India: farmers break camp after a year of protests

Published on : 12/11/2021 – 11:43

After the decision of the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, to accede to new demands of the farmers demonstrating for a year against the agrarian reforms of the government, the demonstrators present in the vicinity of New Delhi ended up breaking camp.

Thousands of Indian farmers were packing their belongings and dismantling tent villages on the outskirts of New Delhi on Saturday (December 11) in order to return home after a year of protests against the government’s agrarian policies.

Hundreds of them were dancing and celebrating “victory” on Saturday morning as they lifted roadblocks and dismantled makeshift shelters on major highways.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had Parliament voted in November to repeal the three land reforms that protesters said would allow private companies to control the country’s agricultural sector.

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However, the protesters initially refused to leave their camps, putting forward other demands, such as a guarantee of fixed minimum prices for their agricultural products.

The government has promised to set up a commission on the subject and is committed to stopping the prosecution of farmers who burn crop stubble, accused of polluting the air in New Delhi every winter.

Stopping of criminal proceedings against the demonstrators

Authorities also agreed to pay compensation to the families of hundreds of farmers who they say died during the protests and the stay of criminal proceedings against the protesters.

The agricultural laws wanted by Narendra Modi were passed in September 2020 to allow farmers to sell their production to buyers of their choice, rather than turning exclusively to state-controlled markets ensuring them a minimum support price (PSM ) for certain foods.

>> Read also: India: Prime Minister Narendra Modi does an about-face on his agricultural reforms

Many small farmers were opposed to it, believing themselves threatened by this liberalization which, according to them, risked forcing them to sell off their goods to large companies.

After protests in Punjab and Haryana in the north, tens of thousands of farmers headed for the capital, where they were violently pushed back by police, the start of a stalemate between the two sides that lasted a year.

This farmer movement has been the biggest crisis for the Modi government since taking office in 2014.

With AFP

Stopping of criminal proceedings against the demonstrators

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