“Many farmers in Bengal aren't aware of these laws. So I have brought a few people from my village to listen to the leaders here, understand what they say and then tell their neighbours and friends after they go back home today,” said Subrata Adak.
The 31-year-old farmer had come a protest meeting in Singur on March 14 from his village, Bara Kamalapur, around 10 kilometres away. Leaders of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, the collective of farmers and unions agitating against the three farm laws at the borders of Delhi, had come to West Bengal in mid-March to generate greater awareness about the hazards of the laws. Besides Singur, they held meetings in Asansol, Kolkata and Nandigram.
At the small gathering in Singur, held in the Nabapally locality from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., estimates vary of the number of farmers and supporters who turned up – between 500 and 2,000. The town, around 40 kilometres northwest of Kolkata, saw a landmark agitation in 2006-07 against the acquisition of around 997 acres of farmland for the Tata Motors’ Nano car factory. A Supreme Court order in 2016 directed the state government to return the land to the farmers, but most of it remains barren today.
"Being a farmer myself, I know the situation of agriculture in India,” added Subrata, who cultivates potatoes and onions on eight bighas of land (1 bigha equals 0.33 acres in West Bengal). “Even in pre-Independent India, the British exploited indigo farmers. The current government is bringing in the same situation again. The expenses of farming potatoes have gone up, the cost of seeds has gone up. How do we survive if we don't get the money for all this hard work and the corporates get the actual benefit?








