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Journalism of Courage
Riding the pillion of a delivery man’s bike during the Karnataka elections, hitching a ride with truck drivers to Ambala in May to listen to their “mann ki baat”, a visit to a bike repair shop in Delhi last month, and now an interaction with farmers in Haryana’s Sonipat. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been busy reaching out to the public since the Bharat Jodo Yatra concluded in January and posting videos of his conversations with them.
In the video posted on his YouTube channel on Sunday morning — titled Dhan ki ropayi, Manjhi par roti: Kisan hai Bharat ki taakat (Sowing paddy, eating roti — Farmers are the strength of India) — Rahul is seen speaking to farmers, ploughing land with a tractor, sowing paddy, and sharing a meal with them. He is also seen inviting a group of women farmers for a meal at his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s home in Delhi and telling them that the government had taken away his house.
“Farmers have a huge contribution in uniting India — the crops they grow are a part of every plate of the country, but their austerity does not get the right fruits and respect,” reads the video description. “The farmers of India are simple, truthful and sensible. They also recognise their rights. When needed, they stand firm against black laws, along with they also raise the right demand for MSP and insurance. If we listen to him, understand his point of view, then many problems of the country can be solved.”
In the video, Rahul is seen interacting with two farmers named Sanjay Malik and Tasbir Kumar. Sanjay tells the Congress leader that he has taken land on lease from the government and that Tasbir works with him on a 25% contract. Rahul then learns to plough land using a tractor and inquires about the farmers’ lifestyles — from sowing and harvest seasons to the money they make.
He then asks Sanjay, “So all of this privatisation … who do you think is benefiting?” To this, the farmer replies, “I feel the rich, people in power are benefiting from it.”
Asked by the Congress leader if it was easier 10 years ago or if it is easier now, Sanjay responds, “Earlier …there were provisions before. There was insurance. The government would help us a lot before. This government is useless. Farmers used to be the priority of the government. This government has finished that.”
Rahul then goes on to sow paddy with a group of women farmers, one of whom, at a point, compliments him for his paddy-sowing skills. The video also documents the Congress leader’s other interactions near the farm. He asks a boy what he wants to become when he grows up, to which the boy replies: “Animal doctor.”
At this point, a passerby tells Rahul, “You have shown great respect for the farmers and labourers of this country by coming here today.” The Congress leader then replies, “I wanted to see and understand.”
Rahul is also shown having a meal with women farmers and questioning them about their lives. “Do women work more or men?” he asks them and pat comes the collective answer: “Women.” When a woman tells Rahul that she has a cataract in her eyes, he offers to get her an appointment with a doctor.
“You have been asking about us, tell us about yourself,” a woman then tells the Congress leader, who replies, “I am from Delhi.” When they tell him to show them around Delhi and his house, the Congress leader says, “I do not have a house, the government took it.”
The Congress leader, who was the MP from Wayanad in Kerala, vacated his government bungalow at 12, Tughlaq Lane in New Delhi in April after he was disqualified from Parliament over his conviction in a defamation case. This, the Congress leader said at the time, was the “price paid for speaking the truth”.
In the video, Rahul is then seen calling up Priyanka and getting her to talk to the farmers. The Gandhis then invite the group for a meal at their home in Delhi. “What are we going to eat? Everything is so expensive. That’s why kids have to study and get a job. But nobody is getting a job without a bribe,” one woman in the group tells Rahul, who then proceeds to ask them about their daily routine.
Towards the end of the video, a group of farmers criticise the BJP-led government at the Centre, saying, “The government has cheated us … The BJP government always pushes us into murky grounds. The farmers and labourers have no way out. We are facing a lot of difficulties. If farmers are in distress, so is the society.”
The video ends with a sneak peek of the next video that documents the women travelling to Delhi to share a meal with Rahul, Priyanka, and Sonia Gandhi. They are also seen dancing with Sonia.
