On November 29 and 30, farmers from across the country marched to Delhi to put forth their demand for a 21-day special parliamentary session to discuss the ongoing agrarian crisis. Inspired by the Long Kisan March (organised in Nashik-Mumbai, Maharashtra) earlier this year, the Kisan Mukti March of November - also called "Chalo Dilli" (Lets march to Delhi)  - is unprecedented - both in terms of the demands being put forth and the support it garnered.  

In March this year, for the benefit of students, thousands of farmers marched in Mumbai. This served as an important milestone in building urban middle-class support. That march was crucial in linking student and farmer issues. The Students for Farmer's wing was formed with an idea to ensure that this linkage is secured and carried forward.  In the same way, a diverse group of volunteers from across multiple states and sectors - Nation for Farmers – was formed to support the farmers marching against the government’s farm bills by mobilizing people from across urban and rural areas. One of its factions was the Students for Farmer's wing.  

It might look like that two seemingly disconnected social groups – farmers and students - came together to protests for their rights, but it is worth considering how this student-farmer solidarity was forged.  

Capturing the reality  

Arun, (name changed), a BA student from Delhi University hailing from Jalandhar, Punjab, which is described as the "Granary of India" or India's bread-basket, said: “Not many people realize how difficult it is for a young person from Punjab to pursue higher education. I have so many friends back home who were forced to leave school and work as labourers.  In these protests, I represent the students of Punjab.”  

Rural India’s challenges, like Arun’s, remind one of the livelihood gap for struggling students from rural farming communities. So the farmer's protest seems to many of them like their own fight for survival. But what about the section of students, who can’t identify with oppression? So what drives compassion and empathy in them for the farmer's protest? This sense of empathy can be partly attributed to the public education system set-up.

The affordability of quality education at public institutions stimulates distinctly diverse student bodies. It is only telling that public institutions - Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Ambedkar University of Delhi, and Jamia Millia Islamia - were the leading sites for organisational meetings for students in Delhi.  

These spaces enabled the average urban student to engage with students from rural farming communities, nurturing empathy for a reality that they would otherwise have been disconnected from. Youth political wings are key mobilizers, having taken on the role of campaigning and generating awareness among peers. With commitment strengthened by political affiliation and ideas, these groups take on recruiting volunteers and other forms of support. Student media also plays a significant role in mobilizing discourse around the issue, most often being independently run by dedicated student volunteers.  

Furthermore, academic research in rural India is also growing as a result of this youth engagement. For instance, several students at TISS (The Tata Institute of Social Sciences), Hyderabad, have been formally working with farmer organizations and have now gotten involved with the Nation for Farmers effort. At a fundamental level, this is reflective of the deeper involvement of students in agrarian issues.  

Establishing a connection

This can be seen as the first step towards creating long-term engagement. The November march opened the window to an entire social reality many students are disconnected from. In recent times, student  politics and activism in India has famously reached new lows, distancing many from their ideological fanaticism. Letting ideological politics induce passivity amongst student bodies is detrimental to the health of India's democracy.  

The success of this Kisan Mukti March in which hundreds and thousands of farmers from all corners of India marched to Delhi to force the government to repeal the controversial farm bills lies in its ability to distance itself from these contentious ideological categories. The farmers' protest against the farming 'reform' bills passed by parliament in September has entered 33 days on December 28. But the end doesn’t seem near,  as the farmers continue to camp on the borders of Delhi, and are sceptical of government offers. 

Those who participated in the November 30 march are Indians, who belong to different strata of society, but they joined the protesting farmers who feared that their livelihoods have been irrevocably damaged by the government of the day. This movement marks a step forward in rebuilding public democratic participation in India.

The return of active engagement with agrarian issues in university spaces is central to forging student-farmer solidarity. When agrarian movements and farmers' problems become topics of discussion on Indian campuses, only then can we say that India's youth is taking a real step towards changing a  larger social consciousness.

(The writer is a final year student of Political Science and International Relations at Ashoka University. The views expressed are personal.  He can be contacted at arsh.ajmera_ug21@ashoka.edu.in)