Andolanjeevi Yogendra Yadav, who is accused of masterminding the spread of misinformation in the farmers’ protests and is also leading a scaremongering campaign of farmers, had gladly begun spreading his propaganda at the international stage with his recent appearance at BBC’s Hard Talk. No sooner did he start peddling his malicious lies against the revolutionary farm reforms passed by the Modi government last year, that the man was asked pointed questions by the anchor. In fact, the anchor made no secret of the fact that he was supportive of the farm reforms, and also asked questions to the same effect.
Whether it be questioning the mindlessness of the protests or asking Yogendra Yadav how he and his gang can oppose reforms which will double farmers’ income and work wonders to overhaul the agricultural sector, BBC did it all. Surprisingly, it was BBC, and not any other international media which took to exposing the shallowness of the fake agitation and how it was driven by an inherently socialist fear of free markets. Yogendra Yadav failed to argue on the merits or demerits of the laws, and was simply continuing his rants against the Modi government – something which the BBC anchor did not buy. “What is anti-farmer about the desire to make farming more prosperous? You know better than I that Prime Minister Narendra Modi back in 2016 promised to double farmers’ income over the following six years. He says this reform is absolutely crucial to delivering on his promise to make farmers substantially better off,” the anchor probed and remarked. Yadav, after beginning to be exposed by BBC, went on to ‘teach’ the anchor about how farmers wanted better market infrastructure (which will be provided by the three farm reforms) and better risk mitigation.
The anchor shot off saying that the Modi government has very well assured to mitigate the risks of farmers, and has also assured them that the MSP regime will continue with increased vigour. To this, Yadav said that the government was lying. Yogendra Yadav was given a solid thrashing by his host hereafter, as he said, “You seem to be in the bizarre position defending the status quo, and the status quo for generations has been really bad for many many farmers. We know that, not least because more than 10,000 farmers a year commit suicide, living in absolute poverty and rural misery. Why are you intent on defending a system which clearly doesn’t work?” To this, Yogendra Yadav replied with a flimsy statement of no farmers in India wanting such reform – which by the way, is a blatant lie.
The BBC host also said that there was no doubt about the farmers being determined to effectuate chaos and violence on the streets of Delhi. The anchor also asked Yadav whether he felt any shame about the violence that took place on India’s Republic Day, and what steps he was taking to ensure that the same chaos is not seen once again in the coming days. Then, Stephen Sackur – the host went on to school Yogendra Yadav about how PM Modi was delivering on his promises, and how India was projected to be the only country registering over 10 per cent projected economic growth even in post-pandemic quarters.
It would not be an overstatement to suggest that Yogendra Yadav faced an intense grilling session from the most unexpected of quarters – the BBC, which has a known and historical hatred for India and the Modi government. The grilling of Yadav is also an indicator that the farmers’ agitation is losing international support, and that their global marketing of the protests is now failing.
