Agrarian Reform and Farmer Resistance in Punjab: Mobilization and Resilience

297 Pages·2022·3.263 MB·English

by  Shinder Singh Thandi

Agrarian Reform and Farmer
Resistance in Punjab
This book examines different dimensions of farmer agitations in Punjab,
India. It situates the 2020–2021 farmer resistance movement within the
wider context of India’s post-independent development trajectory and pro-
vides a thorough analysis of various aspects of the farmers’ movement in
India.
The volume contextualizes Punjab’s history of farmer resistance, organi-
zation and mobilization strategies, the globalization of the movement, ways
of both sustaining the movement and building resilience. While providing a
critical understanding of the three farm laws introduced in India in 2020,
the book looks at how they may impact farm operations and livelihoods in
the post-Green Revolution period and evaluates strategies of inclusive mo-
bilization for gathering support and sustaining the movement both within
India and abroad, with special focus on the role of the Sikh diaspora. Es-
says in this volume also discuss the participation of women in the struggle
and how their experience has the potential to transform gender relations
both at home and in the public sphere.
Integrated, comprehensive and concisely written by well-known experts,
this book will be of interest to those involved with Punjab’s social, political
and economic history, and students and researchers of food and agriculture
in developing countries, peasant and social movements, Indian federalism
and role of diasporas as non-state actors.
Shinder Singh Thandi, PhD, is a former Professor who taught in the Global
Studies Department at the University of California, Santa Barbara, USA.
Previously, he was based at Coventry University, UK, where he was head
of Department of Economics, Finance and Accounting from 2009 to 2015.
He is founder-editor of the Journal of Sikh & Punjab Studies, published
since 1994. He has published many journal articles and book chapters on
Indian and Punjabi migration and on different dimensions of Sikh diaspora
and homeland relations. He co-authored A South Asian History of Britain:
Four Centuries of Peoples from the Indian Sub-Continent (with Michael
Fisher and Shompa Lahiri; 2007) and co-edited People on the Move: Pun-
jabi Colonial and Post-Colonial Migration (with Ian Talbot; 2004) and
Punjabi Identity in a Global Context (with Pritam Singh; 1999).

Agrarian Reform and Farmer
Resistance in Punjab
Mobilization and Resilience
Edited by
Shinder Singh Thandi
First published 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 selection and editorial matter, Shinder Singh Thandi;
individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Shinder Singh Thandi to be identifed as the author
of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual
chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78
of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this book are
those of the authors and do not necessarily refect the views and
opinions of Routledge. Authors are responsible for all contents
in their articles including accuracy of the facts, statements, and
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Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identifcation and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-1-032-29189-5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-33522-3 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-32000-5 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003320005
Typeset in Sabon
by codeMantra
Dedicated to all the farmers who participated in the
2020–2021 agitation, including those who gave their
lives during the struggle

Contents
List of contributors ix
Preface and Acknowledgements xiii
Introduction to Agrarian Reforms and the 2020–2021
Farmer Resistance: A Momentous Morcha 1
SHINDER S. THANDI
PART I
Historical, Literary and Comparative Perspectives 15
1 Agrarian Resistance in Punjab: Contextualizing Farmer
Protests at the Gates of Delhi in a Historical Perspective 17
RONKI RAM
2 Kisan Protests in Punjab 1907–2021: A Literary Lineage of
Resistance 74
PRABHJOT PARMAR AND AMANDEEP KAUR
3 A Tale of Two Punjabi Peasant Agitations: Comparing 1907
and 2020–2021 98
SUKHDEV S. SOHAL
4 From Disunity to Unity: Organization, Mobilization
Strategies and Achievements of the Recent Farmers’
Movement in Punjab 118
SUCHA S. GILL
5 Contemporary Farmers’ Protests and the Legacy
of the 1980s: Changes in Ideology, Class Coalitions and
Political Structure 139
VIRGINIA VAN DYKE
viii Contents
PART II
Dimensions and Dynamics of Reform, Resistance and
Resilience 157
6 Farm Laws, Federalism and Farm Protests: Challenges
for Punjab 159
PRITAM SINGH
7 ‘Modernist’ Teleology and Futures of Agriculture: Making
Sense of the Punjabi Farmers’ Movement of 2020–2021 181
SURINDER S. JODHKA
8 Reforming Agricultural Markets for Agrarian
Transformation: Potential Implications of Repealed Farm
Acts for Punjab 202
SUKHPAL SINGH
9 Mera Pind, Mera Sabhyachar, Mera Virsa: Understanding
Sikh Diaspora Support for the Punjab Kisan Morcha 221
SHINDER S. THANDI
10 Enhancing Visibility, Extending Solidarity: Women’s
Participation in the 2020–2021 Farmer Protests 246
SWAROOPA LAHIRI
Index 267
Contributors
Dr. Sucha S. Gill is a former Director General (2010–2014) of Centre for
Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID), Chandigarh,
and also worked there as Senior Professor and Research Coordinator
(2014–2019). He also served as member of Revenue Commission, Gov-
ernment of Punjab (2019–2022). Earlier, he taught at Punjabi University
Patiala (1972–2010) and served as Professor and Head of the Depart-
ment of Economics (1997–2000), Dean of Social Sciences (2004–2006),
Dean of Academic Affairs (2006–2008), Dean of Research (2008–2009)
and Director of Centre for North-West Asia (Pakistan and Afghanistan
(2006–2010). He has published extensively on Punjab in reputed jour-
nals and edited several volumes. Among these include an edited volume
Philosophy of Guru Nanak (2020); Chasing High Growth Rate and
Tryst with Inclusiveness (CRRID, 2019); and edited volumes: Economic
and Environment Sustainability in South Asia with Lakhwinder Singh
and Reena Marwah (Routledge, 2010) and Land Reforms in India:
Capitalist Intervention in Punjab and Haryana (2001). He is at present
Vice Chairman of the Indian Association of Social Science Institutions
(IASSI).
Dr. Surinder S. Jodhka is a Professor of Sociology at the Jawaharlal Nehru
University, New Delhi. He researches on social inequalities, caste in
contemporary times, rural/agrarian change and community identities.
His recent publications include India’s Villages in the 21st Century:
Revisits and Revisions (ed with Edward Simpson 2019); Mapping the
Elite: Power, Privilege and Inequality (ed. with Jules Naudet, 2019);
A Handbook of Rural India. 2018 (ed.); Contested Hierarchies: Caste
and Power in 21st Century (ed. with James Manor) 2018; Inequality in
Capitalist Societies, Routledge (with Boike Rehbien and Jesse Souza)
2018; The Indian Middle-Class, 2016 (with Aseem Prakash); Caste in
Contemporary India, Routledge 2015/2018; and Caste: Oxford India
Short Introductions, 2012.
Dr. Amandeep Kaur is currently Assistant Professor of English at Guru
Nanak Dev University, Amritsar. Her research maps the growth of