NEW DELHI (AP) – Thousands of Indian farmers blocked a massive highway on the outskirts of New Delhi on Saturday to block the 100th day of protests against agricultural legislation, which they say will destroy their income.
Farmers stood on tractors and waved colorful flags while their leaders chanted slogans via a loudspeaker on top of a temporary stage.
Thousands of them have moved outside New Delhi’s borders since late November to express their anger at three laws passed by parliament last year. The government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, says the laws are needed to modernize agriculture, but farmers say it will leave them poorer and at the mercy of big business.
Samyukta Kisan Morcha, or Joint Farmers’ Front, said the blockade would last five hours. “It’s not our hobby to block roads, but the government is not listening to us. What can we do? ”Said Satnam Singh, a member of the group.
The farmers remained untouched even after violence erupted on January 26 during a clash with police that killed one protester and injured hundreds. But they may soon have problems.
Karnal Singh has been living in the back of a trailer for 100 days along a large stretch of arterial highway connecting northern India with New Delhi. He was camping outside the capital when it was under the grip of winter and smog. Now the city is engaged in scorching summer temperatures that can reach 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit).
But Singh, like many other farmers, is shameless and plans to stay until the laws are completely repealed.
“We are not going anywhere and will fight to the end,” Singh, 60, said Friday as he sat cross-legged in a temporary shelter in the back of his truck.
The mood on the Singhu border, one of the protest sites, was noisy on Friday, and many farmers settled in their area for the long term.
Enormous soup kitchens that provide thousands of food daily were still running. Farmers huddled on both sides of the highway and hundreds of trucks were converted into rooms, equipped with water coolers for the summer. Electric fans and air conditioners are also installed in some trailers.
Farmers say the protests will soon spread across the country. However, the government hopes that many of them will return home as soon as India’s biggest harvest season begins at the end of the month.
Karanbir Singh dismissed such concerns. He said their community, including friends and neighbors in the villages, tend to farm while he and others continue the protests.
“We will help each other to make sure no farming is harvested,” Singh said.
But not all farmers are against the laws. Pawan Kumar, a fruit and vegetable grower and an ardent supporter of Modi, said he was ready to give them a chance.
“If it turns out that they (the laws) do not benefit us, we will protest again,” he said. ‘We will bump roads, and make the protest even bigger. Then more ordinary people, even workers, will join. But if it turns out to be beneficial to us, we will keep it. ”
Several rounds of talks between the government and farmers did not end the stalemate. The farmers rejected an offer from the government to keep the laws for 18 months, saying they wanted a full repeal.
The legislation is not clear whether the government will continue to guarantee prices for certain essential crops – a system introduced in the 1960s to help India increase its food reserves and prevent shortages.
Farmers also fear that the legislation indicates that the government is moving away from a system in which the vast majority of farmers only sell to government-sanctioned markets. They are concerned that they are being left at the mercy of companies that have no legal obligation to pay them the guaranteed price anymore.
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Associated Press video journalist Rishabh R. Jain contributed to this report.