Farmers’ protests against recent agrarian reforms in India have intensified after 10 days, with farmers blocking railway tracks and highways across the country demanding action on the issue.
According to the report of the French news agency ‘AFP’, the farmer Vaid Singh had described the concerns of his colleagues before the strike and said that big corporations would reduce prices and their jobs would be destroyed.
He said that ‘we are worried, very worried, our children will die of hunger, what could be a bigger problem’.
On the other hand, the authorities have increased police presence in Delhi and security in other parts of India to prevent any untoward incident.
Farmers have been supported by railway workers, truck drivers, teachers and other unions in today’s protest.
Protesters have blocked railway tracks and roads in several eastern and western states of India, while train services have also been suspended.
“We want to support the cause of farmers,” said a senior leader of the Communist Party of India in the Indian state of West Bengal.
The blockade and strike have taken a political turn, with India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accusing the opposition of opportunism by rejecting measures that would have been in power. He wanted to bring himself.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who belongs to the Aam Aadmi Party, said that the Delhi Police has detained him since the previous day.
It should be noted that the Delhi Police comes under the National Government of India and according to Arvind Kejriwal, he was detained after visiting a farmers’ protest camp, but the police rejected this claim.
Also, in footage posted on Twitter, a leader of the opposition Congress party, who attempted to participate in a strike in western Gujarat, was seen riding a scooter and being chased by a police vehicle.
Fruitless negotiations
5 rounds of talks have failed to bridge differences between farmers and ministers.
Under the introduced rules, farmers will be allowed to sell their crops in the open market, including supermarket chains, instead of government organizations guaranteeing a minimum price.
Farmers say these industries will be taken over by big companies, which will force prices down.
Pawan Goyal, president of the Sonepat Agricultural Market Traders Association, told AFP that the government is misleading farmers to benefit some companies, whether Indian or foreign.
He said that if this law continues in the future, farmers will be limited to laborers and will become workers of big companies only.
However, the government insists that these changes are necessary for agriculture, which has so far been the backbone of India’s economy.
In this regard, new negotiations between farmers and ministers will be held tomorrow, Wednesday.
It should be noted that thousands of farmers have committed suicide in recent years due to drought and increasing debt burden.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed it as a ‘complete transformation of the agriculture sector’ that would encourage investment and innovation needed to empower ‘millions of farmers’.
However, the ruling Congress and the main opposition party in Punjab supported the protest, arguing that the change had left farmers at the mercy of big corporations.
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2024-09-28 14:03:13
