NEW DELHI (AP) – Tens of thousands of peasants drove a convoy of tractors to the Indian capital as the nation celebrated Republic Day on Tuesday in the context of agricultural protests that have turned into a rebellion and shook the government.
The roads of the capital were surrounded by rows of rows of tractors carrying flags of India and agricultural unions. Farmers, who wore distinctive colored turbans, shouted slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and what they call his “black laws.” Thousands more marched on foot while dancing and singing, and in one place residents watered them with flower petals, some of which recorded unprecedented concentration on their phones.
“We want to show Modi our strength,” said Satpal Singh, a farmer who left for the capital with a tractor along with his family of five. “We will not give up.”
Police in riot gear stormed a rally on Friday, removing hundreds of protesters by truck. Police in riot gear stormed a rally on Friday, removing hundreds of protesters by truck. Authorities also parked large trucks to barricade several routes so that peasants would not march into the interior of the capital.
Peasant leaders said more than 10,000 tractors had to leave the capital for the rally and thousands of volunteers would try to help police maintain order.
The protests were sparked by new agricultural laws passed by Parliament in September. The Modi government insists the laws will benefit farmers and boost production through private investment, but farmers fear that cartelization and marketing of agriculture will devastate their incomes.
Farmers first tried to leave for New Delhi in November, but were stopped by police. Since then, baffled by the cold winter temperatures during the night, they have been hiding from the supply of food and fuel and have threatened to besiege the capital until agricultural laws are repealed.
The government has offered to amend the laws and suspend their implementation for 18 months. But farmers insist they will settle for nothing less than a complete repeal. They plan to walk to the Indian Parliament on February 1, when the country’s new budget will be presented.
The rally of tractors overshadowed Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi, even as the annual military parade slowed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
A thin crowd gathered along New Delhi’s ceremonial Rajpath Boulevard to see a display of the country’s military power and cultural diversity. People wore masks and adhered to social distancing as police and military battalions marched along the route of the parade. Several states showed off their floats to showcase their culture and the army showed off their latest equipment during the parade.
Republic Day commemorates the anniversary of the adoption of the country’s constitution on January 26, 1950.
Farmers are the latest group to be disturbed by Modi’s image of unperturbed rule in Indian politics.
Since returning to power for the second consecutive term, the Modi government has been marked by several convulsions. The economy has shrunk, social conflicts have widened, protests have erupted against discriminatory laws, and his government has been questioned for its response to the pandemic. In 2019, he brought together a coalition of diverse and disparate groups: minorities and majorities, rights activists and journalists, communists and socialists, students and teachers, including the opposition that had been latent, to form a popular march against a new law controversial citizenship that discriminated against Muslims.
Now, in the form of peasants, he is facing a growing rebellion of India’s most influential voting bloc.
Agriculture supports more than half of the country’s 1.4 billion people. But the economic weight of farmers has declined in the last three decades. Once they accounted for a third of India’s gross domestic product, farmers account for only 15% of the country’s $ 2.9 trillion economy.
More than half of farmers are in debt, with 20,638 deaths in 2018 and 2019, according to official records.
The controversial legislation has exacerbated the existing resentment of farmers, who have long been seen as the heart and soul of India, but often complain of being ignored by the government.
Modi has tried to calm the fears of farmers by dismissing above all their concerns and has repeatedly accused opposition parties of agitating them by spreading rumors. Some party leaders have called farmers “anti-national,” a label often given to those who criticize Modi or his policies.
Devinder Sharma, an agriculture expert who has spent the past two decades campaigning for equal income for Indian farmers, said they were not only protesting the reforms, but also “challenging the whole economic design of the country.”
“The anger you see is aggravated anger,” Sharma said. “Inequality is growing in India and farmers are getting poorer. Policy planners have not realized this and have absorbed revenue from the bottom up. Farmers only demand what their right is. ”