NEW DELHI (AP) – Tens of thousands of farmers drove a convoy of tractors to the Indian capital as the country celebrated Republic Day on Tuesday amid agricultural protests that turned into rebellions and shook the government.
The capital’s roads were lined with rows and rows of tractors with Indian flags and agricultural unions. Farmers, wearing characteristic colored turbans, shouted slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and what they call “black laws”. Thousands more marched on foot as they danced and sang, and in one place they received a shower of flower petals from residents, some of whom recorded the unprecedented demonstration on their phones.
“We want to show Modi our strength,” said Satpal Singh, a farmer who marched to the capital on a tractor with his family of five. “We will not surrender.”
Police in riot gear used tear gas and water cannons in two places to push protesters who tried to tear down the barricades. The authorities also parked large trucks to barricade several routes, so that farmers do not march into the capital.
Farmers’ leaders said more than 10,000 tractors would march through the capital for the rally and thousands of volunteers would try to help the police maintain order.
The protests were sparked by new agricultural laws passed by Parliament in September. Modi’s government insists that the laws will benefit farmers and increase production through private investment, but farmers fear that cartelization and commercialization of agriculture will devastate their earnings.
Farmers tried to march to New Delhi in November, but were stopped by the police. Since then, not bothered by the high winter temperatures at night, they have accommodated themselves with food and fuel supplies and threatened to besiege the capital until agricultural laws were repealed.
The government offered to change the laws and suspend implementation for 18 months. But farmers insist that they will accept nothing less than a complete repeal. They plan a march to the Indian Parliament on February 1, when the country’s new budget will be presented.
The tractor rally overshadowed Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi, even as the annual military parade was cut short because of the coronavirus pandemic.
A small crowd gathered next to the Rajpath ceremonial avenue in New Delhi to watch a demonstration of the country’s military power and cultural diversity. People wore masks and adhered to social distance while police and military battalions marched along the parade route. Several states displayed their floats to showcase their culture and the army displayed their latest equipment during the parade.
Republic Day marks the anniversary of the adoption of the country’s constitution on January 26, 1950.
Farmers are the last group to disturb Modi’s image of undisturbed dominance in Indian politics.
Since returning to power for the second consecutive term, Modi’s government has been marked by several upheavals. The economy plummeted, social conflicts increased, protests against discriminatory laws broke out, and his government was questioned about his response to the pandemic. In 2019, he brought together a coalition of diverse and disparate groups: minorities and majorities, rights activists and journalists, communists and socialists, students and teachers, including the once-dormant Opposition, to form a popular march against a new contentious citizenship law that discriminated against Muslims.
Now, in the form of farmers, he faces growing rebellion from India’s most influential electoral bloc.
Agriculture supports more than half of the country’s 1.4 billion inhabitants. But the economic influence of farmers has diminished over the past three decades. Before accounting for a third of India’s gross domestic product, farmers now account for only 15% of the country’s $ 2.9 trillion economy.
More than half of farmers are in debt, with 20,638 suicides in 2018 and 2019, according to official records.
The controversial legislation has exacerbated the existing resentment of farmers, who have long been seen as the heart and soul of India, but often complain about being ignored by the government.
Modi tried to defuse the farmers’ fears, mostly by dispelling their concerns and repeatedly accused opposition parties of stirring them up by spreading rumors. Some leaders in his party called the farmers “anti-nationals”, a label often given to those who criticize Modi or his policies.
Devinder Sharma, an agriculture expert who has spent the past two decades campaigning for income equality for Indian farmers, said they were not only protesting the reforms, but also “challenging the entire economic design of the country”.
“The anger you see is compound anger,” said Sharma. “Inequality is growing in India and farmers are getting poorer. Policy planners failed to realize this and sucked revenue from the bottom up. Farmers are only demanding what is their right. “