Indian farmers resume protest against agriculture laws
July 22, 2021
About 200 farmers in India on Thursday said they would stage a demonstration every day during the current parliamentary session, ending on August 9, against new agriculture laws.
Since November last year, the farmers have been calling on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government to repeal three controversial agricultural reforms that they say will leave them at the mercy of corporations.
The government said the new reforms, introduced in September 2020, would improve farmers options and the prices they could command when selling produce. However, opponents argue that the changes will favor large conglomerates and could force smaller-scale farmers out of business.
Limit on numbers, security forces deployed
Security forces were deployed in large numbers across New Delhi on Thursday, after an earlier protest in January turned into a riot with pitched battles between police and protesters. Authorities only allowing 200 farmers to protest each day, also requiring them to follow coronavirus guidelines.
Police manned barricades and roadblocks around Delhi as the farmers were transported to the protest site in buses.
Balbir Singh Rajewal, a leading farmers' representative, said demonstrators would attend the sanctioned Jantar Mantar protest site each day during the current monsoon session of Parliament, "to remind the government of our long-pending demand.”
Opposition MPs have also staged their own protest calling for the repeal of laws.
on/msh (AP, Reuters, AFP)