In a sign that the Modi government was considering its next steps, there was complete silence on Wednesday from the prime minister and his most important political lieutenant, Amit Shah, the interior minister, who controls the Delhi police.
The weather on Wednesday in Ghazipur, one of the main protest camps, was moderate, but still determined. Many of the protesters, away from their families for weeks, were back to the daily rhythms that the extensive and elaborate tent cities developed – making tea, frying snacks to feed thousands and washing clothes in makeshift laundry stalls.
“We are not going back – this is not in our genetic code,” said Ringhu Yaspal, 32, who helped wash the demonstrators’ clothes. “Agriculture has become a slow poison. You better die fighting here. “
On stage, among the protesters, speaker after speaker tried to summon them to continue the fight.
“We must not give the message that we are tired, that we are going home,” said Jagtar Singh Bajwa, a Uttarkand farm leader, to a few hundred listeners. “We will start over today, with full unity.”
Mr. Bajwa and others followed a fine line, supporting those who ended up in the most violent areas of the march, while defending a path of nonviolence and order.
“A farmer was martyred yesterday, and he is a martyr in a fight that is about saving the people, saving the country,” said another speaker, DP Singh. “The way to respect your memory is to eliminate undisciplined elements, so as not to allow them to disturb this agitation.”