NEW DELHI, KOMPAS.com – Shouts of ‘Inquilab Zindabad’ echoed across the northern part of the capital India. The chants meaning “Long live the Revolution” were echoed by thousands the farmer who wears a variety of colorful turbans, distinctive with a long, dangling beard.
Thousands of farmers entered the New Delhi city border, reports Associated Press (AP), Friday (4/12/2020). They crowded the highways in massive demonstrations against the exploiting New Agricultural Law.
For more than a week, they marched toward the capital in tractors and trucks like soldiers, removing concrete police barricades while braving tear gas, batons and water cannons.
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Now, on the outskirts of New Delhi, those braced with food and fuel supplies that could last weeks are threatening to besiege the capital if the Indian government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not fulfill their demands to abolish the law.
“Modi wants to sell our land to the company,” said one of them, Kaljeet Singh, 31, who was traveling from the city of Ludhiana in Punjab, about 310 kilometers north of New Delhi.
“He could not sever the millions of people who over the generations had given their blood and sweat to a land they considered more precious than their lives.”
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At night, the peasants slept in the truck, under the truck, curled up in their blankets against the cold winter.
In the afternoon they crammed into a vehicle surrounded by sacks of rice and vegetables which they then processed in the makeshift kitchen, using a large pot made of wood the size of a canoe paddle.
Anmol Singh, 33, a farmer who supports his 6 family members, said the law was part of Modi’s grand plan to hand over farmers’ land to big companies and make them lose their land ownership rights.
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“Modi wants poor peasants to die of hunger so he can fill the stomachs of his rich friends,” Singh said. “We are here to fight his brutal decision peacefully.”
He paused, then added, “Actually, let him and his ministers face us. We’ll make their noses bleed. “
Most of the farmers who protested were from northern Punjab and Haryana, India’s two largest agricultural states. And, the majority of them are Sikhs.
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They worry that the law passed in September will make the government stop buying grain at the minimum guaranteed price and result in the exploitation of companies that push down prices.
The new rules will also eliminate agents acting as intermediaries between farmers and government regulated wholesale markets.
Yet, according to farmers, agents are an important cog for the agricultural economy and their main line of credit, providing quick funds for fuel, fertilizer and even loans in the event of a family emergency.
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The law has increasingly caused the hatred of farmers to burst into the government. So far, farmers have complained about being neglected by the Modi government in pushing for better harvest prices, additional loan relief and irrigation systems to guarantee water during the dry season.
According to the Indian government, the law brings needed reforms and allows farmers to market their products and increase production through private investment.
However, the farmers said they were never consulted.
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Some leaders of the ruling party called the peasants heretical and anti-national, a label often applied to those who criticize Modi’s government and its policies.
Modi’s second term in power since May 2019 has been marked by some setbacks.
The economy slumped, social strife widened, protests erupted against discriminatory laws and people often questioned the government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
This time the farmers’ protests presented a new challenge for the government.
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