By Adnan Abidi and Jatindra Dash
KUNDLI, India (Reuters) – Thousands of farmers across India blocked roads on Saturday with makeshift tents, tractors, trucks and gravel to pressure the government to reverse agricultural reforms that sparked protests for months.
While the initial protests were initiated by rice and wheat planters from northern India who camped outside New Delhi, the demonstrations have spread across the country, especially in states not governed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party.
The federal government has offered concessions to farmers, but it refuses to repeal three laws passed last year that are crucial to bringing new investment into the sector, which accounts for nearly 15% of India’s $ 2.9 trillion economy and about half of your workforce.
Farmers fear that the reforms will leave them at the mercy of large corporate buyers, gradually ending the current practice of government-guaranteed purchases.
Saturday’s three-hour “chakka blockade,” or road blockade, started around noon across the country, except in New Delhi and some neighboring states. The protests were largely carried out on national and state highways, but it worked normally in most cities.
Avik Saha, secretary of the All India Coordinating Committee Kisan Sangharsh, an umbrella organization for groups of farmers, said that about 10,000 places across India were blocked in the three hours.
“Today’s chakka congestion has clearly shown the government that this is a protest from across India,” Saha said in a video speech on the Periscope live broadcast platform.
On a highway near the capital, some farmers smoked hookah while the songs played over a loudspeaker.
Farmers occupied the road in the state of Odisha and Karnataka in the south with flags and banners protesting the laws. Some carried signs asking the government not to treat them as enemies.
“Farmers across the country are united against this and we will continue to unite until the black laws are repealed,” Dilbag Singh, a 65-year-old farmer who was protesting in Kundli, near the border with Delhi, told Reuters.
‘MAXIMUM RESTRAINT’
Tens of thousands of farmers face New Delhi’s winter sleeping outdoors for months on national highways. His protests were mostly peaceful, but a tractor rally on January 26 burst into turmoil when some farmers clashed with the police.
Since then, authorities have shut down the mobile internet in parts of the national capital and have strongly blocked border roads to prevent protesters from returning to the city.
“The rights of peaceful assembly and expression must be protected both offline and online,” said the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on Twitter, calling on authorities and protesters to exercise “the utmost moderation”
“It is crucial to find equitable solutions with due respect to #HumanRights for everyone.”
The issue also drew international attention with celebrities like pop star Rihanna and environmental activist Greta Thunberg announcing their support for farmers. The United States has also asked India to resume negotiations with farmers.
(Reporting by Adnan Abidi in Kundli and Jatindra Dash in Bhubaneshwar; additional reporting and writing by Abhirup Roy; Editing by Kim Coghill and Christina Fincher)