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 Within a few minutes the entire andolan nagari was destroyed. Twelve farmers had lost their lives in the police firing that day while the number of those wounded was several times more. The news was reaching Nipani town and the citizens were stunned. Their sympathy had always been with the farmers. They had felt that the demands made were very justified and it was very callous on the part of the government to totally disregard the peaceful and disciplined agitation going on for the past 23 days. And then to treat unarmed poor farmers with that kind of police brutality was unthinkable. Even the traders in Nipani town were shocked by the police action; they had never imagined it to be so severe. Sharad Joshi was kept in the Bellary Jail for twelve days along with several other farmers. Every morning he would speak before farmers and use that opportunity to explain the real issues of the farmers and putting their struggle in historical perspective. It was valuable training for most of them. The famous slogan of Shetkari Sanghatana, “Bheek nako, have ghamache dam” (“We don’t want any alms, we want the due price for our sweat”) was born in one of these speeches at Bellary prison. All farmers were released after twelve days but the leaders continued to be imprisoned. They were shifted to Hindalga prison and were released after seven more days, on 25 April. As an aftermath of this agitation Karnataka Government announced on 20 April the decision to form a cooperative society for buying and selling of tobacco. That did not rein in the tobacco traders but it did loosen their earlier draconian grip. The Government also realized that it can no longer overlook the genuine demands of the tobacco farmers. The agitation triggered public interest in the tobacco farmers. A film was also made in Kannada highlighting the exploitation of those in tobacco business and the heroic struggle they fought against the injustice. In many ways the struggle in Nipani brought the plight of tobacco farmers on the agenda of the political parties for the 150

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Sharad Joshi : Leading Farmers to the Centre Stage