It has been 20 days since a group of people led by Ponnuchamy Ayyakkannu, a self-styled farmer, from Tiruchirappalli district in Tamil Nadu launched a unique agitation in New Delhi’s Jantar Mandar demanding waiver of loans availed by farmers and disbursement of drought relief by the Centre.
The video clips featuring Ayyakkannu and his friends wearing loincloths are the major attractions in news bulletins aired by Tamil TV channels. “We will not come back to Tamil Nadu without making the Narendra Modi Government accede to our demands,” Ayyakkannu told The Pioneer over telephone from New Delhi on Sunday.
But farmers in Tamil Nadu have turned against Ayyakkanu’s brand of agitation. “He is damaging the reputation of Tamil Nadu farmers,” said Kattumannarkoil Kannan, secretary, Cauvery Delta Farmers Welfare Association. Kannan said those who see Ayyakkannu and others get the impression that farmers in Tamil Nadu wear only loincloth.
“What Ayyakkannu and friends do in Delhi is mere drama. They should have agitated against the Tamil Nadu Government instead of showing theatrics in New Delhi. It is for the State Government to address the issues faced by the farmers,” said Kannan.
Ayyakkannu claims he has come to New Delhi with the skulls of farmers who committed suicide this year following the failure of crops and Monsoon. “More than 400 farmers have committed suicide during the last six months alone,” he claims.
But the figures vary from person to person. Some farmers have committed suicide but the cases are few in numbers. “Many farmers aged 70 and above died due to cardiac arrests and other medical reasons. These deaths are being highlighted as suicides,” said RV Giri, president, Consortium of Indian Farmers Association (CIFA).
Kannan and Giri pointed out that the then Chief Minister O Panneerselvam had announced on 10 January that Tamil Nadu would be declared a drought-hit state and that farmers who have incurred 33 per cent loss in paddy and other irrigation crops would be paid Rs5,465 per acre and for long term crops Rs7,287 per acre. Before implementing it, he was eased out of office. The present dispensation is silent about the announcement made by Panneerselvam.
Giri and Kannan expressed doubts over the claim by Ayyakkannu that he was a farmer. “At no point of time we have seen Ayyakkannu donning the role of a farmer. He is a lawyer making a giant kill over out of court settlements,” said Kannan. This is an indirect way of telling that Ayyakkannu survives on Kangaroo Courts.
S Ranganathan, the septuagenarian president of Cauvery Delta Farmers Welfare Association, who dragged Karnataka to the apex court over the refusal of sharing of Cauvery water said what Ayyakkannu and friends were doing was not fair or right. “This is for cheap publicity. We farmers are not beggars and alms seekers. There are some genuine problems but this is not the way to highlight the same,” said Ranganathan.
Farmers in Tiruchirappalli allege that Ayyakkanu owns hundreds of acres of land . “He has never been a farmer and makes a living by holding Kangaroo courts. A woman who is seen with him in TV visuals is not a farmer but a shop keeper selling sweet delicacies,” said Kannan Acharya. He also said that though farming was not a good proposition, Ayyakkannu is making a “kill” through this innovative agitation.