Paramjit Kaur Longowal is the zonal secretary of the Zameen Parapti Sangharsh Committee (ZPSC). She is one of the founding members of ZPSC. Since 2014 she has been an organizer of the struggle for Dalit ownership of agricultural land in the villages of Punjab. She also works focusing on the various issues faced by Dalit women agricultural workers & she mobilizes them in the struggle for land rights for the landless dalit peasants.  Amidst the ongoing polling for the general election 2024, Sudarshana Chakraborty from Groundxero spoke to Paramjit Kaur on election and the people’s struggle in Punjab.

GX:  Keeping in mind the election campaign of the BJP… they are talking of development – ‘Vikas’, ‘Viksit Bharat’ etc.  What is your take on the elections?

Paramjit Kaur:  First thing, the people at the grass root level – farm labourers, small farmers and students – the sections among which I’m working in Punjab have not seen any development or change, rather their situation has worsened.

In Punjab there is anger among the common people against the BJP and the discontentment is really very high. People do not like the BJP. The Modi government has done nothing for the laborers. If we follow news headlines or any reports, we can see that there is not a single thing for the labourers, which means, in their policies they believe that the labourers are ‘Sudra’ (lower caste). The new criminal laws based on ‘Manusmriti’, and the new labour rules & regulations that they want to bring, the impact of those will be worst on the laborers, as they are the ‘Sudras’, the lower caste. The caste based discrimination and violence is increasing continuously, it is not decreasing anywhere.

In Punjab, the issues of rural labourers’ housing – the right to ownership of their housing – has not been resolved, it’s still pending, despite promises no progress has been made in this regard.  We, the labourers have also protested recently for the implementation of the Land Ceiling Act. We announced a ‘rail roko’ movement against the central government, demanding the ownership of housing for the laborers according to the law. When we announced the protest program, the houses of labourers were raided by the police, they were put under surveillance, they were stopped from marching to the railway tracks, many were detained and booked by the police. Just a few days earlier, the land-owning farmers’ unions had protested on the railway tracks to press for their demands. But the landless dalit labourers are not even allowed to protest, to express their anger. So, it can be clearly seen what the condition of the labourers is in Punjab and also in the country.

We believe that whoever comes in power, whether BJP, Congress or any other party, they will follow ‘Manusmriti’ and implement policies which will crush the rights of the labourers, the lower caste people. But yes, Modi is in the forefront of this. It is also true that as the oppression of the Modi government’s policies increases, the movement has also become stronger.

Our straight forward policy is that whoever comes to our villages seeking votes, we will protest. 

GX:  As you have mentioned, whoever comes into power will follow ‘Manusmriti’ in one way or the other. How do you view the ‘INDIA’ alliance?

Paramjit Kaur:  I think, this ‘INDIA’ alliance has not been formed for any good to the citizens.  The leaders are keen to save their own credibility, their own parties. If we talk about Congress or Aam Aadmi Party, they all are busy saving their own parties. The ordinary citizens will have nothing out of this alliance. It’s  clear that Modi’s fascism will eventually crush everybody.

GX:  Various movements are ongoing, a large number of people participate in different struggles. But when it comes to the election, why do you think those issues of the people’s struggle do not get reflected?

Paramjit Kaur:  It is because the movements are not that strong, as strong are the attempts of the government to suppress the voices. There is so much disunity in the country that it is preventing the struggles of the people to be united. True, that there are movements in different parts, states and sectors of the country, but it is also true that the ‘halla’ is bigger than the movement.

The problem is also that in different movements, organizations supporting the government somehow get entry & disrupt the movement. As we can see what is happening now in Punjab. In the farmers’ movement the political organizations have got entry and now they are pushing the movement into a pessimistic situation. This is planned, which is weakening the movement. 

So the ‘halla’ surrounding such a planned movement is quite loud, although the movement is rather weak. So we are unable to reach the desired goal of the movement. If we have to unite the people, we need to unite different segments and communities like – the labourers, the small and marginal farmers, the women, the dalits. But this is not becoming possible – to unite them in one single front. The leadership of all these sectional movements believe that if they support the others, their demands may get diluted, which is not true in reality. And this is not even being thought of as a serious problem.

Then there are the ‘Inquilabi‘ (revolutionary ) fronts. But they are also not able to intervene effectively because a certain kind of pessimism is there within the farmers and labourers. That is because the policies and activities of the government are preventing them from being united. But I must say that though there are problems, the situation is better than before. Organizations are working towards the goal. In the southern part of the country also, farmers’ organizations are coming together in a big way.

Also, the media is creating difficulties. If the government does a small thing it becomes propaganda, our demands and struggles are not even mentioned. We organize a program with so much effort but it does not make any news. How much publicity can we do on our own through facebook, social media? We don’t have the media by our side. Amidst the pessimistic situation, if there is news of different sectors & their movements coming together in one front, having a coalition – such news is not being covered & spread to make those who are participating in movements feel positive.

GX:  We can see that however the BJP-RSS is achieving almost everything as per their agenda, they are aiming to create a Hindu Rashtra, they have made the Ram Mandir, and have made some very crucial changes in law. How do you think different movements will be able to resist these in the coming days?

Paramjit Kaur:  Yes, it is true that they are able to fulfill some of their agendas so far and are working towards achieving the rest. Especially the legal changes they are making fast. I feel now is the time to take the movements to national level, leaving the state centric approach. The leadership at the national level should think about it, to unite all. We cannot resist them without an India level approach. 

There is pressure on people, they are being allured. It is being projected, especially through the media that good works are being done. But in reality there is much anger against BJP at the grass root level. Now it has to be seen who can drive that anger at the India level & push that to resistance. We cannot find any solution in bits & pieces struggles going on here and there. 

So either there will be some initiative under which all of the common people will come or there will be a big movement which will unite people across the country. ‘Inquilabi’ (revolutionary) forces will have to take the initiative. 

GX:  Do you feel that if the peasants’ organizations in the movements would have participated in electoral politics, that would have been of any help?

Paramjit Kaur:  No, no, it would not have made any difference. Without struggle there is no solution.  Nothing can be gained by joining electoral politics. The solution will come through people’s struggle only.  There has to be a mass movement.

GX: So what is ZPSC planning to do during elections in Punjab?

Paramjit Kaur: We have decided to organize village-level mobilization in view of the elections and hold rallies under the slogan “Modi Bhagao, Modi Harao”. We will also question the other ruling class political parties like the Aam Aadmi Party, Congress, Akali and others, and launch a campaign among the people exposing this anti-labour political system. We will expose the false claims of the AAP Government. In the last three years, even in the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s own district, not a single rural dalit labourer has been given the right to own houses falling within the lal lakir. Our appeal to the people of Punjab is to “Defeat BJP, Drive away BJP, question other ruling parties and expose this hypocritical anti-people system”.

Apart from this, planning has also been drawn up regarding bidding for panchayati common land reserved for landless dalit during auctions. 

ZPSC, Kirti Kisan Union, Youth Bharat Sabha, Punjab Student Union campaigning in a village under the slogan “Defeat the BJP, drive away the BJP, question the other ruling parties and expose this anti-people system.”