New Delhi (AP) – Tens of thousands of Indian farmers on Monday called for a national farmers’ strike for the second time in a week to press for the repeal of three new laws related to agrarian reform. Destroy their revenue.
Farmers in the suburbs of New Delhi have camped on at least five major highways and have said they will not leave until the government withdraws what they call “black laws”. They blockaded the highways leading to the capital for three weeks, and several rounds of talks with the government failed to make any progress.
A number of farmer leaders also staged a token fast at protest sites on Monday. Farmers in areas where a strong patrol of police were involved in the revolt.
Opposition leaders have rejected the government’s proposal to amend some of the controversial provisions of the new farm laws regulating crop prices, and have called for their abolition altogether.
In Singh, a protest site on the outskirts of New Delhi, hundreds of farmers blocked all entry and exit roads and raised anti-government slogans. Some of them carried banners saying “No farmers, no food”.
About two dozen leaders fasted for a day at the venue, while a large communal kitchen served food to other protesters.
“It is the responsibility of the government to provide social benefits to the people. If they do not give it, the people will have to come together,” said Harvinder Kaur, a civil servant who came from his home in Punjab to help with the kitchen.
Another protester, Rajbip Singh, a 20-year-old student, is helping his farming family return home in Punjab, saying the struggle will continue until their demands are met.
“Now it is a question of their (government’s) ego and our pride,” he said.
Farmers’ leaders have threatened to intensify their operations and block trains in the coming days if the government does not repeal the laws.
The farmers filed a petition in the Supreme Court on Friday seeking the repeal of the laws passed in September. The petition was filed by the Bhartiya Kisan Union or the Indian Farmers Association and its chairman Banu Pratap Singh, who argued that the laws were arbitrary because the government had passed them without proper consultation with stakeholders.
Farmers fear that the government will stop buying grain at the minimum guaranteed price and then companies will cut prices. The government says it is ready to guarantee that guaranteed prices will continue.
With nearly 60% of India’s population dependent on agriculture for their livelihood, the growing peasant uprising has stifled Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration and its allies.
The Modi government insists that the reforms will benefit farmers. It says it will allow farmers to market their produce and increase production through private investment.
Farmers in Punjab and Haryana have been protesting against the laws for almost two months. The situation escalated when tens of thousands marched on New Delhi three weeks ago, where they clashed with police.