Altaf Qadri / AP
New Delhi – A months of absence between India’s farmers and its government on Tuesday led to new clashes between police and protesters in the capital of Delhi. At least one farmer died and according to officials, numerous were injured, and some police were also injured.
The large-scale clashes were the worst violence in weeks amid what has become one of the longest labor rallies in Indian history – and one of the biggest challenges for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The farmers have planned massive rallies for Tuesday to coincide with India’s Republic Day, a national holiday that always involves a major military parade through Delhi.
The farmers – mostly from the states of Punjab and Haryana, known as the ‘rice bowl’ of India, started protesting in mid-November and marched to Delhi and set up tentative camps on the border of the capital. They have since kept their field and sometimes organized large trek-led marches in the capital.
They demand that the government of Modi repeal three farming laws implemented in September to deregulate the country’s agricultural sector. The farmers say the laws will help big business, but destroy the livelihoods of smaller farmers, who form the backbone of the agricultural sector, accounting for nearly 15% of India’s $ 2.9 trillion economy.
Altaf Qadri / AP
In December, farmers received widespread support for a one-day shutdown of India that blocked highways and railways and briefly stifled the flow of basic goods through the country.
“We will not stop”
Police in riot gear stormed a rally on Tuesday, removing hundreds of protesters by truck. But several groups of protesters turned away from the designated route and headed for central Delhi, where more celebrations and parades were taking place.
Farmers began breaking through the barriers at border points, and one group managed to get into the iconic Red Fort of New Delhi and hoist their own flags next to the Indian national flag.
Dinesh Joshi / AP
Police tear gas used and the protesting farmers sticks charged when hundreds of tractors streamed into the capital. The government sent additional paramilitary forces into full riot gear as the clashes escalated that afternoon.
“We want to send a clear message to the government: we will not stop, you have to take back the laws,” said an angry protester at the Red Fort. It took police and paramilitary forces several hours to remove the 17th-century landmark.
Telephone and internet services in some parts of Delhi were cut off in the late afternoon and some metro stations in the capital closed as the government tried to stop the protesters’ coordination.
India’s suffering farmers
Several rounds of talks between the farmers’ leaders and the government of Modi over the past few months have failed to resolve the struggle.
Last month, the government offered to stop the farm laws, but the farmers demanded a full repayment of the measures.
India’s agricultural sector has suffered in recent years due to outdated laws, droughts and floods fueled by climate change, and even locusts thousands of acres of crops destroyed.
The circumstances have thousands debt-ridden farmers to suicide. More than 10,000 Indian farmers were killed by suicide in 2019 alone, according to government data.