A group of farmer leaders from Punjab on Thursday recalled the shared history of resistance between Punjab and Bengal during the Independence movement and said the present political scene demanded a similar response.

The farmers’ movement for the repeal of the three new farm laws and the Assembly elections in Bengal are both fights against the same “fascist force”, they said.

“The battle must be fought hand in hand. Bengal and Punjab fought together during our Independence struggle,” said Raminder Singh Patiala, member of the legal cell of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha that is spearheading the protests at Delhi’s borders.

The farm leaders at Bharat Sabha Hall in the Indian Association building in Bowbazar on Thursday. Pictures by Bishwarup Dutta

Patiala, the member of the legal cell of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, said: “Rashbehari Bose had suggested to Ghadar party members how to plan their activities when the party was a fledgling one. He had particularly helped Kartar Singh Sarabha plan underground activities against the British.”

He added: “We are in a similar situation again. You have your election here in Bengal where the BJP is trying to wrest power, while the farmers of Punjab have been protesting against the farm laws.”

Calendars with pictures of farmers’ movements being sold at the venue

Patiala was speaking at a convention organised by Bengal Against Fascist RSS-BJP, an association of citizens who are urging people to oppose the BJP. Several farmer leaders addressed a nearly packed Bharat Sabha Hall at the Indian Association building in Bowbazar.

Patiala also referred to Jatin Das’s association with Bhagat Singh, fellow comrades in the Hindustan Socialist Republican Army, to stress the Bengal-Punjab alliance.

Das, who died in Lahore jail in 1929 after a 63-day hunger strike in protest against prison conditions, is still a revered figure in Punjab, Patiala said.

“Who suffered more than Punjab and Bengal during the Partition?” he said, drawing another historical link.

“The people of these two states know the consequences of a communally polarised society. So we should never allow the BJP a foothold in Bengal.”

The mainly young audience kept breaking into applause, particularly when the speakers rebutted the BJP’s criticism of the farmers’ agitation.

A BJP defeat in Bengal will help debunk government supporters’ claim that the farmers’ movement is restricted to Punjab and Haryana, several of the speakers said.

“It will mean that Bengal’s farmers too have rejected the farm laws. It will mount pressure on the Centre to listen to the protesting farmers,” one of the speakers said.

“A BJP victory will allow the party to go around the country and project the election as a referendum on the farm laws that went in its favour.”

The audience listens to the speakers with rapt attention

Harnek Singh Mehma, a farmer leader, said: “There has been so much propaganda against us. The BJP and the RSS are saying that farmers from Punjab and Haryana alone are protesting. If the BJP is defeated, we can say Bengal’s farmers have rejected the BJP too.”

He added: “In any case, we will win our fight against the Centre. They have to repeal the three farm laws eventually. But a defeat for them in Bengal will bolster our claim that farmers across the country are angry with the BJP. They have already done miserably in the recent urban body polls in Punjab.”

The farmer leaders who spoke at Thursday’s convention had participated in Wednesday’s march in the city, organised with the call “No Vote to BJP”. On Thursday, Patiala said the organisers should change the slogan to “Defeat the BJP”.

The farmer leaders cautioned the audience that the BJP would use every resource it has to try and win Bengal.