Recently in India’s capital, thousands of farmers protested to press their demand for a new law that would guarantee minimum crop prices, after weeks of being blocked from entering the city.
To New Delhi, instead of their tractors, they rode crowded buses and trains after authorities barricaded highways into the capital with barbed wire and cement blocks. Police also banned the use of farm vehicles as a condition for permitting the rally in the city. To avoid clashes with the police, protesters were asked to avoid bringing sticks or swords.
The protesters held placards demanding free electricity for farming. They contended that without minimum price guarantees for their crops, they would be at the mercy of the markets and that would spell disaster, especially for the more than two-thirds of them who own less than 1 hectare (2 1/2 acres) of land.
The rally was organized by the United Farmers Front, and was held at Ramlila Ground, and generally used for entertainment events, major political meetings, and various religious festivals.
The Press Trust of India news agency said that police also set a condition for the rally that no more than 5,000 individuals should participate.
Chitwant Singh, a protester, said farmers didn’t earn much to cover their costs. The middlemen and traders get all our profits, he said.
In India, protests come at a crucial time, which has a national election in April-May in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s governing party is expected to secure a third successive term. Farmers are a mainly influential voting bloc because of their numbers. More than 60% of India’s 1.4 billion individuals depend on farming.
The farmers are also stressing the government to keep its promises to withdraw legal cases and waive loans which was brought against them during earlier protests in 2021. Many rounds of talks have failed to break the deadlock.
On the highways leading to New Delhi, authorities have barricaded with iron spikes, metal containers, cement blocks, and barbed wire to prevent the farmers from coming to the capital but the farmers have brought excavators and bulldozers to try and push through.
On Feb. 21, fights between farmers and police left one protester dead as the farmers tried to continue their march to the capital after discussions with the government failed to end an impasse over their demands for definite crop prices.
Police said that after protesters attacked them with sticks and pelted them with stones, 12 officers were injured.
The farmers paused their protest and have camped near Shambhu, close to the border between Punjab and Haryana states, as their unions are involved in negotiations with government ministers.
They rejected an offer that gave them a five-year contract with definite prices for certain crops including cotton, grain, legumes, and maize.
Protest organizers say the farmers want a law that would guarantee minimum prices for 23 crops to help stabilize their incomes. The government protects agricultural producers against high falls in farm prices by putting a minimum purchase price for some important crops, a system introduced in the 1960s to helpshore up food reserves and prevent shortages. The system can apply to up to 23 crops, but the government generally offers the minimum price only for wheat and rice.
