India’s government has increased security in the capital, New Delhi, after thousands of protesting farmers broke down police barricades and stormed important milestones in a serious escalation of months-long demonstrations against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s new agricultural laws.
On Wednesday, most of the protesters had returned to protest sites on the outskirts of the city after calls from one of the largest agricultural unions, while protest leaders were preparing to meet to decide the next steps in their campaign, which they said that it would continue peacefully.
Farmers, who camped at various points on the border around New Delhi for two months, were allowed to demonstrate after the conclusion of an annual military parade to mark Republic Day, an important public holiday in India. But many gathered earlier in the day and broke through the barricades outside the city, prompting the police to deploy tear gas in some areas.
Samyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella organization of several dozen agricultural groups leading the protests, issued a statement on Tuesday canceling the rest of the tractor parade in Delhi and criticizing the “antisocial elements” that “have infiltrated in the peaceful movement. ”The police also blamed the protesters for deviating from the agreed routes and trying to enter the center of the capital, where the parliament and other government buildings are located.
Farmers climb the Red Fort during a protest in New Delhi, January 26.
Photographer: Anindito Mukherjee / Bloomberg
The escalation of farmers’ protest adds to Modi’s challenges amid efforts to reverse a contraction in Asia’s third largest economy due to the coronavirus pandemic. It also occurs days before a session of parliament where the government will present its annual budget detailing plans to stimulate economic activity in the year beginning April 1.
Although the demonstrations hurt the government, the scenes on Tuesday of unruly farmers could undermine their cause, according to Asim Ali, a researcher at the Policy Research Center in New Delhi.
“That has always been the danger and it seems to have gotten out of hand,” said Ali. “This is possibly what the ruling party would like to see.”
Television footage showed thousands of protesters clashing with police in central Delhi before arriving at the iconic Red Fort, where Indian prime ministers used to address the nation on the country’s independence day in August. Farmers leaders urged protesters to keep the peace, warning that any violence could harm their cause.
“We also condemn and regret the undesirable and unacceptable events that occurred today and dissociate ourselves from those who practice such acts,” said the statement by Samyukt Kisan Morcha. “We have always maintained that peace is our greatest strength and that any violation would harm the movement.”
The police confront farmers on the Inner Ring Road in New Delhi.
Photographer: Anindito Mukherjee / Bloomberg
India’s Interior Ministry has suspended mobile Internet services in parts of the city where protests have been most tense. Several metro stations were also closed, although on Wednesday most stations were reopened.
Protest leaders rejected Modi’s offers to temporarily shelve the three laws passed in September that reformed the way agricultural products are sold in the country to more than 1.3 billion people, almost half of whom depend on agriculture for their livelihoods . The government defended the legislation, saying it would eliminate middlemen in state-owned wholesale markets, increase farmers’ earnings and make India more self-sufficient.
Farmers travel along the Inner Ring Road towards central New Delhi.
Photographer: Anindito Mukherjee / Bloomberg
Farmers continued to urge the government to repeal the legislation, which they say will damage their revenues and leave them vulnerable to large corporations. Although the Bharatiya Janata de Modi party has control over parliament and does not need to call a national vote until 2024, protests risk jeopardizing its appeal in state elections and could interrupt the impetus for further reforms.
A farmer climbs on a flagpole in the Red Fort.
Photographer: Anindito Mukherjee / Bloomberg
The tractor rallies marked the first time that Protestant farmers marched to the capital. They are mainly from neighboring states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. But they have also found support in other Indian cities, including the financial centers of Mumbai and Bengaluru, where protest marches have also taken place.
(Reframes everything. An earlier version of this story corrected the spelling of the cited policeman.)