, Canada
- Alain Saint-Victor, historien, Montréal, Canada
- Hassan Yussuff, President, Canadian Labour Congress, Ottawa, Canada
- Stephen von Sychowski, President, Vancouver and District Labour Council, Vancouver
- Ian Rocksborough-Smith, University of the Fraser Valley, Canada
- Gian Sihota, VP Richmond South Centre Constituency Exec. BC, Canada
- Stefan Kipfer, York University, Tornoto, Canada
- Ilan Kapoor, York University, Toronto, Canada
- Sima Aprahamian, Simone de Beauvoir Institute, Concordia University, Canada
- Kajri Jain, University of Toronto, Canada
- Rachel Berger, Concordia University, Canada
- Bianca Mugyenyi, Director, Canadian Foreign Policy Institute
- Dimitri Lascaris, lawyer, journalist, activist
- Antonio Torres-Ruiz, Centre for Critical Development Studies, University of Toronto, and Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean.
- Guillaume Bernardi, Drama Studies Program, Glendon College, York University.
- Steven Bush, Senior Lecturer (rtd), University of Toronto, Canada
- Bhavani Raman, University of Toronto, Canada.
- Prabhjot Parmar, University of the Fraser Valley, Canada
- Sedef Arat-koc, Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada
- Katharine Beeman, Alternatives, Montréal, Québec, Canada
- Evelyn Mondonedo PINAYQuebec, Canada Society of Socialist Studies, Canada
- Radhika Desai, President, the Society of Socialist Studies, Canada
- Sejal Lal, South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy (SANSAD), Vancouver Canada
- Radhika Mongia, York University, Toronto, Canada
- Mustafa Koc, Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada
- Ravindra K. Jain, Retired, JNU, India
- Amanda R. Shankland. Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario
- Rachel Portinga. Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario
- Navjotpal Kaur, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s NL Canada
- Marie Boti, Women of Diverse Origins, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Maria Worton, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- E McLean, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
- Kora Liegh Glatt, Victoria, BC, Canada
- Ambrose Pereira, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
- May Chiu,Montreal, Québec, Canada
- Barbara Parker, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
- Bertrand Guibord, Conseil central du Montréal métropolitain – CSN, Montréal, Québec
- Eric Shragge, Immigrant Workers Centre, Montreal, Quebec
- Bryan Dale, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario
- Monika Korzun, Saint Paul University, Ottawa, Ontario
- Ryan J. Phillips, Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario
- Lionel Fernandes, Ontario, Canada
- Omar Latif, Committee of Progressive Pakistani-Canadians
- Nilambri Ghai, Ottawa, Canada
- Dominique Daigneault, Conseil central du Montréal métropolitain – CSN, Montréal, Québec
- Christine Marrewa-Karwoski, Columbia University, NY
- Malcolm Blincow, Retired, York University, Toronto, Canada
- Doreen Fumia, Associate Professor Emeritus, Sociology, Ryerson University, Canada
- Michelle Smith, Dawson College, Montreal, Quebec
- Aziz Choudry, University of Johannesburg, South Africa
- Stefan Christoff, Artist, community organizer and student
- John DMello, PEACE, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, US, 33410
- Nazila Bettache, MD CM, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréall
- Odile Hélier Paris France
- Waheed Mukaddam, Cambridge, MA, US
- Jean Swanson, Councillor, City of Vancouver, Canada
- Mei-ling Wiedmeyer, MD, CCFP, Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Family Practice, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
- Shireen Hamza, History of Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, US
- Antonio de Jesus, Centre for Philippine Concerns, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Vijay Puli, South Asian Dalit-Adivasi Network (SADAN)
- Robyn Andrews, Massey University, NZ
- Kamala Visweswaran, Rice University, Houston, TX
- Elena Razlogova, History, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
- Martha Stiegman, Environmental & Urban Change, York University, Toronto, Canada
- Lauren Kepkiewicz, Department of Geography, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada
- Lorelei Hanson, Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies, Athabasca University, Athabasca, Canada
- Francis Cody, University of Toronto, Canada
- Rajee Paña Jejishergill, NSCAD University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
- Jennifer Chew, Montreal, Canada
- Elaine Power, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
- Kelly Tracey, University of the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford, BC, Canada
- Between the Lines, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Larry Brown, President, the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE), Canada
- Andrea Yovorsky, EcoTrust Canada, OISE, Toronto, Canada
- Syeda N Bukhari, McGill University, Canada
- Ravneet Sidhu, Simon Fraser University, BC, Canada
- Iris Yellum, South Asian Studies, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, US
- Clarisse Wells, South Asian Studies, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, US
- Catie Peters, American Studies, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, US
- Anelyse Weiler, Sociology, University of Victoria, BC, Canada
- Richard Swift, New Internationalist Magazine
- Harnek Dhaliwal, Punjabi Literary and Cultural Association, Winnipeg, Canada
- Mukhtiar Singh (Retired), University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
- Donna Denina, International Women’s Alliance, Seattle, WA US
- Amélie Nguyen, Centre international de solidarité ouvrière (CISO)
- Caroline Quesnel, Fédération nationale des enseignantes et des enseignants du Québec (FNEEQ-CSN)
- Paritosh Kumar, Global Development Studies, Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada
- Marie Stuart, Montréal, Québec
- Marguerite Kephart, Montréal, Canada
- Sheetal Lodhia, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Shree Mulay, St. John’s NL, Canada
- Maurice Dufour, Montreal, Qc
- Bhajan Gill, Secretary, Progressive Cultural Association, Calgary, Canada
- Harcharan Singh Parihar, Editor, Sikh Virsa, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
- Vrinda Narain, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
- Kaleem Siddiqi, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
- Harbans Singh, Editor, Sarokaran Di Awaaz, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Gurcharan Brar, Punjabi Cultural Association of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
- Gurvinder Gill, Secular People’s Association, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
- Dr. Shaheen Ansari, Arkitect India, New Delhi
- Mritiunjoy Mohanty, CERIAS, UQAM, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Jodi Koberinski, SSHRC Doctoral Fellow, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
- Nancy Sears Barker, teacher, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Jonathan S. Barker, professor, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Laird Cronk, President, BC Federation of Labour, Vancouver, Canada
- Sussanne Skidmore, Secretary Treasurer, BC Federation of Labour, Vancouver, Canada
- Raghav Bali, Student, McGill University, Montreal Canada