Farmers resolve to keep up agitation as shutdown hits life
Thousands block major roads, railway tracks outside Delhi to mark a year of stir
Thousands of farmers blocked traffic on major roads and railway tracks outside of the nation’s capital yesterday, marking one year of demonstrations against farm laws that they say will shatter their livelihoods.
The farmers have renewed their protests with calls for a nationwide strike on the anniversary of the legislation’s passage. The drawn-out demonstrations have posed one of the biggest political challenges to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who swept the polls for the second time in 2019.
Hundreds gathered at one of the protest sites on the edges of the capital, New Delhi. “The enthusiasm we had on the first day, it is much stronger and bigger now,’’ said Manjit Singh, a 45-year-old farmer.
Police presence strong
Protesters expressed their determination to keep the movement going — some even brought mattresses with them, camping out as the day went on. Along New Delhi’s southwest and eastern fringes, protesting farmers crowded highways, choking traffic and access from the capital to neighbouring states. Police were deployed to three main protest sites on the outskirts of the city to maintain law and order.
A coalition of farmers’ unions — known as the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, or United Farmers’ Front — has called on shops, offices, factories and other institutions to shut their doors in solidarity for the 10-hour strike. In neighbouring Punjab and Haryana states — which are the country’s the two biggest agricultural producers — thousands of demonstrators also blocked highways.
In Bihar, trains were halted as farmers squatted on railway tracks. Protesters also took to the streets, raising slogans against the Modi government, burning tyres and blocking roads across the region. Police said some 500 protesters had been taken into custody, but added that the shutdown remained peaceful.
In the southern city of Bengaluru, hundreds of people marched in support of the protest. In the southern state of Kerala, the ruling Left Democratic Front called for a total shutdown.
Opposition parties in India, including the Congress Party, have supported the farmers.