NEW DELHI — Farmers' protests against new laws liberalizing agricultural markets spread across India on Tuesday, as farm organizations called for a nationwide strike after inconclusive talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.
In eastern and western states, farmers blocked roads and squatted on railway tracks, delaying hordes of people getting to work, and preventing perishable produce from reaching markets.
Farmers from the northern states of Punjab and Haryana, neighboring New Delhi, have been at the vanguard of the agitation since last month, and have set up protest camps in and around the capital.
"We will not allow the government to change the rules because they want to hurt farmers' income by filling the pockets of big companies," said Gurwinder Singh, a 66-year-old farmer from Punjab, a state known as the food bowl of India.
The reforms enacted in September loosened rules around the sale, pricing and storage of farm produce that have protected farmers from an unfettered free market for decades.
Assured of floor prices, most currently sell the bulk of their produce at government-controlled wholesale markets, known as mandis.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, has said the reforms would not hurt farmers' incomes. More talks between the government and farmer organizations are due on Wednesday.
Download the NBC News app for the latest news on the coronavirus
Meantime, social media has fanned sympathy for the farmers' cause among the Indian diaspora abroad. During recent days, thousands of people have protested in support of the farmers outside the Indian embassy in central London.
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, protest sites around New Delhi have turned into camps, with entire families cooking and sleeping in the open and Sikh religious organizations were providing them with face masks, water and food.
At least 20 regional and national opposition parties backed the call for the strike.
"It's going to be nightmare if there will be any serious unrest during the pandemic," a senior home ministry bureaucrat overseeing security told Reuters on condition of anonymity, warning that police had been authorized to use water cannons or tear gas to disperse over-crowded protests.
World - Latest - Google News
December 08, 2020 at 08:17PM
https://ift.tt/3goF1DZ
Farmers protest across India against laws liberalizing agricultural markets - NBC News
World - Latest - Google News
https://ift.tt/2SeTG7d
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Farmers protest across India against laws liberalizing agricultural markets - NBC News"
Post a Comment