'I am a farmer, I walk this long journey'

On March 12, 2018, over 40,000 farmers came to Mumbai city intending to encircle the Vidhan Bhavan and ensure that the government concedes their demands on issues ranging from remunerative prices and a farm loan waiver, to implementation of the Forest Rights Act and the recommendations of the National Commission on Farmers (the Swaminathan Commission).

Anguished and angered by the state’s apathy and continuing indifference to their problems, the farmers had joined the Long March organised by the Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Sabha. They walked for six days to cover a distance of around 180 kilometres from CBS Chowk in Nashik before they finally halted at Azad Maidan in south Mumbai.

Tens of thousands of farmers sat patiently listening to speeches by their leaders – while a small delegation met with the chief minister – all the while hoping their demands would be considered and their long gruelling trek would have an impact.

Inspired by these events, PARI’s Jyoti Shinoli wrote a poem about the Indian farmer and what he or she has to say. The video featured here, also by the PARI team, comprises footage from the first and the last days of the march, along with the audio of the poem ‘I am a farmer, I walk this long journey’.

Poem translated by Namita Waikar

The PARI team: Jyoti Shinoli, Samyukta Shastri, Siddharth Adelkar and Sinchita Maji

Also see: From fields of despair – a march with hope