Man dies as clashes erupt between police, protesting farmers in India
SHAMBHU, India — Clashes between farmers and police in India left one protester dead Wednesday as the farmers resumed their march to the capital after talks with the government failed to end an impasse over their demands for guaranteed crop prices.
Indian farmers began their protest march last week but were stopped some 125 miles from New Delhi as police fired rounds of tear gas.
The 21-year-old farmer, identified as Subhkaran Singh, succumbed to a head injury. Two others injured were in stable condition. Singh died after clashes between security forces and farmers erupted in Khanauri, a town in the state of Punjab.
Punjab’s shared borders with the state of Haryana have become protest sites for the farmers attempting to reach New Delhi. The majority of the protesting farmers are from the two states.
Haryana police in a post on X, formerly Twitter, said 12 officers were injured after protesters attacked them with sticks and pelted them with stones. The post added that protesters used chili powder to set stubble on fire, making it difficult for the officers to breathe.
Last week, the farmers paused their protest and hunkered down near the town of Shambhu, close to the border between Punjab and Haryana, as their unions engaged in discussions with government ministers. They rejected a proposal offering them five-year contracts of guaranteed prices on a set of certain crops, including maize, grain legumes and cotton, and decided to resume their march on Wednesday.
Authorities are set on containing the demonstration, which has renewed the movement from over two years ago when tens of thousands of farmers camped out on the outskirts of the city for over a year, forcing Prime Minister Narendra Modi to repeal new agriculture laws in a major reversal for his government.
Last week, authorities barricaded highways leading to New Delhi with cement blocks, metal containers, barbed wire and iron spikes to prevent the farmers from entering. On Wednesday, the farmers arrived at the barricades with bulldozers and excavators to try and push through.
Jagjit Singh Dallewal, one of the farmers leading the march, said they did not want any violence, but condemned the federal government over the massive security measures.
“We want to reach New Delhi in a peaceful manner. The government should remove the barricades,” he said.
The protest organizers say the farmers are seeking new legislation that would guarantee minimum prices for 23 crops.