who opposed were severely beaten by the police with their lathis. It took police very little time to clear the highway. In all, 363 farmers were arrested and were released on bail the following day. The agitation continued with even greater vigour. Joshi announced that if the Government did not announce higher price for onions before 5 March, he would go on fast until death. The Government yielded and announced on the 5th morning that it would purchase onion at the rate of Rs. 50 to 70 a quintal, but actually did not implement that decision. Ultimately, Joshi started his indefinite fast from 8 March. That was the first fast of his life. Incidentally, he had taken the decision to go on fast at the spur of the moment. He had not told anything about this to anyone else including his wife Leela. She learnt about it only through the newspapers on the third day of the fast. She was very annoyed and immediately rushed to Chakan. “How could you suddenly go on a fast like this without telling me anything about it?” – she asked a natural question. Somehow, Joshi managed to pacify her. Looking at the event many years later Joshi said, ‘Soldiers are willing to fight only when their General himself enters the battlefield and puts his own life at stake. This time so strong was the urge in my gut, that while sitting in the market, there and then itself, I took this decision to go on an indefinite fast. It was not a carefully thought out decision. Till then I had never fasted in my life, not even on any religious occasion. I decided on the spur of the moment and just sat down for the fast. In a way it was a testing time for me. My colleagues were then convinced that I have put everything, including my own life, at stake in this battle. Unless I did that, I could not expect others to do that. Even in later years, I never urged my colleagues to take a risk that I was not willing to take myself. Whatever they suffered, I suffered the same before them. That is the reason why this farmers’ movement could build up.’ 110
Q
Sharad Joshi : Leading Farmers to the Centre Stage
