Modi agrees to repeal farm laws after protest
‘Today Modi realised that he was commiting blunder, but it took him a year to recognise this and only because he now knows farmers will not vote for his party ever again,’ Singh said
In a major reversal, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Friday that he would repeal the controversial agriculture laws that sparked yearlong protests from tens of thousands of farmers and posed a significant challenge to his administration.
Farmers, who form one of India’s most influential voting blocs, have camped out on the outskirts of the capital since November of last year to demand the withdrawal of the laws, which they feared would dramatically reduce their incomes.
Modi’s surprise decision, in a televised national address, came ahead of elections early next year in key states like Utar Pradesh and Punjab that are significant agricultural producers and where his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is eager to shore up its support. Experts said it was too early to say if it would work.
The prime minister urged the protesters to return home, but the farmers have said they will stay put until the laws are gone — a process that will begin in December when parliament sits for its winter session.
“While apologising to the nation, I want to say with a sincere and pure heart that maybe something was lacking in our efforts that we could not explain the truth to some of our farmer brothers,” Modi said during the address. He added: “Let us make a fresh start.”
Opposition leaders, who earlier called the laws exploitative and supported the protests, congratulated the farmers.
“The country’s farmers, through their resistance, made arrogance bow its head,” tweeted
Rahul Gandhi from India’s main opposition Congress party. “Congratulations on the victory against injustice!”
The move represented a rare climbdown for the 71-year-old leader, who has stood firm in the face of fierce criticism over other steps his government took, such as abruptly banning high-denomination currency notes and revoking Kashmir’s semiautonomous powers.
He also backed a citizenship law that excludes Muslim immigrants, even in the face of sometimes violent protests.
But farmers are a particularly influential voting bloc in India — both for their sheer numbers but also because and they are oten romanticised as the heart and soul of the nation. They are especially important to Modi’s base and make up substantial portions of the population in some states his party rules.
Modi’s party was also criticised for refusing to extend debate on the legislation — renewing accusations that it has too oten used its majority to ram through laws without enough consultation.
Protests against the laws escalated in November last year, when farmers hunkered down on the outskirts of New Delhi, where they have camped out since, including through a harsh winter and a coronavirus surge that devastated India earlier this year.
Dozens of farmers also died by suicide or because of bad weather or COVID-19 during the demonstrations that have drawn international support from rights campaigners and celebrities, including climate activist Greta Thunberg and superstar Rihanna.
“At last, all of our hard work paid off. ... I salute the farmer brothers who were martyred in this batle,” said Rakesh Tikait, a prominent farmers’ leader.
At Ghazipur, one of the demonstration sites on the outskirts of New Delhi, celebrations were subdued, but some farmers distributed sweets and danced to songs.
Samyukt Kisan Morcha, the group of farm unions organising the protests, said it welcomed the government’s announcement but that the protests would continue until the government recommits to the system of guaranteed prices. The protesters had long rejected a government offer to suspend the laws for 18 months. Modi’s party hailed the move as a decision that prioritised farmers.
Leaders of six farmer unions who spearheaded the movement in Utar Pradesh and Punjab states said they would not forgive a government that labelled protesting farmers as terrorists and anti-nationals.
“Farmers were beaten with sticks, rods and detained for demanding legitimate rights ... farmers were mowed down by a speeding car belonging to a minister’s family ... tell me how can we forget it all?” said Sudhakar Rai, a senior member of a farmers’ union in Utar Pradesh.
BJP government concedes to farmers ahead of key state elections; farmers to continue rallies in New Delhi till parliament action; ‘congratulations on the victory against injustice,’ tweets Rahul.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi may have caved in to farmers’ demands that he scraps laws they say threaten their livelihoods.
But reaction to the shock U-turn in India’s rural north, where Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) faces key elections next year, has been less than positive, a worrying sign for a leader seeking to maintain his grip on national politics.
In the village of Mohraniya, some 500 km by road east of the capital New Delhi and located in India’s most populous state of Utar Pradesh, farmer Guru Sevak Singh said that he and others like him lost faith in Modi and his party.
“Today Prime Minister Modi realised that he was commiting blunder, but it took him a year to recognise this and only because he now knows farmers will not vote for his party ever again,” said Singh.
For the young farmer, the mater is deeply personal.
Singh’s 19-year-old brother Guruvinder was killed in October when a car ploughed into a crowd protesting against the farm legislation, one of eight people who died in a spate of violence related to the farmers’ uprising.
Thousands of agricultural workers have protested outside the capital New Delhi and beyond for more than a year, shrugging off the pandemic to disrupt traffic and pile pressure on Modi and the BJP who say the new laws were key to modernising the sector.
“Today I can announce that my brother is a martyr,” Singh told Reuters, weeping as he held a picture of his dead brother.
“My brother is among those brave farmers who sacrificed their lives to prove that the government was implementing laws to destroy the agrarian economy,” he added.
Around him were several police officers, who Singh said were provided ater his brother and three others were killed by the car. Ashish Mishra, son of junior home minister Ajay, is in police custody in relation to the incident.
Ajay Mishra Teni said at the time that his son was not at the site and that a car driven by “our driver” had lost control and hit the farmers ater “miscreants” pelted it with stones and atacked it with sticks and swords.
In 2020, Modi’s government passed three farm laws in a bid to overhaul the agriculture sector that employs about 60% of India’s workforce but is deeply inefficient, in debt and prone to pricing wars.
Angry farmers took to the streets, saying the reforms put their jobs at risk and handed control over crops and prices to private corporations.
The resulting protest movement became one of the country’s biggest and most protracted.
Leaders of six farmer unions who spearheaded the movement in Utar Pradesh and Punjab states said they would not forgive a government that labelled protesting farmers as terrorists and anti-nationals.
“Farmers were beaten with sticks, rods and detained for demanding legitimate rights ... farmers were mowed down by a speeding car belonging to a minister’s family ... tell me how can we forget it all?” said Sudhakar Rai, a senior member of a farmers’ union in Utar Pradesh.
Rai said at least 170 farmers were killed during anti-farm law protests across the country. There are no official data to verify his claims.
A senior BJP member who declined to be named said the decision to repeal the laws was taken by Modi ater he consulted a top farmers’ association affiliated to his party.
The politician, who was at the meeting when the party agreed to back down, said those present conceded the BJP had failed to communicate the benefits of the new laws clearly enough.
Leaders of the opposition and some analysts said Modi’s move was linked to state elections next year in Utar Pradesh - which accounts for more parliamentary seats than any other state - and Punjab.
“What cannot be achieved by democratic protests can be achieved by the fear of impending elections!” wrote P. Chidambaram, a senior figure in the opposition Congress party, on Twiter.
But farmers like Singh warned that the government could pay a price for its treatment of farmers.
“We are the backbone of the country and Modi has today accepted that his policies were against farmers,” said Singh.