India’s winter of discontent: Farmers stand up towards Modi | India Information

A cool breeze swirls through New Delhi in the morning and the sun is partly obscured by toxic haze, a sign of another winter in the Indian capital. But along the city limits this year is visible and viscerally different.

The busy highways that connect most north Indian cities to this city of 29 million people now pulsate to the screams of “Inquilab Zindabad” (long live the revolution).

Tens of thousands of farmers with distinctive, colorful turbans and long, flowing beards have come down to the city limits and clogged the highways in huge demonstrations against new agricultural laws that they say will open up to business exploitation.

For more than a week they have been marching towards the capital with their tractors and trucks like an army, pushing concrete police barricades aside while defying tear gas, batons and water cannons.

Now, on the outskirts of New Delhi, they are supplied with food and fuel that can take weeks and threaten to besiege the capital if Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government fails to comply with demands to abolish the laws passed in September.

“Modi wants to sell our land to businesses,” said one of them, Kaljeet Singh, 31, who had traveled from the city of Ludhiana in Punjab, about 310 kilometers north of New Delhi. “He cannot choose for millions of people who have given their blood and sweat to the land they consider more precious than their lives for generations.”

Exploitation by corporations

At night the farmers sleep in caravans and under trucks and curl up in blankets to withstand the winter cold. During the day, they sit huddled in groups in their vehicles, surrounded by mounds of rice, lentils, and vegetables cooked for meals in hundreds of makeshift soup kitchens, in huge pots stirred with wooden spoons the size of canoe paddles.

Modi wants to sell our land to companies.

Kaljeet Singh, 31, who came from Ludhiana

Anmol Singh, 33, who supports his family of six through farming, said the new laws are part of a larger plan to turn farmers’ lands over to big companies and make them landless.

“Modi wants the poor farmer to die of hunger so that he can fill the stomachs of his rich friends,” he said. “We are here to peacefully oppose his brutal decrees.”

He paused and then thought again: “Let him and his ministers actually take over. We’re going to give them a bloody nose. “

Many of the protesting farmers come from northern Punjab and Haryana, two of the largest agricultural states in India. An overwhelming majority of them are Sikhs.

Amrik Singh Mikka, 78, sits in the back of his articulated truck parked on a highway during a protest against new farm bills [Altaf Qadri/AP Photo]They fear that the laws passed in September will cause the government to stop buying grain at guaranteed minimum prices and lead to exploitation by companies that will bring prices down. Many activists and agricultural experts support their demand for a guaranteed minimum price for their harvest.

The new rules will also eliminate agents who act as middlemen between the farmers and the state-regulated wholesale markets. Farmers say agents are a vital part of the agribusiness and its main line of credit, providing quick funds for fuel, fertilizer, and even loans in case of family emergencies.

Modi wants the poor farmer to die of hunger so that he can fill the stomachs of his rich friends

Anmol Singh, protester

The laws have exacerbated existing resentments from farmers, who often complain about being ignored by the government in order to achieve better crop prices, additional loan waivers, and irrigation systems to ensure water during drought.

The government has argued that the laws are bringing about necessary reforms that will allow farmers to market their products and stimulate production through private investment. But the farmers say they have never been consulted.

Several rounds of talks between the two sides did not end the impasse. Another round of talks is expected on Saturday.

The growing peasant uprising

With nearly 60 percent of India’s population dependent on agriculture for a living, the growing peasant uprising has rocked the Modi government and allies. Its leaders have sought to contain the protests, which are quickly resembling scenes from last year, when a controversial new citizenship law discriminating against Muslims led to demonstrations that culminated in violence.

These demonstrations were much larger, but the growling growls of peasants are growing rapidly and have widespread support from ordinary citizens who have joined them in large numbers.

Modi and his allies have tried to allay farmers’ fears about the new laws while rejecting their concerns. Some of his party leaders have labeled the peasants “misguided” and “anti-national,” a label often given to those who criticize Modi or his policies.

The government is holding talks with the farmers to convince them to end their protests, but they are digging on their heels.

Farmer Kulwant Singh, 72, said when he left his home in Haryana because of the protests, he gave his wife a garland of flowers for two possible scenarios.

The 70-year-old Indian farmer Surender Singh is sitting on a chair and having himself massaged next to a truck parked on a motorway to protest against new farm bills at the Delhi-Haryana state border [Altaf Qadri/AP Photo]”Either I come back victorious and she puts it around my neck in celebration, or I die here disgusting and the same garland will be placed on my body when it comes home,” said Singh.

Such passions are deeply ingrained in the demonstrators, who discovered social, economic and generational barriers during the demonstrations.

Singh is not the only member of his family who has traveled to New Delhi for what he called “Qilah Fatehi”, an Urdu term meaning “siege”. His son and grandson also accompanied him.

“It’s a struggle for my generation too,” said Amrinder Singh, 16.

As the demonstrations increased, protesters have also begun to bring a political message home.

Not happy with Modi’s federal policies, many of which have aroused great resentment among his critics and minorities. Farmers protesting say it is time for him to stop what they call his “dictatorial behavior”.

“India is in a recession. There are hardly any jobs and the worldly fabric of our country is in ruins, ”said Gurpreet Singh, 26, a biotechnology student who comes from a farming family. “At a time when India needs a healing touch, Modi is developing controversial laws. This is unacceptable and goes against our constitutional values. “

Discriminatory Laws

Modi’s second term since May 2019 was marked by several convulsions. The economy has recovered, social conflict has escalated, protests against discriminatory laws have broken out and his government has been asked about its response to the pandemic.

The peasant protests present the government with a new challenge.

The demonstrators’ desire to oppose Modi and his policies extends to a sex-agenic peasant couple who drove in a hatchback 250 kilometers from Chandigarh to take part in the demonstrations on Sunday.

Dharam Singh Sandhu (67) and Vimaljeet Kaur (66) spend nights in their car, which is parked near the protest area. In the morning they have breakfast in a makeshift soup kitchen. The last part of the day is spent demonstrating.

“Our country is our mother. If we can’t protect it, we have no right to live, ”Sandhu said of the protests.

His wife spoke passionately of a greater purpose as she walked to the protest site through a stream of vehicles honking their horns non-stop to get past the congested traffic.

“Our country is like a bouquet of flowers, but Modi wants it to be the same color. He has no right to do so. I’m here to protest this attitude, ”said Kaur.

As Kaur was walking hand in hand with her husband, a great scream came from one of the vehicles: “Inquilab zindabad.”

The crowd turned and followed their gaze to a young man with a black beard who was holding his fist through the car window.

The protesters, including Kaur, yelled back, “Inquilab Zindabad!”

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