Asian Tribune 29 January 2021

Issue 273 (6) Asian Tribune 29 January, 2021
Editorial
Tanks and tractors
This is a special Republic Day,
one that uniquely exemplifies the contradictions
and the deep fault lines
that run through our body politic.
Waiting for the pomp and gaiety of
the R-Day parade on Rajpath in New
Delhi to get over would be tens of
thousands of farmers at the borders
of the national capital. While the State
showcases tanks, missiles and fighter
aircraft flying past, the farmers would
be waiting to display their distress on
tractors — the parade of the protesters.
This ought not to have happened.
The government, to begin with,
should not have taken a maximalist
position; and after the government
blinked, agreeing to suspend the contentious
farm laws for 18 months, the
farmers should have relented, asking
for a longer moratorium and, meanwhile,
getting the state legislatures
empowered to deal with the farm
laws. After all, agriculture is a state
subject. The battle of wits between
farmer leaders and government representatives
should not be allowed to
get transformed into a clash of egos.
This ought to be resolved at the earliest.
The contradictions do not end
with the two parades. As we celebrate
our vaxi-diplomacy offering Covid-19
vaccines to the world, the Republic
has not yet inoculated its citizens
against the greatest affliction of this
nation — poverty — or has attempted
to cure and rehabilitate the migrant
masses, which walked hundreds of
kilometres after having lost their jobs
in the cities. Over one crore people
still remain jobless in the manufacturing
sector and nearly a crore more
are yet to get re-employed in the services
segment. Yet, the Sensex has
conquered Mount 50K, while the
economy is contracting at a rate of
7.5 per cent. The disconnect between
marketcap and unemployment; tanks
and tractors; Rajpath and the national
highway could never have been
greater than it is today.
On this auspicious day, we
need to remind ourselves that agriculture
employs about 36 per cent of
the country’s labour force and that figure
rose to 40 per cent in 2020, while
all other sectors declined. This sector
and the farmers deserve greater
respect.
Yash Sharma
Editorial Team
Prof . Harjinder Walia,
Ph.D (Journalism)
Former Head of Journalism
Punjabi Universty Patiala. (Punjab) India
Patron
Yash Sharma,
M.Sc (Hons), DMM
Publisher & Editor in Chief
780-200-0246
Sat Paul Kaushal
Associate Editor, Calgary
403 903 8500
Raghbir Bilaspuri
Bureau Chief ( Punjabi)
Sunny Sharma
Bureau Chief (English)
Atul Seth, CPA,CGA
Financial & Management Consultant
Tejinder Singh Bhateja
Advisor(Marketing)
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