New Delhi: Nearly 50 artistes from Chennai have released a statement expressing solidarity with thousands of farmers who are at the Delhi borders, protesting against the three controversial farm laws.
The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion & Facilitation) Act 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment & Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 were passed earlier this year and have seen pitched protests since.
“We are perturbed by the manner in which these laws were hastily passed during the COVID-19 pandemic without a proper consultation with all the stakeholders,” say the artistes in a statement.
Farmers have repeatedly stressed that the manner in which the laws were brought, in hurry and excluding those most affected by it, has been a sore point.
Also read: Amending Few Clauses Not Sufficient, Repeal Farm Acts: Senior Economists to Agri Minister
“The above laws that aim at altering the legal framework of India’s agricultural policies would gravely impact the small holders and marginal farmers. Dismantling the Minimum Support Price system will leave them extremely vulnerable to competition from large corporate houses,” the release reads.
Protesting farmers have asked for a complete repeal of the three laws or the addition of a fourth law, guaranteeing MSP.
“Disabling the right to legal recourse, by exclusion of adjudication by the judiciary, is unprecedented and smacks of authoritarianism. Lakhs of farmers have been protesting at the outskirts of Delhi round the clock, braving the harsh weather, with a legitimate demand to repeal these laws. The state, instead of addressing the bona fide concerns of farmers has chosen to adopt draconian measures, including use of tear gas and water cannon to disperse the protesters,” the artiste’s say.
The statement also condemns police use of force on protesting farmers and the tactics used to suppress their voices.
“We object to criminalisation of non-violent forms of dissent and demonisation of farmers by the state and some sections of the media, a tactic that is now being used with alarming regularity to shut out legitimate concerns of citizens,” they write.
“We express our support and stand in solidarity as artistes who have a stake in upholding the right of every citizen to freedom of expression and urge the Government to accede to the demands of the farmers by repealing all the three Acts and to desist from interfering with the right of citizens to participate in a democracy through a non-violent protest,” the statement says.
Below are the signatories:
1. Mu. Ramasamy, writer, theatre artiste
2. Mangai, writer, theatre artiste
3. Pasupathy, film actor, theatre artiste
4. Pralayan, writer, theatre artiste
5. Hans Kaushik, theatre artiste
6. Madhusree, dancer
7. Anoushka Kurien, dancer
8. P.S. Mithran, director
9. Devika S, theatre artiste
10. Vijay Ravikumar, theatre artiste
11. Krishna Devanandan, dancer, theatre artiste
12. Preethi Athreya, dancer, choreographer
13. Kaveri Bharath, potter
14. Palani, theatre artiste
15. Meera Krishnamurthi, dancer, theatre artiste
16. Laya Kumaravel, artiste
17. Anandsami, theatre artiste
18. Sravanthi, dancer
19. Abhaydev Praful, musician
20. Ramya, dancer
21. Anushka Meenakshi, documentary film maker
22. Anish Anto, actor
23. Aruna Shankar, actor
24. Ashwini Kasi, actor
25. Madhan Mani, musician
26. Muthumurthy, musician, actor
27. Nirupama Thomas, visual artist
28. Palanikkoothan, actor, director
29. Regin Rose, actor, director
30. Rutva S, Actor, writer
31. Shazia Akbar, artist
32. Sowmiya, actor
33. Srijith Sundaram, actor, director
34. Tamilarasan S, actor
35. Prabu Mani, theatre artiste
36. Sekher, theatre artiste
37. Irfana Hameed, artiste, musician
38. Sanjay Premanand, visual artist
39. Amarnath Praful, visual artist
40. Manoj Jahson, filmmaker
41. Parvathy, visual artist
42. Kamatchi, theatre maker and teacher
43. Tara Thomas, writer
44. Akila, dancer
45. Natesh, light designer, virtual artist
46. Sruthi Sriram, art therapist
47. Hariharan, graphic designer
48. Ranjani Prasad, screenwriter
49. Ramani Modukuri, illustrator