NEW DELHI (AP) – Indian farmers who took part in more than two months of protest against new agricultural laws began a one-day hunger strike on Saturday as they tried to reaffirm the peaceful nature of their movement after the latest violent clashes with the police.
Peasant leaders said the hunger strike should coincide with the anniversary of the death of Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi, famous for his nonviolent resistance to colonial rule. However, protesters said they were still furious with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government.
“The way the government spreads planned lies and violence is reprehensible,” said a statement from the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, or United Farmers ’Front, a coalition of farmers’ unions.
Since November, tens of thousands of farmers have camped on the outskirts of New Delhi, seeking repeal of laws passed in September that say they will favor large agribusinesses and businesses, devastate the incomes of many farmers and leave behind those with small plots.
Modi and his allies say laws are needed to modernize Indian agriculture. The various rounds of talks between the two sides have failed.
The protests had been largely peaceful, but violence erupted on Tuesday, Republic Day in India, when tens of thousands of peasants riding tractors and marching ravaged police barricades and stormed. the 17th century red fort of New Delhi in a brief but striking dam.
The clashes left one protester dead and about 400 police officers injured. Officials did not say how many farmers were injured, but many were seen bleeding after police with riot gear hit them with batons and fired tear gas.
Tensions have remained high since then, with sporadic clashes between protesters, police and unidentified groups shouting slogans against farmers. On Friday, a group of about 200 people attacked a protest site despite heavy security, threw stones at farmers and damaged their tents.
The group demanded that farmers leave the area and said they had “insulted” the national flag during the tractor parade on Republic Day. Farmers alleged that the vandals were largely made up of members of a Hindu nationalist group that maintains close ties to Modi’s party.
On Saturday, authorities blocked mobile internet services at three protest sites, a tactic favored by the Modi government to thwart protests. India’s Interior Ministry said Internet services would remain suspended until Sunday to “maintain public safety”.
Farmers leader Rakesh Tikait said the government was “deceived if it feels our movement will weaken” by suspending the Internet.
“The more they try to crush the voice of farmers, the bigger this movement will be,” Tikait tweeted.
The protests pose the biggest challenge to Modi since he took office in 2014, in part because farmers are the country’s most influential voting bloc and a key part of the economy. In a rare show of unity, 16 opposition parties boycotted a parliamentary speech by ceremonial President Ram Nath Kovind, who belongs to Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party.
The two sides seemed to be increasingly entrenched.
Instead of trying to lower the temperature after Tuesday’s clashes, the government has filed cases against journalists, activists and opposition politicians, accusing them of sedition and inciting violence.
Meanwhile, farmers have seen their ranks increase by thousands of newer protesters since a video of Tikait breaking down in tears while talking to reporters was widely shared on social media on Thursday.
“Our movement has gained strength after the Republic Day rally. We have decided not to go back, ”said Sukhdev Singh, another farmer who took part in Saturday’s hunger strike. “If we want to die, we will die here.”
___ Associated Press video journalist Shonal Ganguly contributed to this report.