Altaf Qadri / AP
New Delhi – A Monday stop between Indian farmers and his government on Tuesday led to new clashes between police and protesters in the capital Delhi. At least one farmer died and dozens were injured in the clashes, and some police officers were injured, according to officials.
Large-scale clashes have been the worst violence in recent weeks, amid what has become one of the longest-running forces in Indian history – and one of the biggest challenges for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Farmers have planned massive rallies on Tuesday to coincide with Republic Day in India, a national holiday that always involves a huge military parade through central Delhi.
Farmers – mostly from 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 position ever since, occasionally organizing large tractor-driven marches in the capital.
Calls on the Modi government to repeal three agricultural laws that were implemented in September and aimed at deregulating the country’s agricultural sector. Farmers say the laws will help large businesses, but will destroy the livelihoods of smaller farmers, who are the backbone of the agricultural sector, which accounts for nearly 15% of India’s $ 2.9 trillion economy.
Altaf Qadri / AP
In December, farmers received widespread support for a one-day pan-Indian closure, which blocked highways and railways and briefly stifled the flow of basic goods across the country.
“We will not stop”
Police have given farmers permission 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 withdrew from the designated route and headed for central Delhi, where celebrations and parades were still taking place.
Farmers began to break through the barricades at the border entry points and a group managed to enter the iconic Red Fort of New Delhi, flying their own flags in addition to the Indian national flag.
Dinesh Joshi / AP
Police used tear gas and accused farmers of protesting with sticks while hundreds of tractors spilled into the capital. The government sent additional paramilitary forces in riot gear, while clashes intensified in the afternoon.
“We want to send a clear message to the government: we will not stop, you have to take the laws back,” said an angry protester at the Red Fort. It took several hours for the police and paramilitary forces to clear the landmark of the seventeenth century.
Telephone and internet services in some parts of Delhi were cut off late in the day and several metro stations in the capital were closed while the government tried to stop coordinating protesters.
Suffering farmers in India
Several rounds of talks between farmers’ leaders and the Modi government in recent months have failed to resolve the issue.
Last month, the government offered to suspend agricultural laws, but farmers insisted on a complete repeal of the measures.
India’s agricultural sector has suffered in recent years from outdated laws, droughts and floods fueled by climate change and even locusts destroying thousands of acres of crops.
Circumstances pushed thousands of farmers debt debts to suicide. More than 10,000 Indian farmers died by suicide in 2019 alone, according to government data.