Protesting Indian farmers call for 2nd strike in a week

[SilentPanda]

Tens of thousands of protesting Indian farmers have called for a national strike on Monday, the second in a week, to press for the quashing of three new laws on agricultural reform that they say will drive down crop prices and devastate their earnings.

The farmers are camping along at least five major highways on the outskirts of New Delhi and have said they won't leave until the government rolls back what they call the "black laws." They have blockaded highways leading to the capital for three weeks, and several rounds of talks with the Indian government have failed to produce any breakthroughs.

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Farmer leaders have also planned a token hunger strike on Monday. Heavy contingents of police in riot gear patrolled the areas where the farmers have been camping in New Delhi's outskirts.

Protest leaders have rejected the government's offer to amend some contentious provisions of the new farm laws, which deregulate crop pricing, and have stuck to their demand for total repeal.

Farmer leaders have threatened to intensify their agitation and threatened to block trains in the coming days if the government doesn't abolish the laws.

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Five round of talks between the government and farmers since November have failed to halt the blockade, with the protesters continuing to insist that the laws be repealed.

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Farmers have been protesting the laws for nearly two months in Punjab and Haryana states. The situation escalated three weeks ago when tens of thousands marched to New Delhi, where they clashed with police.

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Protesting Indian farmers call for 2nd strike in a week

NEW DELHI (AP) — Tens of thousands of protesting Indian farmers called for a national farmers' strike on Monday, the second in a week, to press for the quashing of three new laws on agricultural reform that they say will drive down crop prices and devastate their earnings.

apnews.com

 

[Bear Patrol]

I hope that this blows up in Modi's face, exactly as the farmers are hoping.

Sadly, I'm sure the majority of Western media to ignore this strike too. Can't show that people can have any sort of capacity for protest power under capitalism.

 

[RellikSK]

I hope that this blows up in Modi's face, exactly as the farmers are hoping.

Sadly, I'm sure the majority of Western media to ignore this strike too. Can't show that people can have any sort of capacity for protest power under capitalism.

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This was Boris Johnson's response to the situation.

 

[Bear Patrol]

This was Boris Johnson's response to the situation.

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Boris Johnson is a know-nothing moron without any appreciation for nuance and details on major world events?

Apparently, he's also either deaf or lacking in spoken comprehension because this was the excuse provided:

 

[cartoon_soldier]

Farmers now want in writing that government will always buy their crops every year at a minimum support price, makes no sense. I mean government already does that, to make that an actual law makes no sense.

 

[Koukalaka]

This was Boris Johnson's response to the situation.

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You can clearly sense the slight panic as he realises he doesn't know what the MP is talking about and decides to go with it being related to Indian/Pakistani relations.

 

[Shifty360]

I hope that this blows up in Modi's face, exactly as the farmers are hoping.

Sadly, I'm sure the majority of Western media to ignore this strike too. Can't show that people can have any sort of capacity for protest power under capitalism.

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If they will ignore his persecution of Indian Muslims and the ghettoisation of Kashmir, what makes you think they will care about this?

The fact many poor Hindus voted for this sectarian scumbag and now his government is doing this to many of them is a weird karma, funny there where no mass protests in India against the murder of minorities under Modhi.

 

[Lishi]

Farmers now want in writing that government will always buy their crops every year at a minimum support price, makes no sense. I mean government already does that, to make that an actual law makes no sense.

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I think its a pretty given that minimum prices will not likely survive for long.

Having the gov to repell the law will make harder for them to remove it in future.

I mean minimum price it's a bad thing. I hope they get enough leeway and time to soften the blow eventually when it get removed.

 

[SilentPanda]

Canadians rally for Indian farmers, say farm laws 'simply unjust'

Braving near-freezing temperatures and rains, hundreds of people in Canada's major cities came out during the weekend to demonstrate their solidarity with the protesting farmers in India.

Rallies were organised in Montreal, Toronto and other Canadian cities against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government passing contentious farm bills in September, which farmers say will deregulate the agriculture sector and drastically affect their livelihoods.

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Pabla, whose late grandfather was a farmer and whose family members back home still farm, said the solidarity demonstrations were not about one religious group.

"These [Canadian demonstrations] are not just about Sikhs or Punjabis or religious – they are about all farmers. We are just trying to help protect people's livelihoods and their way of life."

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Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) says the new laws allow the farmers to sell their produce directly to private buyers and will enhance crop production.

But the farmers fear the legislation would eventually cause the government to stop buying grain at guaranteed prices, leaving them open to exploitation by corporations. Moreover, critics say the laws were rammed through the parliament with little to no consultation.

Indian police attacked protesters with sticks, water cannon and tear gas as farmers tried to enter New Delhi last month. Thousands of them continue to protest at various highways leading to the Indian capital.

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Ties between Canada and India have remained frosty since Trudeau took power in 2015, reaching a new-low in February 2018 when he visited India and was "snubbed" for most of his trip by Modi and his ministers.

India accuses Canada of supporting Sikh separatism, known as the Khalistan Movement, that aspires for a separate homeland for Sikhs. Ottawa has vehemently denied the allegations.

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Canadians rally for Indian farmers, say farm laws ‘simply unjust’

Hundreds in various Canadian cities come out in solidarity with Indian farmers protesting against new laws.

www.aljazeera.com