2020 edition of the National Farmers’ Day on Wednesday was markedly different from the earlier years as the day which was meant for honouring the farmers has seen no respite from deep ‘bargaining’ over the three contentious farm laws, an unmistakable feature by now  for the last 28 days. While the Central government has decided not to concede to the ultimate demand which is a total recall of the laws, the farmers, braving the harsh winter in the outskirts of the national capital have on the day made it clear for one more time that the amendment route is not acceptable to them. Such a scenario has no precedence in the country and with the deadlock in the backdrop, the latest ray of hope seems to be the December 25 talks when the Prime Minister himself will interact with the agitating farmers.

Separating the political warmth that the intense four-week long agitation has generated, it must be mentioned that the farmers can hardly be blamed for the pandemonium that has now reached the zenith. If there was opacity right from the time of passage of the bills in the parliament, the space for deliberations the ‘high-voltage’ changes of this sort usually needed was also curtailed to a great extent. Now with the methodology of repeated rounds of talks being deliberately pursued, all fruitless so far, the farmers have no option but to believe that the government has no real intention to end the impasse and is only issuing false promises. Interestingly, the same sentiment was prominent on the Framers’ Day and it has been reiterated once more by the union representatives that they are in no mood to hear “those meaningless amendments” which have been rejected successively in the preceding five round of talks. The day’s development shows that the farmers are ready for talks and it is also well within the yardstick of reasonableness if  they demand for a conducive environment and abandoning of the stubbornness on the part of the government. The buzzwords that marked the day and flowed in from the farmers’ camp were “concrete proposal” and it’s not hard to guess what it means in the context of this raging dispute.

Even if it appears that it’s much difficult to break the ice now compared to the picture in the initial days of the agitation, for a comprehensive solution, the government must handle the ball with care which now lies in its court. But for that, the hostile atmosphere that persists now must be ended at once, and again, it’s the government who can do it.

Only an open-minded and accommodative attitude can bring an end to the dispute. Else, as the Supreme Court has observed, within days it can snowball into a major national issue.