Altaf Qadri / AP
New Delhi – A stagnation of months between Indian farmers and his government on Tuesday sparked new clashes between police and protesters in the capital Delhi. At least one farmer was killed and several were injured in the clashes and some police officers were also injured, according to officials.
Large-scale clashes were the worst violence of the week, amid what has become one of the longest labor clashes in India’s history, and one of the biggest challenges for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Farmers planned mass rallies for Tuesday coinciding with Republic Day of India, a national holiday that always involves a huge military parade through central Delhi.
Farmers – mostly from the states of Punjab and Haryana, known as India’s “rice bowl” – began protesting in mid-November, marching on Delhi and setting up makeshift camps on the capital’s borders. They have maintained their ground ever since, occasionally organizing large tractor-driven marches in the capital.
They demand that the Modi government repeal three agricultural laws implemented in September with the aim of deregulating the country’s agricultural sector. Farmers say the laws will help big business, but will destroy the livelihoods of small farmers, who make up the backbone of the agricultural sector, which accounts for almost 15% of India’s 2.9 trillion economy. of dollars.
Altaf Qadri / AP
In December, farmers received widespread support for a one-day pan-Indian shutdown that blocked highways and railway lines and briefly stifled the flow of basic goods into the country.
“We will not stop”
Police had given permission to farmers to hold a tractor rally on Tuesday on the outskirts of Delhi, far from the city center where Republic Day celebrations were taking place. But several groups of protesters deviated from the designated route and headed towards central Delhi, where celebrations and parades were still being held.
Farmers began breaking barricades at border entry points and a group managed to enter New Delhi’s iconic Red Fort, hoisting their own flags in addition to the Indian national flag.
Dinesh Joshi / AP
Police used tear gas and loaded sticks with protesting farmers as hundreds of tractors dumped in the capital. The government sent additional paramilitary forces with all riot gear as clashes escalated in the afternoon.
“We want to send a clear message to the government: we will not stop, you have to get the laws back,” an angry protester said at Fort Roig. Police and paramilitary forces took several hours to clear the 17th century landmark.
Telephone and internet services in some parts of Delhi were cut off at the last minute of the day and some metro stations in the capital were closed while the government tried to stop coordinating protesters.
The peasants of India
Several rounds of talks between farmers’ leaders and the Modi government in recent months have failed to resolve the confrontation.
Last month the government offered to suspend agricultural laws, but farmers have insisted on a complete repeal of the measures.
India’s agricultural sector has suffered in recent years from obsolete laws, droughts and floods fueled by climate change and even lobsters destroying thousands of acres of crops.
Circumstances have pushed thousands of people farmers indebted to suicide. More than 10,000 Indian farmers died by suicide in 2019 alone, according to government data.