Dravidar Kazhagam president K. Veeramani on Saturday released a book, Agriculture Acts 2020, written by Justice A.K. Rajan, former judge of the Madras High Court.
The book is about the three controversial Central farm laws, which triggered massive protests by farmers in New Delhi.
Justice Rajan said the book was a concise work on the farm laws and batted for federalism. “The first thing you have to note is that India is a federal country. Not just now, but even 350 years before Christ, the Mauryan Empire controlled India, but not as a single nation. They had provinces and vassals. The Gupta Empire also ruled over provinces. In modern times, the Europeans divided India into Madras, Calcutta and Bombay provinces,” he said.
Speaking about the book, Vijoo Krishnan, joint secretary, All India Kisan Sabha, said, “Justice Rajan’s book has shown how the laws hit at the federal structure of our country. The BJP, which professes the Hindutva ideology and has done away with our diverse culture, is now talking about ‘one nation, one market’.”
He said the regulated markets were being dismantled and the federal structure was being “hit at” by these policies.
Mr. Veeramani said farmers depended on farm loan waivers from the State governments for their survival. “This should not be seen as just the farmers’ issue. It goes beyond that. The States’ rights and our Constitution have to be defended,” Mr. Veeramani said.
