Monday, January 25, 2021


Indian farmers ride caravan of tractors into capital ahead of Republic Day



FILE PHOTO: Rally to protest against the newly passed farm bills, on a highway on the outskirts of New Delhi


By 
Manoj Kumar
Mon., January 25, 2021

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Caravans of tractors clogged a key highway in northern India on Monday as tens of thousands of farmers protesting against agriculture reforms streamed into the capital ahead of Republic Day, and police said they were prepared to deal with the crowds.

India marks its founding as a republic on Tuesday with a military parade in the historic city centre, but the farmers, who are demanding a rollback of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's deregulation effort, plan their own peaceful show of strength.

Delhi's police said protesters have been told to use three main routes for the tractor procession, which had been agreed upon after six days of discussion with farmer leaders.

But there are lingering concerns that "anti-national people" may seek to foment trouble during the demonstration, Delhi Police Commissioner S.N. Shrivastava told reporters.

"We are aware of all this and we are taking whatever action is required," Shrivastava said, "I have trust that everything will go on peacefully."

On National Highway 44, loudspeakers blared anti-government songs as the lengthy procession of vehicles rolled down, fuelled by dozens of community kitchens that handed out hot meals and beverages in the winter cold.

"We will teach Modi a lesson that he will never forget," said one of the protesters, from the district of Ludhiana in Punjab, who drove his own tractor. The 35-year-old, who cultivates 10 acres (4 hectares), asked not to be identified.

Farmers mainly drawn from the breadbasket states of Punjab and adjoining Haryana have blockaded approaches into New Delhi for about two months to protest against three new farm laws they say will hurt their livelihoods and help big companies.

Their unions are pushing for repeal of the laws, after rejecting a government proposal to suspend the measures it says will usher in much-needed steps to boost farmer incomes.

Several rounds of talks with Modi's government have made little headway, and protesters now aim to up the ante with the procession set to follow Tuesday's military parade.

Top leaders and military officials attend the annual high-security parade to mark the day India's constitution took effect in 1950.

A farmers' group exhorted its members to refrain from violence in detailed instructions issued for Tuesday's event.

"Remember, our aim is not to conquer Delhi, but to win over the hearts of the people of this county," it said.

In the western state of Maharashtra, thousands of farmers were also on the move, flocking to a flag-hoisting ceremony on Tuesday in the heart of Mumbai, India's financial capital.

"We are here to support farmers in Delhi, to highlight that farmers across the country are against the farm laws," said Ashok Dhawale, a state protest leader.

(Reporting by Manoj Kumar; Additional reporting by Rajendra Jadav in Mumbai and Saurabh Sharma in Lucknow; Writing by Devjyot Ghoshal; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani, Clarence Fernandez and Bernadette Baum)


Angry Indian farmers prepare for massive Republic Day rally



SHEIKH SAALIQ
Mon., January 25, 2021

NEW DELHI (AP) — Thousands of tractors lined up on the outskirts of New Delhi on Monday, ready to swarm the Indian capital in a protest against new agriculture reform laws that have triggered a growing farmer rebellion that has rattled the government.

Tens of thousands of farmers have been blocking key highways connecting New Delhi with the country’s north for almost two months demanding a complete withdrawal of the laws. They plan to parade through the capital in a massive tractor rally on Tuesday, when India celebrates Republic Day.

The government “thought they would easily implement these laws and only a small amount of farmers would protest against it. But they had no idea that the entire country would come and occupy the borders of the capital," said Shailendra Choudhary, a farmer who traveled from Bijnor, a town in central Uttar Pradesh state.

Farmers say the legislation passed by Parliament last September will lead to the cartelization and commercialization of agriculture, make farmers vulnerable to corporate greed and devastate their earnings.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government insists the laws will benefit farmers and boost production through private investment.

Representatives of the government and farmers have failed to make progress in repeated negotiations over the farmers’ core demand that the laws be scrapped. The government has refused, but says it could make some amendments and suspend implementation of the legislation for 18 months.

Farmers insist they will settle for nothing less than a complete repeal.

A coalition of farmers’ unions urged participants to refrain from violence in Tuesday's tractor protest.

“Remember, our aim is not to conquer Delhi, but to win over the hearts of the people of this county,” Samyukta Kisan Morcha, or United Farmers’ Front, said in a statement.

Many of the protesting farmers are from the northern states of Punjab and Haryana, two of India’s largest agricultural areas. But the protests on the capital's outskirts — the biggest in years — have resonated with people elsewhere in the country.

In southwestern Maharashtra state, thousands of farmers joined a sit-in at a sports ground in Mumbai on Monday.

“I am opposed to these black laws introduced by Modi. They will spell doom for the farming community," said K. Prakash, a farmer who joined the sit-in with his family.

A day before, farmers in Maharashtra paraded on tractors and cars while waving flags of farmer unions and shouting slogans against Modi. Some rode in bullock carts or walked on foot for miles (kilometers).

Modi has tried to allay farmers’ fears about the legislation while dismissing their concerns. Some leaders of his party have called the farmers “anti-national,” a label often given to those who criticize Modi or his policies. Modi has repeatedly accused opposition parties of agitating the farmers by spreading rumors.

Farmers have long been seen as the heart and soul of India, and agriculture supports more than half of the country’s 1.4 billion people. But their economic clout has diminished over the last three decades. Once accounting for a third of India’s gross domestic product, farmers now account for only 15% of the country’s $2.9 trillion economy.

More than half of farmers are in debt, with 20,638 killing themselves in 2018 and 2019, according to the National Crime Records Bureau. Many factors are believed to contribute to the suicides, including poor crop yields, expensive farm chemicals and usurious money lenders.

___

Rafiq Maqbool in Mumbai and Rishabh R. Jain in New Delhi contributed to this report.


1/8

India Farmer Protests
Indian farmers sit on their tractors after arriving at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border for Tuesday's tractor rally in New Delhi, India, Monday, Jan. 25, 2021. Thousands of farmers gathered on the borders of Delhi for a massive tractor rally on Tuesday against the three contentious farm laws when India will celebrate its Republic day with a military and cultural parade. The two-month-old old blockade of highways connecting the capital with the country's north continues as the talks have remained deadlocked with the government refusing to scrap the new agricultural reform laws which the farmers say will benefit large corporations. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

2/8

India Farmer Protests
Indian farmers sit on their tractors after arriving at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border for Tuesday's tractor rally in New Delhi, India, Monday, Jan. 25, 2021. Thousands of farmers gathered on the borders of Delhi for a massive tractor rally on Tuesday against the three contentious farm laws when India will celebrate its Republic day with a military and cultural parade. The two-month-old old blockade of highways connecting the capital with the country's north continues as the talks have remained deadlocked with the government refusing to scrap the new agricultural reform laws which the farmers say will benefit large corporations. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

3/8

India Farmer Protests
Indian farmers sit near their tractor after arriving at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border for Tuesday's tractor rally in New Delhi, India, Monday, Jan. 25, 2021. Thousands of farmers gathered on the borders of Delhi for a massive tractor rally on Tuesday against the three contentious farm laws when India will celebrate its Republic day with a military and cultural parade. The two-month-old old blockade of highways connecting the capital with the country's north continues as the talks have remained deadlocked with the government refusing to scrap the new agricultural reform laws which the farmers say will benefit large corporations. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)



4/8

India Farmer Protests
Indian farmers sit on their tractors after arriving at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border for Tuesday's tractor rally in New Delhi, India, Monday, Jan. 25, 2021. Thousands of farmers gathered on the borders of Delhi for a massive tractor rally on Tuesday against the three contentious farm laws when India will celebrate its Republic day with a military and cultural parade. The two-month-old old blockade of highways connecting the capital with the country's north continues as the talks have remained deadlocked with the government refusing to scrap the new agricultural reform laws which the farmers say will benefit large corporations. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

5/8

India Farmer Protests
An Indian farmer erects the Indian flag after arriving at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border for Tuesday's tractor rally in New Delhi, India, Monday, Jan. 25, 2021. Thousands of farmers gathered on the borders of Delhi for a massive tractor rally on Tuesday against the three contentious farm laws when India will celebrate its Republic day with a military and cultural parade. The two-month-old old blockade of highways connecting the capital with the country's north continues as the talks have remained deadlocked with the government refusing to scrap the new agricultural reform laws which the farmers say will benefit large corporations. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

6/8

India Farmer Protests
Indian farmers rest after arriving at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border for Tuesday's tractor rally in New Delhi, India, Monday, Jan. 25, 2021. Thousands of farmers gathered on the borders of Delhi for a massive tractor rally on Tuesday against the three contentious farm laws when India will celebrate its Republic day with a military and cultural parade. The two-month-old old blockade of highways connecting the capital with the country's north continues as the talks have remained deadlocked with the government refusing to scrap the new agricultural reform laws which the farmers say will benefit large corporations. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)



7/8

India Farmer Protests
Indian farmers sit on their tractors after arriving at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border for Tuesday's tractor rally in New Delhi, India, Monday, Jan. 25, 2021. Thousands of farmers gathered on the borders of Delhi for a massive tractor rally on Tuesday against the three contentious farm laws when India will celebrate its Republic day with a military and cultural parade. The two-month-old old blockade of highways connecting the capital with the country's north continues as the talks have remained deadlocked with the government refusing to scrap the new agricultural reform laws which the farmers say will benefit large corporations. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

8/8

India Farmer Protests
Indian farmers sit on their tractors after arriving at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border for Tuesday's tractor rally in New Delhi, India, Monday, Jan. 25, 2021. Thousands of farmers gathered on the borders of Delhi for a massive tractor rally on Tuesday against the three contentious farm laws when India will celebrate its Republic day with a military and cultural parade. The two-month-old old blockade of highways connecting the capital with the country's north continues as the talks have remained deadlocked with the government refusing to scrap the new agricultural reform laws which the farmers say will benefit large corporations. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

No comments: