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2020–2021 Indian farmers' protest

July 25, 2023

The 2020–2021 Indian farmers' protest was a protest against three farm acts that were passed by the Parliament of India in September 2020. The acts, often called the Farm Bills,[24] had been described as "anti-farmer laws" by many farmer unions,[25][26] and politicians from the opposition who said that it would leave farmers at the "mercy of corporates".[27][28] The protests were largely non-violent. The protests also demanded the creation of a minimum support price (MSP) bill, to ensure that corporates cannot control the prices.[29] The Union Government, however, maintained that the laws would make it effortless for farmers to sell their produce directly to big buyers, and stated that the protests are based on misinformation.[30][31][32] Related endemic legacy issues include farmer suicides and low farmer incomes. Despite India being largely self-sufficient in foodgrain production and having welfare schemes, hunger and nutrition remain serious issues, with India ranking as one of the worst countries in the world in food security parameters.[33]

2020–2021 Indian farmers' protest
Date9 August 2020[1] – 11 December 2021[2][3]
(1 year, 4 months, 2 days)
Location
India
Caused byPassage of three farm related bills by the Indian parliament
Goals
MethodsGherao (encirclement), dharna (sit-in), raasta roko (traffic obstruction), demonstration, suicide, counterlegislation
Resulted inAll three farm bills repealed
Committee on MSP to be formed[4]
Parties
Lead figures
Number

unverified until 20 March 2021

40,000[10] (according to Haryana Police on 21 March 2021; this includes 18,000-19,000 protesters at Singhu border and 20,000–22,000 at Tikri)[10]
Casualties and losses
3 Bharatiya Janata Party members killed, 1 BJP driver killed[11]
300+ policemen injured during Farmers' Republic day parade (including cases of stabbings)[12][13][14]
537 fatalities as of 10 July 2021 (SKU figures);[15] BKU claims about 750 deaths by October and November 2021;[16][17] hundreds more injured
(see section Fatalities for more details)
No Recorded Deaths (Central Government)[18]
  • 1 journalist killed[11]
  • One person lynched for alleged desecration[19]
Infrastructure damage:
  • National highways dug up by police to stop protestors from marching to capital[20]
  • Over 1,500 telecom tower sites damaged by protestors (as of 28 December 2022)[21][22]
  • Government buses and 30 police vehicles damaged on Republic Day[23]

Soon after the acts were introduced, unions began holding local protests, mostly in Punjab state. After two months of protests, farmer unions—mainly from Punjab and neighbouring Haryana—began a movement named Dilli Chalo (transl. Let's go to Delhi), in which tens of thousands of union members marched towards the nation's capital. The Indian government ordered the police and law enforcement of various states to stop the protesters using water cannons, batons, and tear gas to prevent them entering Haryana and then Delhi. November 2020 saw a nationwide general strike in support of the farmers and thousands converging at various border points on the way to Delhi.[34][35] Eleven rounds of talks took place between the central government and farmers represented by the farm unions between 14 October 2020 and 22 January 2021; all were inconclusive with agreement on only two relatively minor points.[36][37][38][39][40][41][42] Smaller but richer states of Haryana & Punjab, with large surplus food production, are the massive provider of food security to India as they provide 70-90% of wheat & 28-44% of rice of India's total PDS.[43] Hence, farm reform is more sensitive issue in these food surplus states as compared to other nett food consumer states with negative food security such as BIMARU states.

While a section of farmer unions were protesting, the Indian government claimed that some unions had come out in support of the farm laws.[44][45] By mid December 2020, the Supreme Court of India had received a batch of petitions asking for the removal of blockades created by the protesters around Delhi.[46][47] Farmers said that they will not listen to the courts if told to back off,[48] and that staying the implementation of the farm laws was not a solution.[49]

The Supreme Court of India stayed the implementation of the farm laws in January 2021. Farmer leaders welcomed the stay order, which remained in effect until they were eventually repealed.[50][51] A Supreme Court appointed committee submitted its confidential report before the court on 19 March 2021.[52][53] Six state governments (Kerala, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Delhi and West Bengal) passed resolutions against the farms acts,[54] and three states (Punjab, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan) have tabled counter-legislation in their respective state assemblies.[55] None of the counter-legislation were signed into law by the respective state governors.[56][57][58]

The protests were often criticized by the Indian government to be a foreign conspiracy. In a statement to Supreme Court, the government stated that the protests have been infiltrated by Khalistanis.[59] On 26 January 2021, India's Republic Day, tens of thousands of the farmers held a farmer's parade with a large convoy of tractors and drove into Delhi. The protesters deviated from the pre-sanctioned routes permitted by the Delhi Police resulting in violence and clashes with the police.[60][61][62][63][64] Later, protesters reached Red Fort and installed farmer union flags and religious flags on the mast on the rampart of the Red Fort.[65][66][67][68]

On 19 November 2021, the union government decided to repeal the bills,[69] and both houses of Parliament passed the Farm Laws Repeal Bill, 2021 on 29 November.[70] Following the announcement of the repeal, farmer unions continued with the demand for guaranteed minimum support prices (MSPs), reminding the government of the aim of doubling farmers' income by 2022; and the 2004 M. S. Swaminathan–headed National Commission on Farmers reports.[71] The Supreme Court appointed committee report was released by a committee member on 21 March 2022.[53][72]

Background

Main article: 2020 Indian agriculture acts
See also: Food security in India

India is self-sufficient in the production of food such as food grains[a] including wheat and rice; and other categories such as fruits, vegetables, milk and meat among others. Yet, despite this, nutrition and hunger remain a serious challenge in the country.[73][74] In 2021, India ranked 101 out of 116 countries in the Global Hunger Index.[75] According to the United Nations, "India shares a quarter of the global hunger burden".[needs copy edit][76] This is despite India having overarching food ration and welfare schemes.[citation needed]

The Agriculture Census in India, last held in 2014, identified that farmers in India have small land holdings, one of the reasons they are not able to meet their needs. Two-thirds of the land holdings in the country are less than one hectare.[77][78] Part-time farming in the country is not common.[79] Other related issues include farmer suicides and the state of the economy in India. India reported a total 296,438 Indian farmers suicides between 1995 and 2015.[80][81] In 2019, 10,281 people who work in the farming sector committed suicide, that is 28 people a day.[82] The slower growth of Punjab's economy, particularly its agricultural sector, is believed to have helped fuel the protest.[83][84] This includes issues arising from its paddy-wheat monoculture and warnings of desertification.[85][86]

Average monthly household income across rural India (State-wise comparison)[87] The 2017 Committee on Doubling Farmers' Income report stated that 22.5% of farmers live below India's official poverty line.[88] In 2013, average farmer income was ₹6,426 (equivalent to ₹11,000 or US$140 in 2023) while its average monthly consumption expenditure was ₹6,223 (equivalent to ₹11,000 or US$130 in 2023).[88]

Second green revolution

See also: Second Green Revolution and Green Revolution in India
 
Manmohan Singh felt the need of second green revolution.[89] "Manmohan Singh talked about it but Modi is having to do it now," Prime Minister Modi in Parliament in February 2021.[90]

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, during an interview in 2004, said,[89]

We need a second green revolution, making use of modern advances [...] For that we need to revitalize India's research agricultural system, India's extension system, India's credit system. The more we commercialize our agriculture, the more our farmers need access to commercial inputs and that was a modernization of our agriculture credit system. [...] There are other rigidities because of the whole marketing regimes set up in the 1930s which prevent our farmers from selling their produce where they get the highest rate of return. It is our intention to remove all those handicaps which come in the way of India realizing its vast potential as one large common market.

On 8 February 2021, in the Rajya Sabha, Prime Minister Modi referenced this interview of Manmohan Singh and said, "Manmohan Singh talked about it but Modi is having to do it now. Be proud".[91][90] Prime Minister Modi has referred to the second agricultural revolution in 2015,[92] 2016,[93] and 2017.[94]

Three agriculture laws

2020 Indian agriculture acts
 
Parliament
Parliament of India
Assented toSeptember 2020
Repeals
Implementation stayed by Supreme Court on 12 January 2021.
Summary
The three acts provide for the creation of an ecosystem for farmers and traders, for a national framework on farming agreements and further to amend the Essential Commodities Act, 1955
Status: Repealed

In 2017, the central government released the Model Farming Acts. However, after a certain period of time, it was found that a number of the reforms suggested in the acts had not been implemented by the states. A committee consisting of seven Chief Ministers was set up in July 2019 to discuss the implementation. Accordingly, the central Government of India promulgated three ordinances (or temporary laws) in the first week of June 2020, which dealt with agricultural produce, their sale, hoarding, agricultural marketing and contract farming reforms among other things.[95][96] These ordinances were introduced as bills and passed by the Lok Sabha on 15 and 18 September 2020.[97] Later, on 20 and 22 September, the three bills were passed by the Rajya Sabha, where the government is in a minority, via a voice vote – ignoring the requests of the opposition for a full vote.[98][99] The President of India gave his assent by signing the bills on 28 September, thus converting them into acts.[100] The legality of the acts has been questioned; "agriculture" is mentioned in the state list six times, the union list four times, and the concurrent list two times.[101][102]

These acts areas are:[95]

  1. Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act: expands the scope of trade areas of farmers produce from select areas to "any place of production, collection, and aggregation." Allows electronic trading and e-commerce of scheduled farmers' produce. Prohibits state governments from levying any market fee, cess or levy on farmers, traders, and electronic trading platforms for a trade of farmers' produce conducted in an 'outside trade area'.
  2. Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act: creates a framework for contract farming through an agreement between a farmer and a buyer before the production or rearing of any farm produces. It provides for a three-level dispute settlement mechanism: the conciliation board, Sub-Divisional Magistrate, and Appellate Authority.'
  3. Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act: allows for the center to regulate certain food items in the course of extraordinary situations like war or famine. Requires that imposition of any stock limit on agricultural produce be based on price rise.

International precedents

Many developing economies reformed their agriculture policies in the 1980s and 1990s to encourage private sector participation.[103] Swati Dhingra of the London School of Economics cites the case of Kenya in which their agriculture reforms increased the ease of doing business, however this very increase caused other problems for the farmers.[103] In February 2021, 87 farmers' unions in the United States wrote a solidarity letter, giving the example of Reagan era farm policies – "Reagan era furthered the farm crisis through deliberate federal policy changes, with systematic erosion of parity prices and other deregulatory efforts."[104]

Farmer unions' demands

 
Three protestors during the protests on 26 December 2020

Immediate demand

  • Repeal the farm laws[105]

The farmer unions believe that the laws will open the sale and marketing of agricultural products outside the notified Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) mandis for farmers. Further, the laws will allow inter-state trade and encourage hike electronic trading of agricultural produce. The new laws prevent the state governments from collecting a market fee, cess, or levy for trade outside the APMC markets; this has led the farmers to believe the laws will "gradually lead to the deterioration and ultimately end the mandi system" thus "leaving farmers at the mercy of corporates". Further, the farmers believe that the laws will end their existing relationship with agricultural small-scale businessmen (commission agents who act as middlemen by providing financial loans, ensuring timely procurement, and promising adequate prices for their crop).[106]

 
Among the demands is the removal of punishments and fines for stubble burning as well as the release of farmers arrested for burning paddy and wheat stubble in Punjab

Later demands

Additionally, protesting farmers believe dismantling the APMC mandis will encourage abolishing the purchase of their crops at the Minimum Support Price (MSP). They are therefore demanding the minimum support prices to be guaranteed by the government in writing.[106] Other demands added over time have included-

  1. Convene a special Parliament session to repeal the farm laws[105]
  2. Make MSP and state procurement of crops a legal right[107]
  3. Assurances that conventional procurement system will remain[108]
  4. Implement Swaminathan Panel Report and peg MSP at least 50% more than weighted average cost of production[109]
  5. Cut diesel prices for agricultural use by 50%[110]
  6. Repeal of Commission on Air Quality Management in NCR and the adjoining Ordinance 2020 and removal of punishment and fine for stubble burning[111]
  7. Release of farmers arrested for burning paddy and wheat stubble in Punjab[108]
  8. Abolishing the Electricity Ordinance 2020[112]
  9. Centre should not interfere in state subjects, decentralization in practice[110]
  10. Withdrawal of all cases against and release of farmer leaders[113]

Farmers have been insistent over repealing the farm laws.[114][37][115][39] Even after the government offered to stay the farm laws for 18 months on 21 January 2021, the farmers refused the stay and pushed for repeal.[116] Other than the farm unions and leaders, people such as Markandey Katju[117] and Thol. Thirumavalavan have also made statements in relation to staying the farm laws.[118]

Minimum support price (MSP)

See also: Farmer Income Protection Scheme (PM AASHA) and other agriculture schemes in India

Following the Prime Minister's announcement of the repeal of the farm laws in November 2021, there were renewed demands for a guaranteed MSP. This had been the second major demand throughout the farmers' protest.[119][120] This came amid reminders of the government's target of doubling farmers' incomes by 2022;[121] in 2016 the finance minister had stated "we need to think beyond food security and give back to our farmers a sense of income security".[122] Relevant recommendations by the MS Swaminathan headed National Commission on Farmers have been cited as a reminder.[123][71]

List of protesting farm unions

Under the coordination of bodies such as Samyukt Kisan Morcha and All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee,[b] the protesting farm unions include:[124][106][125]

 
Rakesh Tikait, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU Uttar Pradesh)
 
Balbir Singh Rajewal, Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU Rajewal)
Farm union leaders during the protest

Transport bodies such as the All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) have extended support.[126]

Protests and incidents

 
March to Delhi, 27 November
 
Protests at Tikri border, December 2020

2020

In Punjab, small-scale protests had started in August 2020 when the Farm Bills were made public. It was only after the passage of the acts that more farmers and farm unions across India joined the protests against the reforms.[citation needed] On 25 September 2020 farm unions all over India called for a Bharat Bandh (lit. transl. nation-wide shutting down) to protest against these farm laws.[127] The most widespread protests took place in Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh[128] but demonstrations were also reported in Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka,[129] Tamil Nadu,[130] Odisha,[131] Kerala[132] and other states.[133] Railway services remained suspended in Punjab for more than two months due to the protests, starting from October.[134] Following this, farmers from different states then marched to Delhi to protest against the laws.[135] Farmers also criticized the national media for misrepresenting the protest.[136] From 12 December, farmer unions took over highway toll plazas in Haryana and allowed free movement of vehicles.[137] In certain parts of India, bullock-cart rallies in support of farmer's protest have also been organized by marginal farmers.[138] Transport bodies such as the All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC), representing about 9.5 million truckers and 5 million bus and taxi drivers, have threatened to halt the movement of supplies in the northern states, and if the government fails to address the farmer's issues, it would be done nationwide.[126]

Rail Roko and Dilli Chalo

See also: 2020 Indian general strike

On 24 September 2020, farmers started a "Rail roko" (transl. "stop the trains") campaign, following which train services to and from Punjab were affected.[139] Farmers extended the campaign into October.[140] On 23 October, some farmer unions decided to call off the campaign, as supplies of fertilizer and other goods in the state were starting to run short.[141]

After failing to get the support of their respective state governments, the farmers decided to pressure the Central Government by marching to Delhi.[106] On 25 November, protesters from the Dilli Chalo (transl. "let us go to Delhi") campaign were met by the police at the borders of the city.[142] The police employed the use of tear gas and water cannons, dug up roads, and used layers of barricades and sand barriers to stop the protesters,[143] leading to at least three farmer casualties.[144] Amidst the clashes, on 27 November, media highlighted the actions of a youth who jumped onto a police water cannon targeting protesting farmers and turned it off. He was later charged with attempted murder.[145][146]

The march on Delhi was accompanied by a 24-hour strike of millions[c] of people across India on 26 November in opposition to both the farm law reform and the proposed changes to the labour law.[34][151] Between 28 November and 3 December, the number of farmers blocking the border roads of Delhi was estimated at 150 to 300 thousand.[152] Despite demands for immediate talks, the centre chalked out 3 December 2020 as the date. Further the Prime Minister would not be present and only select farm unions were invited.[153] This select invitation caused some unions to refuse to attend the meeting.[154] One of the demands of the centre was that the farmers move to a designated protest site in Burari, while the farmers wanted to protest at Jantar Mantar in central Delhi.[155]

Effigies of PM Modi and leaders of corporations were set on fire and prominent personalities began announcing their plans to return their awards received from the Central Government. This was followed by more strikes and talks between the central government and farmer and their unions.[156][157][158] A day before the strike on 8 December, the farmer's union announced that it would hold the strike between 11 am and 3 pm alone to avoid inconveniencing the public.[159] On 9 December 2020, the farmers' unions rejected the government's proposals for changes in-laws, even as the Centre in a written proposal assured the minimum support price for crops.[160] On 26 January 2021, Republic Day, thousands protested in Delhi, where tractor rallies and a storming of the historic Red Fort took place.[161][162]

Blocking of borders and roads

 
Roadblock before Sangrur
 
[Interactive fullscreen map]
Affected borders and locations due to the farmer protests around Delhi[163][164]

A number of borders, including the Kundli Border, Dhansa border, Jharoda Kalan border, Tikri border, Singhu border, Kalindi Kunj border, Chilla border, Bahadurgarh border and Faridabad border, were blocked by protesters during the protests.[165][166] On 29 November, the protesters announced that they would block five further points of entry into Delhi, namely Ghaziabad-Hapur, Rohtak, Sonipat, Jaipur and Mathura.[167] This resulted in minor clashes involving stone pelting and lathi charges with the police.[168][169] In early February 2021, metal barricades, cement walls and iron nails were put up at the roads leading to the three main borders (Tikri, Singhu and Ghazipur) to block any vehicles from entering Delhi. Barbed fences were also put up to prevent people from entering Delhi on foot.[170][171] As of 22 March 2021, a number of Delhi borders remained shut.[172] There are around 40,000 protestors sitting at Singhu and Tikri.[10] Some highways were also blocked in protest.[173]

Counter-protests

The Shetkari Sanghatana, a farmers' union in Maharashtra, supports the bills and wants the market to decide the prices of agricultural commodities. It claims that the minimum support prices have actually weakened farmers, instead of empowering them. The Sanghatana demands that the government stops intervening in the agricultural commodity market so that farmers will not have to depend on the minimum support prices.[174][175]

On 24 December, 20,000 Kisan Sena members marched to Delhi in support of farm laws.[176][177] However, five of the groups supporting the laws were directly linked with the ruling party and many do not have any relation to agriculture or farmers.[178]

On 28 January 2021, the residents of the border villages which the farmers occupied, staged protests to make farmers vacate the sites as it affected their commute. They also accused the farmers for disrespecting the Indian flag at Red Fort.[179]

 
18 January 2021

2021

Republic Day Kisan Parade

Main article: 2021 Indian farmers' Republic Day protest
 
26 January 2021

On 26 January, tens of thousands of the farmers protesting agricultural reforms held a parade with a large convoy of tractors and drove into Delhi. The farmers drove in long lines of tractors, riding horses or marching on foot.[180] The parade started from Singhu Border, Tikri Border and Ghazipur in Delhi on the routes approved by the Police. The farmers were barred from entering the central part of the city where the official Republic Day parade was taking place.[181] At the Singhu Border starting point, according to the police estimates, around 7000 tractors had gathered. Reuters reported citing farmers' unions that close to 200,000 tractors had participated.[181]

At around 8 am, a few hours early from the permitted time, farmers started to gather separately at Ghazipur, Singhu, and Tikri borders. The tractor rally commenced from the Singhu border and was designated to follow a decided route. However, as the rally progressed, it deviated and marched towards other routes.[182] The protestors marched towards ITO metro station and the city centre, and broke through the barricades. The Delhi Police used tear gas and baton charged the protesting farmers leading to clashes.[183][184][68] Several metro stations were closed and mobile internet was suspended by police.[185]

The protestors entered the Red Fort of Delhi,[186] and one of the farmers was seen climbing a flagpole in front of the fort and hoisting the religious flag Nishan Sahib on the flagpole.[187] The clash between police and farmers also caused damage to facilities inside the fort.[188] 394 policemen and thousands of farmers were reported injured, 30 police vehicles were damaged[23] and internet services were suspended for hours in several parts of Delhi and the NCR region.[189] The police took hours in vacating the fort premises after continuous announcements and use of force.[190][191]

After the 26 January tractor march,[192] the police constructed cement barricades, dug trenches and cemented nails at all three borders where farmers continue to protest.[193] The barricading and police has restricted movement of locals, farmers, as well as journalists to the protest sites.[194][195] At the Ghazipur border, farmer leaders alleged that water and electricity supply was cut off.[196][197]

As of 28 January, the Delhi Police stated that it has filed various criminal cases on the incidents of violence and arrested several people.[198] More than 300 police personnel were injured in the violence by protesters who used batons and sharp weapons.[199] The violence and hoisting of a religious flag on the ramparts of the Red Fort made the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Bhanu) and All India Kisan Sangharsh Co-ordination Committee decide to quit the farmers' protest.[200] Sharad Pawar, the leader of the Nationalist Congress Party,[201] and Captain Amarinder Singh, the Chief Minister of Punjab, condemned the violence.[202] One person died in the protest as his tractor overturned on him. Later, the postmortem also confirmed that he died due to haemorrhage due to head injuries.[162]

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic

Protestors at the protest sites around Delhi have decreased following the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic; however, this has also been attributed to the harvest season.[203]

Following protests

On 3 February, farmer leaders warned of escalating the protest to overthrowing the government if the farm laws were not repealed.[204][205] A peaceful anti-farm law protest is attacked in Bihar.[206] On 21 March specific mention was made of Bengaluru, "...you (farmers) have to turn Bengaluru into Delhi. You will have to lay siege to the city from all directions".[207] As of 21 March 2021, according to Haryana Police, there are around 40,000 committed protestors sitting at Singhu and Tikri at the Delhi border.[10]

The SKM has planned that 200 farmers will protest outside the Parliament every day during the monsoon session starting from 22 July 2021.[208][209] On 5 September 2021, a farmers' mahapanchayat was held in Muzaffarnagar.[210] On 22 July, they started a sit-in at Jantar Mantar, a large Mughal-era observatory near the Parliament.[211]

On 5 September, more than 500,000 farmers attended a demonstration rally in the city of Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh.[212]

On 27 September, farmer unions called a Bharat Bandh. The bandh had limited nation-wide impact.[213] A protest on 3 October 2021 in Lakhimpur Kheri resulted in a number of deaths.[214]

In November 2021, farmers stopped the screening of a movie in five cinema halls in Hoshiarpur, disgruntled that Akshay Kumar had not come out in support.[215] A farmer's protest on 5 November turned violent and a MP's car window was smashed.[216]

A tractor march to Parliament on 29 November 2021 was suspended. The unions made clear that the protest was not ending.[217]

In late November 2021, the Modi administration finally repealed all three farm bills.[218] However, protests would continue until 11 December 2021, when the protests were finally declared over and the farmers started returning to their homes.[2]

Organisation

 
 
 
 
 
 
Visuals from a section of the protests, including from the Singhu border

Langars

Scores of langars and makeshift kitchens[219] were deployed by farmer's organizations and NGOs to meet the food needs of the tens of thousands of farmers in the farmers-camps that sprung up on the borders of Delhi after the Delhi Police barred the farmers from entering the city on 26 November 2020. These langars worked round the clock and provided free food to protesters.[220][221][222] The hot meals provided by the langars included pizzas, lentils, seasonal vegetables, roti, buttermilk, and tea. Media outlets made significant coverage on some aspects of the langars, such as the use of mechanical roti makers which can cook 1000 roti an hour,[223] or when farmers were seen eating pizzas at the Singhu border, which drew mockery of the farmer's movement.[224] Also videos of farmers surfaced distributing liquor at the protest site.The media also highlighted farmer's consumption of dried fruits and nuts such as cashews and raisins at an "almond langar" .[225] Organizations engaged in setting up and running langars include Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Committee at Singhu border; Baba Kashmir Singh ji Bhuriwale sect, Tikri border; Khalsa Aid; Dera Baba Jagtar Singh from Tarn Taran, Delhi based Jamindara Student Organisation; Gurdwara Head Darbar Kot Puran, Ropar, Muslim Federation of Punjab, and several others, including NRI-NGOs which have pitched in with aid in kind.[222][225][226] Along with the langars, a makeshift school has been set up at the camp, mostly for children who are unable to attend school due to financial issues and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.[227]

Accommodation and supplies

In addition to food, and tea, the farmers in the camps, are being supported by domestic and international NGOs, including UK based controversial NGO Khalsa Aid, with provisions of tents, solar-powered mobile charging points, air conditioners, televisions, laundry, library, medical stalls, dental camp, which did tooth retraction, cleaning, filling, and scaling treatments, foot massage chairs for protesters.[228]

Security and control

At the Singhu border, farmers have installed eight CCTV cameras to keep a watch on the protest site, "[...] since there are so many people coming in now. We come to know of incidents where people with ulterior motives try to create problems. This way, we can keep a record of what is happening and counter any narrative to blame us for any anti-social activity," said a farmer from Sanyukt Kisan Morcha's CCTV department.[229]

Healthcare

Doctor Swaiman Singh was doing a fellowship with Newark Beth Israel Medical Center when he heard of the death of someone close at the farmer protest in December 2020. He planned to provide services at the protest sites on the outskirts of the capital territory for just a few weeks, but ended up spending a number of months. Through his non-government organisation, a large team of doctors are available at the protest sites periodically. Volunteers also turned out to help with the needs of the free medical camps such as transporting supplies.[230][231][232]

Fatalities

On 20 December 2020, the day the farmer's collectively condoled the deaths of farmers, the death toll was 41.[233] On 30 December 2020, it was over 50.[234] On 2 January 2021, the estimate of dead-farmers had reached 57.[235][236] On 8 January 2021, the week following the onset of winter rains, death toll of farmers including death by suicide during farmer's satyagraha, according to leaders of the farmer's movement, had crossed 120.[237][238] As of 5 March 2021, 248 farmers were confirmed dead.[239] Samyukt Kisan Morcha has stated that until 10 July 2021 over 537 participants have died in the protest.[15] In October and November 2021, BKU leader Rakesh Tikait stated that around 750 protestors had died.[16][17]

2020

The first farmer to die was Dhanna Singh (age 45) of Mansa district in Punjab. He was a leader of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Dakaunda). He died, on the night of 26 November 2020, according to farmer leaders and media reports, while trying to negotiate his tractor past the Haryana Police road barricade of sand-laden trucks and stones. He was on his way to join the farmers who had been stopped by the Delhi Police on 26 November, on the border of Haryana, and Delhi.[240][241]

On 20 December, the death toll of farmers for the period 15 September to 20 December, according to media reports, was 41.[233] Of these 38 were from Punjab (30 from Malwa, six from Doaba, and two from Majha), and three from Haryana.[242] This total includes seven farmers who have died due to the cold and heart attacks at the Tikri border, and six at Singhu border, including Sant Baba Ram Singh, who committed suicide on 16 December. In the period 26 November – 18 December, according to Manoj Yadava,[243] Director-General of Police, Haryana, 25 farmers died (heart attacks and cold 14, accident 10, suicide 1).[244] This estimate however did not match with the estimated deaths in the 'struggle' by Dr Darshan Pal, the farmer leader, according to whom the death toll of farmers in the 'struggle' during this period is 35.[244]

Piara Singh, a 70-year-old poor farmer, and member of BKU (Dakaunda) died on 29 December, of pneumonia, in a Sangrur private hospital. Piara Singh, according to his elder brother, was part of the contingent participating in the farmer's-satyagraha since 26 November. Other farmers cremated on 29 December included Amarjeet Singh Rai in Jalalabad, and farm laborer Malkiat Kaur of Mazdoor Mukti Morcha in Mansa, Punjab.[234]

2021

On 1 January 2021, Galtan Singh, 57, of Baghpat, UP, who was part of the protesters at Ghazipur border, died after complaining of breathlessness. He became the first farmer fatality of 2021, and first reported farmer-death on the UP border.[245] On 2 January, three farmers died: two at the Tikri Border, and one at the Singhu border. In Tikri Jagbir Singh, 66, from Jind district, died of suspected heart-attack; and Jashnpreet, 18, from Bathinda, died after he was evacuated to after evacuation to PGIMS, Rohtak. Shamsher Singh, 44, a dalit farmer, who was in Singhu camp with his son, 13, died after he complained of chest pain, before reaching the hospital in Soneput, Haryana.[246]

Navreet Singh, 25, resident of Rampur district, a student of Melbourne University on vacation in India, died while participating in farmers' Republic Day tractor rally on 26 January 2021. He was the lone fatality during the farmer's rally. According to Delhi Police First Information Report (FIR), and the autopsy, Navreet Singh died from head injuries sustained in a tractor accident. Avinash Chandra, Additional Director General of Police (DGP) Bareilly Zone, whose jurisdiction includes Rampur, told reporters that the postmortem report has confirmed that Navreet Singh was not shot, and succumbed to antemortem injuries "received after his tractor toppled".[247][248][249] Navreet Singh's grandfather, Hardeep Singh Dibdiba, with whom he was staying, and other family members, have denied police version of events. They allege that Navneet Singh died from gunshot wounds from firing by Delhi police .[248] Journalists who reported these allegations were charged with sedition by the Uttar Pradesh police. Those charged include Siddharth Varadarajan, Mrinal Pande, Rajdeep Sardesai, Vinod Jose, Zafar Agha, Paresh Nath and Anant Nath, and Shashi Tharoor, Congress MP Varadarajan has called the police FIR "malicious prosecution".[250][248]

A freelance journalist, Mandeep Punia, was arrested by Delhi Police on 30 January in view of his reports regarding the violence that took place at Singhu border the day before. He was granted bail on 2 February.[251]

On 3 October, during the Lakhimpur Kheri massacre, eight farmers were killed and several injured after they were run over by an SUV from the convoy of the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Kumar Mishra during a black flag protest at Tikunia in UP's Lakhimpur Kheri. Following the incident, some protesting farmers set the SUV and one other vehicle on fire and lynched 4 people to death including three BJP members and a driver.[252][214][253] The son of Ajay Mishra, Ashish Mishra, was alleged to be the driver behind the ramming attack and was interrogated and arrested on 9 October.[254]

Suicides

See also: Farmers' suicides in India

As of 9 January 2021, the death toll of farmers by suicide to protest the government's farm policy was five. Sant Baba Ram Singh, a Sikh priest, shot himself on 16 December 2020 at the Singhu border in protest against the farm laws.[255][256] According to J.S. Randhawa, Senior Superintendent of Police, Sonepat, Haryana, Ram Singh left behind a 10-page note, dated 14 December, and a handwritten suicide letter, dated 16 December 2020, in which he wrote that he could not bear the pain of the farmers. At his funeral on 18 December, in Karnal, attended by farmer leaders, religious heads, and Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee chief Bibi Jagir Kaur, the suicide letter was read out, which said, "Bullets fired from the guns kill only those whom they strike. The bullet of injustice, however, kills many with a single stroke... It is humiliating to suffer injustice."[257]

On 18 December, according to Joginder Singh Jawanda, BKU (Ugrahan) leader, a heavily indebted 22-year-old Punjab farmer killed himself with poison in his village after returning from Singhu, the protest site on the Delhi border.[233] On 27 December, Amarjit Singh Rai, a lawyer, committed suicide by taking poison. Rai before he took his life wrote in a note that he was "sacrificing his life" in support of farmer's protest, and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to "listen to the voice of the people".[258]

2 January 2021, Kashmir Singh Ladi, 75-year-old farmer from Bilaspur, Rampur district, Uttar Pradesh (UP), committed suicide. He was the fourth farmer suicide since the farm protesters were stopped on 26 November 2020, by UP Police on Delhi-UP Ghazipur Border, also called UP gate. Kashmir Singh who had been camping at the border since 28 November along with his son, and grandson, hanged himself in a toilet. Ladi, according to a government official, left a note in Punjabi, that says, "Till when shall we sit here in the cold? This government isn't listening at all. Hence, I give up my life so that some solution emerges."[235]

On 9 January 2021, it was reported that Amrinder Singh, a 40-year-old Punjabi farmer, had killed himself by swallowing aluminium phosphide tablets at the Singhu border. The man had been depressed at the state of the negotiations and had downed the tablets at a stage set up for protesters to speak, whereupon he was rushed to the hospital, but they were unable to resuscitate him.[259]

Homage to the dead

On 20 December, the 25th day of the protest, to honour the memory of 41 farmers who have died since 15 September, called shahid by the farmer's leaders, national 'Shradhanjali Diwas' (Homage and Remembrance Day), was observed at Singhu, Tikri, UP Gate, and Chilla, farmer-camps with largest farmer's presence on the borders of Delhi, and in town and villages all-round the country.[260][261] According to Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan, general secretary of BKU (Ugrahan) simultaneous events were organized in 98 villages in 15 Punjab districts, on 20 December, to honour the dead. These commemorations continued until 24 December.[233][262]

On 4 January 2021, on the insistence of farmer's leaders, government ministers and officials of National Democratic Alliance Government participated in two-minute silence during the seventh round of talks between the government and farmers leaders held in Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi.[246] On 11 February 2021, Rahul Gandhi, in the Loka Sabha proposed that the house observe two minutes silence for farmers who had died during the protests.

Response and reactions

Domestic

On 17 September, the Food Processing Industries Union Minister, Harsimrat Kaur Badal of Shiromani Akali Dal, resigned from her post in protest against the bills.[263] On 26 September, Shiromani Akali Dal left the National Democratic Alliance.[264] On 1 December, Independent MLA Somveer Sangwan withdrew support from the Bharatiya Janata Party government in the Haryana Assembly.[265] The BJP's ally, the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) also asked the central government to consider giving a "written assurance of the continuation of Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops."[266]

On 30 November, PM Modi raised concerns over the issue of misled and radicalized farmers. He stated that "the farmers are being deceived on these historic agriculture reform laws by the same people who have misled them for decades", citing numerous times opposition members were convicted of spreading lies. Modi added that the old system was not being replaced, but instead, that new options were being put forward for the farmers. Several Union Ministers also made statements to this effect.[267][268] On 17 December, the Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare wrote an open letter to farmers over the new laws.[45]

Talks between Government of India and farmers

Ten rounds of talks have taken place between the Centre and farmers (represented by farm unions) until 20 January 2021.[269][270] The first round of talks were on 14 October 2020 in which the farmers walked out on finding that the agriculture secretary was present but not the minister.[271] The meeting on 4 January was attended by three Union Ministers – agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar, and commerce ministers Piyush Goyal and Som Parkash.[269] The three Union Ministers declined the requests of scrapping the three new farm laws as it required more consultation with higher authorities.[272] It is reported that the two sides have managed to reach an agreement on only two issues which the farmers are concerned by, the rise in power tariffs and penalties for stubble burning.[272][273] Farmer leaders also rejected a government proposal, dated 21 January 2021, of suspending the laws for 18 months.[41]

Failure of government communication

A number of experts have commented on the failure and lack of the governments communication with regard to informing farmers and political allies about the importance of the farm bills.[274][275][276][277] Farm reforms have been mentioned in both BJP and Congress manifestos.[278]

Violence by Nihangs

Following the lynching of an alleged desecrater by Nihangs,[19] the wife of one of the Nihangs involved said "he did the right thing".[279] A United Akali Dal spokesperson commented on the incident, "In my view, this justice is correct... we cannot tolerate sacrilege".[19]

Incidents of fake news

Several politicians have circulated misinformation and fake news about the protests, and based on this, have made allegations of separatism, sedition, and 'anti-national' activities concerning the farmers' protests. In response to these, in December 2020, a group of protesting farmers announced that they would be establishing a unit to counter misinformation being spread about the protests.[280] Notable incidents of fake news include:

  • The general secretary of the BJP, Dushyant Kumar Gautam, alleged slogans of "Khalistan Zindabad" and "Pakistan Zindabad" being used during the protests.[281] On 28 November, the Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said that "unwanted elements" like radical Khalistan sympathizers have been seen among the peacefully and democratically protesting farmers.[282][283] However, fact checks conducted by news outlet India Today as well as non-profit fact checking website, Alt News, both indicated that old images from a 2013 protest were being used to make false claims about Khalistani separatism during the farmers protests.[284][285] Protesters also have accused the national media of not telling the truth in relation to the laws.[286] A protester told Scroll.in that "The Modi media is calling us Khalistanis [...] We have been sitting peacefully for two-month. That make us terrorists?"[286] Commentators have said that the Khalistan angle is being used to defame the protests.[287] The Editors Guild of India asked the media not label protesting farmers as "Khalistanis" or "anti-nationals" saying that "This goes against the tenets of responsible and ethical journalism. Such actions compromise the credibility of the media."[288]
  • In December 2020, Bharatiya Janata Party IT Cell's head, Amit Malviya, shared a misleading and fake video regarding the farmers' protests, claiming that there had been no police violence, in response to evidence of police violence shared by Congress politician Rahul Gandhi. Twitter flagged Malviya's video as 'manipulated media', placing a warning below the tweet to indicate that the content shared by Malviya was "deceptively altered or fabricated" with the intention of misleading people.[289][290][291]
  • A tweet by Canadian MP Jack Harris in support of the protest was falsely attributed to American Vice-president-elect Kamala Harris. Harris released a statement clarifying that she had not made the statement.[292]
  • The BJP's Punjab unit shared an advertisement containing what they claimed was of a 'happy farmer' supporting the new laws. The image was actually of a protesting farmer, who had not consented to their use of his image. After he publicly objected and filed a legal notice against the Punjab BJP, the image was replaced with a cartoon drawing of a farmer instead.[293][294][295]
  • Priti Gandhi, the social media for the BJP's Women's Cell, shared an image of farmers allegedly protesting the change to the state of Kashmir's constitutional status in 2019. This image was not taken during the farmers' protest, but was from a protest held in 2019 by the Shiromani Akali Dal political party.[292]
  • Several BJP politicians, including Union Minister Giriraj Singh, shared a video of police officials removing the turban of a Sikh protester, and falsely claimed that the protester was not Sikh but was in fact Muslim, and further claimed that this was evidence of Muslims instigating protests. This video had previously been shared during the 2019 Citizenship Act protests and was debunked as fake then, despite which it was shared again during the 2020 farmers' protests to raise allegations against Muslim citizens.[296]
  • In January 2021, a user generated National Geographic Magazine cover was circulated as a real cover depicting the farmers' protest as the cover story.[297]
  • In January 2021, several BJP leaders, including Jawahar Yadav, and Facebook fan pages of Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused protesting farmers of vandalizing signboards on highways, sharing images of such signboards. The images were later established as being taken from old news articles covering protests in 2017 about the placement of Punjabi language signs on these boards.[298]
  • Rajdeep Sardesai spread a fake news story of a farmer being killed by Delhi Police during the violence of the tractor parade on 26 January. India Today took the noted media personality off air and deducted one months pay for his unverified remarks.[299]
  • In January 2021, Zee News aired a video of decorated tractors, claiming that it was evidence of a forthcoming protest by farmers, and commenting, "Why use such tractors of terror in the farmer protests? Are these tractors a means of waging war with the law? Are these farmers' tractors or terror tractors?". The video in question contained persons speaking in German and was confirmed as having been taken from a rally conducted in Germany in December 2020, in which tractors were decorated, and displayed to raise funds for children who were being treated for cancer.[300]

Allegations of conspiracy

Union Minister Piyush Goyal has described the protesting farmers as "Leftist and Maoist" and being "hijacked" by unknown conspirators.[301] Former Rajya Sabha MP and vice-president of BJP in Himachal Pradesh, Kripal Parmar stated, "The protest is driven by vested interest of few anti-national elements."[302] Union Minister and BJP politician Raosaheb Danve has alleged an international conspiracy, claiming that China and Pakistan are behind the ongoing protests by farmers.[303] BJP MLA Surendra Singh said, "....this is a sponsored agitation by anti-national forces and has foreign funding."[304] BJP Uttarakhand chief Dushyant Kumar Gautam stated that the protests had been 'hijacked' by "terrorists" and "anti-national" forces.[305] Several BJP leaders have blamed what they have called the 'Tukde Tukde Gang' – a pejorative term used by the BJP and its supporters, against anyone who disagrees with its politics, which implies that the person supports secession – as instigating the protests, and linked them to previous protests about India's citizenship laws. Delhi BJP MP Manoj Tiwari has accused such unnamed conspirators of instigating the protests, as has Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.[306] In response to the BJP's claims, Sukhbir Singh Badal, former Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab, claimed that the BJP was the real 'Tukde Tukde Gang' and trying to divide Punjab.[307] BJP General Secretary Manoj Tiwari has also described the protesting farmers as "urban naxals".[308] Rajasthan BJP leader Madan Dilawar has accused protesting farmers of "conspiring" to spread avian influenza in India after reports of some cases of avian flu were made in January. Dilawar claimed that protesting farmers were spreading avian influenza by "eating chicken biryani and cashew nuts/almonds" although he did not clarify how these foods and avian influenza are connected.[309]

Opposition to the claims of conspiracy has been voiced from within the BJP and outside it. BJP leader Surjit Singh Jyani, who was part of a committee that negotiated with several farmers unions, vocally opposed the claims, stating, "This type of language should be avoided. We know many farmers groups are left-leaning but branding them tukde tukde gang and anti-national will not end the deadlock."[310] Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena leader, Uddhav Thackeray has voiced opposition to the labelling of protesters as "anti-national", pointing to some confusion among BJP leaders about the source of the allegations of conspiracy.[311] He stated, "BJP leaders should decide who farmers are – are they Leftist, Pakistani, or they have come from China."[311] The conspiracy claims have also been opposed by Rajasthan Chief Minister and Congress politician, Ashok Gehlot, who urged the government to come to an "amicable solution" with protesting farmers "...instead of blaming gangs, anti-national elements for these protests."[312]

International

 
 
 
A small scale protest in New York City in support of the farmers in December 2020
  •   Australia: Victoria Member of Parliament Rob Mitchell and Russell Wortley were among the Labour leaders who spoke in support of the farmers' protests, with Mitchell addressing the Victorian parliament on the subject after several protests were held in Australia by citizens.[313]
  •   Canada: Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada expressed concerns about the handling of protests by the Indian government. He was the very first politician on international grounds to speak for the farmers.[314] Trudeau stated that "Canada will always be there to defend the right of peaceful protestors" and expressed support for "the process of dialogue."[315] In response, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs summoned the Canadian High Commissioner to India, Nadir Patel, and issued a démarche, stating that Trudeau's comments were "an unacceptable interference in our internal affairs".[316] Trudeau reiterated his statement despite the Indian Government's warning that his comments threatened diplomatic relations between the two countries.[317] On Saturday, 5 December, hundreds of supporters protested in downtown Toronto and Vancouver, gathering in front of the Indian consulate in both cities to show their support.[318][319] Organized by members of the Sikh community, the demonstrators stood in solidarity with the farmers and their right to peacefully protest.
  •   Italy: Indian Ambassador to Italy Neena Malhotra visited a gurudwara in Rome in December as part of an outreach effort by the Indian government to Sikhs amid the farm protests. Malhotra received backlash on social media when the Embassy claimed she had been well received during the visit. However, Malhotra was heckled by members of the gurudwara management committee while she spoke in favor of the new farm laws.[320][321]
  •   New Zealand: In early December 2020, 1,500 Indian New Zealanders protested in Auckland's Aotea Square against the new agricultural laws.[322]
  •   Pakistan: Federal minister Fawad Chaudhry from Punjab, Pakistan, called out the Indian government's behavior with Punjabi farmers and termed it "shameful". He further stated that Modi's policies were "threats for regional peace".[323]
  •   United Kingdom: Several Labour MPs in the United Kingdom expressed support for the protests and raised concerns about the government response to protesters, including Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, Preet Kaur Gill, Claudia Webbe and John McDonnell.[324][325] A few British MPs and cricketer Monty Panesar also tweeted in support of farmers.[326] In December 2020, a group of 36 British MPs from the Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrats and Scottish National Party asked the British Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, to raise their concerns with the Indian government.[327][328] The British prime minister Boris Johnson, after being confronted with the issue, confused it with the India–Pakistan conflict, drawing criticism domestically and in India.[329][330] Nadia Whittome, a British politician, released a statement in support of the farmers.[331]
  •   United States: Several Indian-American protests were held in support of the farmers, with rallies being held outside Indian consulates in San Francisco, Chicago, Indianapolis, New York City, Houston, Michigan, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C.[332][333][334] A rally of over a thousand Indian Americans was also held in Detroit,[335] and a car rally was held in Fort Wayne.[336] Several American Congressmen from both the Republican and Democratic parties voiced support for these protests, including Josh Harder, TJ Cox, Doug LaMalfa, and Andy Levin.[337] In December 2020, seven Congresspersons wrote to the Secretary of State, asking him raise the issue of the farmers' protests with India.[338][339] The Congressional Research Service published a report on the farmer protests on 1 March.[340][341] Bob Menendez and Chuck Schumer wrote a letter to the Biden government in relation to the protests, urging it to discuss the farmer issue with the Indian government.[342] On 7 February, Sikh farmers in California's Central Valley funded a 30-second ad which ran during Super Bowl LV in support of the protesters in India.[343] In February 2021, Trevor Noah ran an eight-minute segment on the farm protests.[344]

Organisations

  •   United Nations: António Guterres, secretary-general, called on the Indian government to allow the protests, affirming the right to voice opposition to the government, stating "...People have a right to demonstrate peacefully and authorities need to let them do so."[345]
    • International Monetary Fund: Gerry Rice, Director of Communications IMF, said that the agriculture reforms have the potential to represent a significant step forward for agricultural reforms in India. He contended that the bills will eventually reduce middlemen and improve efficiency. He also remarked that a "social safety net" should be there to protect "those who might be adversely impacted during the transition to this new system".[346]
  • Human Rights Watch: Human Rights Watch issued a statement on 2 February calling on the Indian government to drop "baseless criminal charges" against journalists covering the protests.[347]

Academics

Agricultural economist Ashok Gulati has been vocal in his support for the bills and contends that the bills are bold steps in the right direction.[348] The Chief Economist of the International Monetary Fund, Gita Gopinath, said the "farm bills and labour bills are very important steps in the right direction. They have the potential to have more labour market flexibility, providing greater social security to workers and more formalisation of the labour market. In the case of agriculture, having a much more integrated market, creating competition, having farmers getting a greater share of the price that finally the retail price that's paid. So that helps with rural incomes". She also stressed that the implementation of it must be right.[349] Milind Sathye, a professor at the University of Canberra asserts that the new laws will "enable farmers to act together and join hands with the private sector and that the previous system had led to growing farm debt and farmers suicides, among other problems".[350] Rajshri Jayaraman, Associate Economics Professor at the University of Toronto, states that "the bills are confusing and to pass legislation like this affects the largest single sector of the economy and the poorest people in an already poor country during a pandemic."[351]

On 1 January 2021, 866 academicians from across India came out in support of the three farm laws. This includes seven vice-chancellors and academicians from Delhi University, JNU, Rajasthan University, Gujarat University, Allahabad University and Banaras Hindu University among others.[352][353] Kaushik Basu, former chief economist at the World Bank, supports the cause of the peasants, against the position of Arvind Panagariya, former Chief Economist at the Asian Development Bank.[354] Hansong Li, a Chinese scholar at Harvard University, argues that although India's farm reforms bear resemblance to China's own market-oriented agricultural reforms, India lacks the risk-mitigation mechanisms in the Chinese context, and that the overall crisis has shown a lack of public trust and cohesion in India.[355]

On 24 April 2021, a number of civil society members urged both sides to end the stalemate.[356]

Repudiation of awards

Former Chief Minister of Punjab, Parkash Singh Badal of the Shiromani Akali Dal returned his Padma Vibhushan award to the President of India on 3 December 2020, in his support of the farmers' protest. On 4 December 2020, environmentalist Baba Sewa Singh returned his Padma Shri Award.[357] Punjabi folk singer Harbhajan Mann refused to accept the Shiromani Punjabi Award by the Punjab Languages Department of the Government of Punjab, India in support of the protests.[358]

Rajya Sabha MP and SAD(D) president Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa also announced that he would return his Padma award due to his personal support of the protests.[359]

Social media

Videos and images of the protests have helped bring awareness to the farmers cause and many have gone viral including one of a police officer with baton raised in hand towards an elderly Sikh man, Sukhdev Singh.[360] Fake news also circulated such as a morphed video claiming that no violence in this incident had occurred was shared by BJP leader Amit Malviya; however, this video was flagged as being misinformation by Twitter, and the video was criticized publicly as being propaganda.[360] Alternately, protestors wielding swords circulated on the media following the Republic Day protests; over 300 policemen were injured on the 26th.[14][361][13]

Hashtags are also being used by youth to show their support and ensure that their hashtags like #FarmersProtest, #standwithfarmerschallenge, #SpeakUpForFarmers, #iamwithfarmers, #kisanektazindabaad, #tractor2twitter, #isupportfarmersare[362] trending to keep the subject relevant on the various social media platforms. Another purpose for the youth posting on social media is to counter the negative posts. These posts also benefit the unions and help them to reach the public about their issues and concerns.[362]

On 20 December 2020, Facebook removed a page named Kisan Ekta Morcha, an official news source from farmers' protest. It was restored after public outrage. Since then both Facebook and Facebook-owned Instagram have been accused of removing and shadow banning content that spoke either in favour of farmers or against the BJP-led government, an accusation it has faced in past too.[363]

In early February a "social media war" erupted after a tweet by Rihanna saying "why aren't we talking about this?!" with the hashtag #FarmersProtest. Numerous celebrities and international figures came out in support such as Greta Thunberg, Lilly Singh, Jamie Margolin, Elizabeth Wathuti and Claudia Webbe.[364] Following this the Indian Ministry of External affairs came out with a clarification statement with the hashtags #IndiaTogether and #IndiaAgainstPropaganda. Indian celebrities such as Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn, Suniel Shetty, Karan Johar, Ekta Kapoor, Lata Mangeshkar, Kailash Kher, Ravi Shastri, Anil Kumble, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, P. T. Usha, Manika Batra, Saina Nehwal, Geeta Phogat also posted tweets with the hashtags #IndiaTogether and #IndiaAgainstPropaganda.[365][366][367] The Ministry of External Affairs statement characterised a "small section of farmers" as protesting against the legislation and highlighted the Prime Minister's offer to keep the laws on hold.[368]

In February 2021, Twitter removed over 500 accounts that criticized Narendra Modi's government for its conduct during Indian farmers' protests.[369] Ravi Shankar Prasad, the justice and technology minister, told India's parliament: "I politely remind the companies, whether it is Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or WhatsApp or anyone, they are free to work in India, do business, but they need to respect the Indian Constitution."[370]

Protest Toolkit

On 3 February, Greta Thunberg uploaded a document on Twitter which allegedly guided protestors about protests and on how to mobilise people against India and target Indian interests/embassies abroad. It contained actions taken up to 26 January 2021, future actions to undertake, hashtags which trended and would trend, celebrities who would be sympathetic to these protests and solidarity videos etc. She soon deleted the tweet saying that the document was "outdated", and uploaded another toolkit to support protests, sparking a further row.[371][372]

The Times of India reported that an initial probe by the Modi government, into the source of the toolkit that Thunberg posted, suggested that it was put together by a Canadian pro-Khalistan organization based in Vancouver, and that the toolkit had a plan to carry forward the "malign Indian campaign", even if the government repealed the laws. According to one official, "This showed how sinister the entire campaign was".[373]

On 13 February, Bangalore Fridays for Future activist Disha Ravi was arrested by Delhi Police allegedly for creating and sharing the toolkit.[374][375] On 23 February, she was granted bail by Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana, who commented that the 'offence of sedition cannot be invoked to minister to the wounded vanity of governments".[376][377] Eight month later, the Delhi Police had made no headway, and the Indian Express reported that police were unlikely to file a charge-sheet against her, with one option being to close the case.[377]

Supreme Court of India involvement

The Supreme Court of India has received numerous petitions seeking direction to remove protesting farmers from blocking access routes to the capital. The Supreme Court has also conveyed to the central government that it intends to set up a body for taking forward the negotiations.[46][47] On 17 December, the Supreme Court acknowledged the right to peaceful protest but added, "you (farmers) have a purpose also and that purpose is served only if you talk, discuss and reach a conclusion".[378][379] The central government opposed the court's recommendation of putting on hold the implementation of the farm laws.[380][381] Agitating farmer unions have decided to consult Prashant Bhushan, Dushyant Dave, HS Phoolka and Colin Gonsalves as far as the Supreme Court proceedings go.[382]

A plea submitted by several students of Panjab University on 2 December 2020 was registered by the Supreme Court as a public petition on 4 January 2021.[383] The plea was in the form of a letter which called out police excesses, illegal detentions of protesters, "misrepresentation, polarization and sensationalisation" by media channels and approached the matter on humanitarian grounds.[383] A student who drafted the petition informed The Wire that "over the course of over 100 days of the farmers' protest, this is the first petition filed in favour of the protest".[383]

Farmers have said they will not listen to the courts if told to back off or even if the laws are stayed.[48][49] Farmer union leaders have also raised the issue of the government "dodging dialogue" since the "SC has said earlier that it will not intervene". Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala made a statement in this regard, "Why does the government want the SC to solve all contentious issues, from the CAA and the National Register of Citizens to farm laws?"[48]

Chief Justices of the Supreme Court during the stay order on the farm laws
 
Chief Justice of Supreme Court of India Justice S. A. Bobde, along with justices V. Ramasubramanian and A. S. Bopanna have heard the matters stemming from the farm laws.
 
Chief Justice N. V. Ramana took over in April 2021. He has been asked by a farm committee member to make the committee report public.[384]

On 11 January 2021 the Chief Justice of India said during hearings, "We are not experts on agriculture and economics. Tell us whether you (the government) will put these laws on hold or else we will do it. What's the prestige issue here? [...] We don't know if you are part of the solution or part of the problem [...] We have an apprehension that someday maybe, there might be a breach of peace. Each one of us will be responsible if anything goes wrong [...] If the vast majority says that laws are good, let them say it to (a) committee."[385] The Court also stated to the government that they were "...extremely disappointed at the way government is handling all this (farmers protests). We don't know what consultative process you followed before the laws. Many states are up in rebellion."[386] The Court also rejected a claim by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that the "vast majority" of farmers supported the laws, stating that they had not received any submissions from any person that the laws were beneficial.[387][388]

Supreme Court stay order and farm laws committee

On 12 January 2021, the Supreme Court of India suspended the farm laws and formed a committee to look into the grievances of protesting farmers. The CJI, Sharad Arvind Bobde, requested the farmer unions to cooperate.[389] The members of the committee included agriculture experts Ashok Gulati, Pramod Kumar Joshi, Anil Ghanwat and Bhupinder Singh Mann.[390] However, two days later, Bhupinder Singh Mann recused himself in solidarity with the farmers.[391]

Irrespective of Mann recusing himself, and the following criticism, the Supreme Court, and the remaining members of the Supreme Court-appointed committee, continued with the tasks outlined to the committee. Criticism raised, related to bias in appointing the committee, was addressed by the Supreme Court.[392] The committee called on the public for suggestions by 20 February 2021.[52] It went on to conduct a number of meetings online, including speaking to 73 farmers organisations and related organisations.[393]

The report was submitted to the Supreme Court on 19 March 2021.[53] Committee members requested the report be made public three times.[53][384] Following the repeal of the laws the report was released by committee member Anil Ghanwat on 21 March 2022.[53][72]

Counter-legislation by states

The Punjab state assembly passed four bills to counter the Centre's three farm laws.[394] Following this Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh also tabled bills to amend and counter the central laws.[395][55] The respective state governors have either returned the bills or have sat on them refusing to give them assent and send it to the President.[56][57][58]

Fallout

As fallout of the growing belief amongst protesting farmers that Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani were the principal beneficiaries of the farm laws enacted by the NDA Government, Punjab and Haryana farmers, in protest, decided to surrender Jio-sims and switch to rival networks.[396][397][398] A number of Reliance Jio telecom towers and other infrastructure were damaged in Punjab in the last week of December 2020.[22] Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh appealed to the farmers to stop disrupting the communication towers.[397][399]

On 30 December, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh objected to the Punjab Governor Vijayender Pal Singh Badnore's summoning of the state's chief secretary and the Director-General of Punjab Police Dinkar Gupta. Gupta has served as DG of Intelligence of Punjab police, and with Intelligence Bureau for eight years before being appointed DG Punjab police.[400] Singh alleged that Badnore had bowed to the "antics of the BJP" which has falsely claimed breakdown of law and order in Punjab. He called upon the BJP to stop slandering the farmers with terms like 'Naxalites', 'Khalistanis', and for the BJP central leadership to pay heed to the voice of the farmers and repeal the farm laws.[401]

Repeal

 
Narendra Modi announcing the repeal of the three controversial laws in a televised address on 19 November 2021

In a televised address on 19 November 2021, Narendra Modi, the prime minister of India, said his government would be repealing the three acts in the upcoming winter parliamentary session in December. In his statement he lamented his government's inability to convince farmers of the law's advantages, saying: "but despite several attempts to explain the benefits to the farmers, we have failed. On the occasion of Guru Purab, the government has decided to repeal the three farm laws."[69][402][403] Experts and poll watchers suggested that the forthcoming state elections in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh in 2022 had an effect on Modi's decision.[404] The national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, Rakesh Tikait, stated the protests would only cease once the laws were repealed.[405]

On 29 November, both Houses of the Indian Parliament passed the Farm Laws Repeal Bill, 2021 by voice vote. While there were no objections to the bill, the Opposition objected to passing the bill without debate.[70] The repeal bill was signed by the President of India two days later.[406] Later in March 2022, a high powered expert panel constituted by the Supreme Court found out that 86% of the farmer organizations representing 38.3 million farmers supported the farm laws. The panel received over 19000 representation from various groups. The panel concluded that the repeal and long suspension of farm laws would be unfair to the silent majority of farmers.[407]

In music, popular media and slogans

See also: Trolley Times

Since the beginning of protests many songs have been released by singers, songwriters describing the protest and showing unity and solidarity.[408] Several clips of the protest featured in an international collaboration "Ek Din" by Bohemia, The Game and Karan Aujla.[409][better source needed] Kanwar Grewal who has been involved in gathering support for the protests since the beginning said "Wherever Punjabis are settled in the world, they will always be connected to their roots, their land, and their community", and praised the support of those who were living abroad.[410]

  • "Sunn Dilliye" by Damanjot
  • "Kisaan Anthem" by Shree Brar
  • "Ailan" and "Jawani Zindabad" by Kanwar Grewal
  • "Pecha" by Harf Cheema, Kanwar Grewal
  • "Delhi Aa Punjab Nal Pange Thik Nahi" by R Nait
  • "Asi Vaddange" by Himmat Sandhu
  • "Jatta Takda Hoja" by Jass Bajwa
  • "Haq and Murrde ni laye bina haq, Dilliye" by Harbhajan Mann
  • "Farmers' Protest – Theme Song" by Bidita Bag

A number of slogans were used, including:

  • No farmers, no food[411][412]
  • India is Killing its Farmers[411]
  • Murderer of Democracy in India[411]
  • Recall the farm bills[411]
  • Dharti Mata Ki Jai (transl. Hail Mother Earth)[413]
  • Narendra Modi Kisan Virodhi (transl. Narendra Modi farmer enemy)[413]
  • Inquilab Zindabad (transl. Long live the revolution)[413]
  • Chahe Kuch Bhi Karlo Hum Badhte Jaenge (transl. No matter what you do we will keep moving forward)[413]
  • No Manch or Mike to Politicians (transl. No stage or mic for politicians)[414]

See also

References and notes

Explanatory notes

  1. ^ The definition of 'food grains' varies
  2. ^ "Kisān" (किसान) means farmer in Hindi.
  3. ^ Not 250 million people as per various media reports,[147][148][149] fact checking done by Alt News[150]

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July 25, 2023
2020, 2021, indian, farmers, protest, protest, against, three, farm, acts, that, were, passed, parliament, india, september, 2020, acts, often, called, farm, bills, been, described, anti, farmer, laws, many, farmer, unions, politicians, from, opposition, said,. The 2020 2021 Indian farmers protest was a protest against three farm acts that were passed by the Parliament of India in September 2020 The acts often called the Farm Bills 24 had been described as anti farmer laws by many farmer unions 25 26 and politicians from the opposition who said that it would leave farmers at the mercy of corporates 27 28 The protests were largely non violent The protests also demanded the creation of a minimum support price MSP bill to ensure that corporates cannot control the prices 29 The Union Government however maintained that the laws would make it effortless for farmers to sell their produce directly to big buyers and stated that the protests are based on misinformation 30 31 32 Related endemic legacy issues include farmer suicides and low farmer incomes Despite India being largely self sufficient in foodgrain production and having welfare schemes hunger and nutrition remain serious issues with India ranking as one of the worst countries in the world in food security parameters 33 2020 2021 Indian farmers protestDate9 August 2020 1 11 December 2021 2 3 1 year 4 months 2 days LocationIndiaCaused byPassage of three farm related bills by the Indian parliamentGoalsRevocation of all the three Farm BillsGuaranteed MSPs see section Demands for more details MethodsGherao encirclement dharna sit in raasta roko traffic obstruction demonstration suicide counterlegislationResulted inAll three farm bills repealed Committee on MSP to be formed 4 PartiesGovernment of India Ministry of Agriculture amp Farmers WelfareSupporting political parties Bharatiya Janata Party Janata Dal United Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Apna Dal Sonelal National People s Party Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party All Jharkhand Students Union Sikkim Krantikari Morcha Mizo National Front Naga People s Front Republican Party of India Athawale Pattali Makkal Katchi YSR Congress Party Bodoland People s Front Tamil Maanila Congress Samyukt Kisan Morcha All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee Bharatiya Kisan Union All India Kisan Sabha CPIM All India Kisan Sabha CPI Jai Kisan Andolan Lok Sangharsh Morcha All India Krishak Khet Majdoor Sangathan National Alliance of People s Movements All India Kisan Mahasabha Punjab Kisan Union Other farmer unions Bharatiya Kisan Sangh 5 6 7 Various Khalistani groups and sympathizers alleged 8 9 Supporting political parties SUCI C Communist Party of India Communist Party of India Marxist Indian National Congress Aam Aadmi Party Shiromani Akali Dal All India Trinamool Congress Rashtriya Janata Dal Samajwadi Party Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Bharat Rashtra Samithi Shiv Sena All India Majlis e Ittehadul Muslimeen Bahujan Samaj Party Rashtriya Lok Dal othersLead figuresRam Nath KovindNarendra ModiNarendra Singh TomarKailash Choudhary Hannan MollahRakesh TikaitBalbir Singh RajewalGurnam Singh CharuniJoginder Singh UgrahanAshok DhawaleDarshan PalShiv Kumar Kakkaji Numberunverified until 20 March 2021 40 000 10 according to Haryana Police on 21 March 2021 this includes 18 000 19 000 protesters at Singhu border and 20 000 22 000 at Tikri 10 Casualties and losses3 Bharatiya Janata Party members killed 1 BJP driver killed 11 300 policemen injured during Farmers Republic day parade including cases of stabbings 12 13 14 537 fatalities as of 10 July 2021 SKU figures 15 BKU claims about 750 deaths by October and November 2021 16 17 hundreds more injured see section Fatalities for more details No Recorded Deaths Central Government 18 1 journalist killed 11 One person lynched for alleged desecration 19 Infrastructure damage National highways dug up by police to stop protestors from marching to capital 20 Over 1 500 telecom tower sites damaged by protestors as of 28 December 2022 update 21 22 Government buses and 30 police vehicles damaged on Republic Day 23 Soon after the acts were introduced unions began holding local protests mostly in Punjab state After two months of protests farmer unions mainly from Punjab and neighbouring Haryana began a movement named Dilli Chalo transl Let s go to Delhi in which tens of thousands of union members marched towards the nation s capital The Indian government ordered the police and law enforcement of various states to stop the protesters using water cannons batons and tear gas to prevent them entering Haryana and then Delhi November 2020 saw a nationwide general strike in support of the farmers and thousands converging at various border points on the way to Delhi 34 35 Eleven rounds of talks took place between the central government and farmers represented by the farm unions between 14 October 2020 and 22 January 2021 all were inconclusive with agreement on only two relatively minor points 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 Smaller but richer states of Haryana amp Punjab with large surplus food production are the massive provider of food security to India as they provide 70 90 of wheat amp 28 44 of rice of India s total PDS 43 Hence farm reform is more sensitive issue in these food surplus states as compared to other nett food consumer states with negative food security such as BIMARU states While a section of farmer unions were protesting the Indian government claimed that some unions had come out in support of the farm laws 44 45 By mid December 2020 the Supreme Court of India had received a batch of petitions asking for the removal of blockades created by the protesters around Delhi 46 47 Farmers said that they will not listen to the courts if told to back off 48 and that staying the implementation of the farm laws was not a solution 49 The Supreme Court of India stayed the implementation of the farm laws in January 2021 Farmer leaders welcomed the stay order which remained in effect until they were eventually repealed 50 51 A Supreme Court appointed committee submitted its confidential report before the court on 19 March 2021 52 53 Six state governments Kerala Punjab Chhattisgarh Rajasthan Delhi and West Bengal passed resolutions against the farms acts 54 and three states Punjab Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan have tabled counter legislation in their respective state assemblies 55 None of the counter legislation were signed into law by the respective state governors 56 57 58 The protests were often criticized by the Indian government to be a foreign conspiracy In a statement to Supreme Court the government stated that the protests have been infiltrated by Khalistanis 59 On 26 January 2021 India s Republic Day tens of thousands of the farmers held a farmer s parade with a large convoy of tractors and drove into Delhi The protesters deviated from the pre sanctioned routes permitted by the Delhi Police resulting in violence and clashes with the police 60 61 62 63 64 Later protesters reached Red Fort and installed farmer union flags and religious flags on the mast on the rampart of the Red Fort 65 66 67 68 On 19 November 2021 the union government decided to repeal the bills 69 and both houses of Parliament passed the Farm Laws Repeal Bill 2021 on 29 November 70 Following the announcement of the repeal farmer unions continued with the demand for guaranteed minimum support prices MSPs reminding the government of the aim of doubling farmers income by 2022 and the 2004 M S Swaminathan headed National Commission on Farmers reports 71 The Supreme Court appointed committee report was released by a committee member on 21 March 2022 53 72 Contents 1 Background 1 1 Second green revolution 1 2 Three agriculture laws 1 3 International precedents 2 Farmer unions demands 2 1 Immediate demand 2 2 Later demands 2 2 1 Minimum support price MSP 2 3 List of protesting farm unions 3 Protests and incidents 3 1 2020 3 1 1 Rail Roko and Dilli Chalo 3 1 2 Blocking of borders and roads 3 1 3 Counter protests 3 2 2021 3 2 1 Republic Day Kisan Parade 3 2 2 Impact of COVID 19 pandemic 3 2 3 Following protests 4 Organisation 4 1 Langars 4 2 Accommodation and supplies 4 3 Security and control 4 4 Healthcare 5 Fatalities 5 1 2020 5 2 2021 5 3 Suicides 5 4 Homage to the dead 6 Response and reactions 6 1 Domestic 6 1 1 Talks between Government of India and farmers 6 1 2 Failure of government communication 6 1 3 Violence by Nihangs 6 1 4 Incidents of fake news 6 1 5 Allegations of conspiracy 6 2 International 6 2 1 Organisations 6 3 Academics 6 4 Repudiation of awards 6 5 Social media 6 5 1 Protest Toolkit 7 Supreme Court of India involvement 7 1 Supreme Court stay order and farm laws committee 8 Counter legislation by states 9 Fallout 10 Repeal 11 In music popular media and slogans 12 See also 13 References and notes 13 1 Explanatory notes 13 2 Citations 14 Further reading 15 External linksBackground EditMain article 2020 Indian agriculture acts See also Food security in India India is self sufficient in the production of food such as food grains a including wheat and rice and other categories such as fruits vegetables milk and meat among others Yet despite this nutrition and hunger remain a serious challenge in the country 73 74 In 2021 India ranked 101 out of 116 countries in the Global Hunger Index 75 According to the United Nations India shares a quarter of the global hunger burden needs copy edit 76 This is despite India having overarching food ration and welfare schemes citation needed The Agriculture Census in India last held in 2014 identified that farmers in India have small land holdings one of the reasons they are not able to meet their needs Two thirds of the land holdings in the country are less than one hectare 77 78 Part time farming in the country is not common 79 Other related issues include farmer suicides and the state of the economy in India India reported a total 296 438 Indian farmers suicides between 1995 and 2015 80 81 In 2019 10 281 people who work in the farming sector committed suicide that is 28 people a day 82 The slower growth of Punjab s economy particularly its agricultural sector is believed to have helped fuel the protest 83 84 This includes issues arising from its paddy wheat monoculture and warnings of desertification 85 86 Graphs are temporarily unavailable due to technical issues Average monthly household income across rural India State wise comparison 87 The 2017 Committee on Doubling Farmers Income report stated that 22 5 of farmers live below India s official poverty line 88 In 2013 average farmer income was 6 426 equivalent to 11 000 or US 140 in 2023 while its average monthly consumption expenditure was 6 223 equivalent to 11 000 or US 130 in 2023 88 Second green revolution Edit See also Second Green Revolution and Green Revolution in India Manmohan Singh felt the need of second green revolution 89 Manmohan Singh talked about it but Modi is having to do it now Prime Minister Modi in Parliament in February 2021 90 Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during an interview in 2004 said 89 We need a second green revolution making use of modern advances For that we need to revitalize India s research agricultural system India s extension system India s credit system The more we commercialize our agriculture the more our farmers need access to commercial inputs and that was a modernization of our agriculture credit system There are other rigidities because of the whole marketing regimes set up in the 1930s which prevent our farmers from selling their produce where they get the highest rate of return It is our intention to remove all those handicaps which come in the way of India realizing its vast potential as one large common market On 8 February 2021 in the Rajya Sabha Prime Minister Modi referenced this interview of Manmohan Singh and said Manmohan Singh talked about it but Modi is having to do it now Be proud 91 90 Prime Minister Modi has referred to the second agricultural revolution in 2015 92 2016 93 and 2017 94 Three agriculture laws Edit 2020 Indian agriculture acts ParliamentParliament of IndiaAssented toSeptember 2020RepealsImplementation stayed by Supreme Court on 12 January 2021 SummaryThe three acts provide for the creation of an ecosystem for farmers and traders for a national framework on farming agreements and further to amend the Essential Commodities Act 1955Status RepealedIn 2017 the central government released the Model Farming Acts However after a certain period of time it was found that a number of the reforms suggested in the acts had not been implemented by the states A committee consisting of seven Chief Ministers was set up in July 2019 to discuss the implementation Accordingly the central Government of India promulgated three ordinances or temporary laws in the first week of June 2020 which dealt with agricultural produce their sale hoarding agricultural marketing and contract farming reforms among other things 95 96 These ordinances were introduced as bills and passed by the Lok Sabha on 15 and 18 September 2020 97 Later on 20 and 22 September the three bills were passed by the Rajya Sabha where the government is in a minority via a voice vote ignoring the requests of the opposition for a full vote 98 99 The President of India gave his assent by signing the bills on 28 September thus converting them into acts 100 The legality of the acts has been questioned agriculture is mentioned in the state list six times the union list four times and the concurrent list two times 101 102 These acts areas are 95 Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce Promotion and Facilitation Act expands the scope of trade areas of farmers produce from select areas to any place of production collection and aggregation Allows electronic trading and e commerce of scheduled farmers produce Prohibits state governments from levying any market fee cess or levy on farmers traders and electronic trading platforms for a trade of farmers produce conducted in an outside trade area Farmers Empowerment and Protection Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act creates a framework for contract farming through an agreement between a farmer and a buyer before the production or rearing of any farm produces It provides for a three level dispute settlement mechanism the conciliation board Sub Divisional Magistrate and Appellate Authority Essential Commodities Amendment Act allows for the center to regulate certain food items in the course of extraordinary situations like war or famine Requires that imposition of any stock limit on agricultural produce be based on price rise International precedents Edit Many developing economies reformed their agriculture policies in the 1980s and 1990s to encourage private sector participation 103 Swati Dhingra of the London School of Economics cites the case of Kenya in which their agriculture reforms increased the ease of doing business however this very increase caused other problems for the farmers 103 In February 2021 87 farmers unions in the United States wrote a solidarity letter giving the example of Reagan era farm policies Reagan era furthered the farm crisis through deliberate federal policy changes with systematic erosion of parity prices and other deregulatory efforts 104 Farmer unions demands Edit Three protestors during the protests on 26 December 2020Immediate demand Edit Repeal the farm laws 105 The farmer unions believe that the laws will open the sale and marketing of agricultural products outside the notified Agricultural Produce Market Committee APMC mandis for farmers Further the laws will allow inter state trade and encourage hike electronic trading of agricultural produce The new laws prevent the state governments from collecting a market fee cess or levy for trade outside the APMC markets this has led the farmers to believe the laws will gradually lead to the deterioration and ultimately end the mandi system thus leaving farmers at the mercy of corporates Further the farmers believe that the laws will end their existing relationship with agricultural small scale businessmen commission agents who act as middlemen by providing financial loans ensuring timely procurement and promising adequate prices for their crop 106 Among the demands is the removal of punishments and fines for stubble burning as well as the release of farmers arrested for burning paddy and wheat stubble in PunjabLater demands Edit Additionally protesting farmers believe dismantling the APMC mandis will encourage abolishing the purchase of their crops at the Minimum Support Price MSP They are therefore demanding the minimum support prices to be guaranteed by the government in writing 106 Other demands added over time have included Convene a special Parliament session to repeal the farm laws 105 Make MSP and state procurement of crops a legal right 107 Assurances that conventional procurement system will remain 108 Implement Swaminathan Panel Report and peg MSP at least 50 more than weighted average cost of production 109 Cut diesel prices for agricultural use by 50 110 Repeal of Commission on Air Quality Management in NCR and the adjoining Ordinance 2020 and removal of punishment and fine for stubble burning 111 Release of farmers arrested for burning paddy and wheat stubble in Punjab 108 Abolishing the Electricity Ordinance 2020 112 Centre should not interfere in state subjects decentralization in practice 110 Withdrawal of all cases against and release of farmer leaders 113 Farmers have been insistent over repealing the farm laws 114 37 115 39 Even after the government offered to stay the farm laws for 18 months on 21 January 2021 the farmers refused the stay and pushed for repeal 116 Other than the farm unions and leaders people such as Markandey Katju 117 and Thol Thirumavalavan have also made statements in relation to staying the farm laws 118 Minimum support price MSP Edit See also Farmer Income Protection Scheme PM AASHA and other agriculture schemes in IndiaFollowing the Prime Minister s announcement of the repeal of the farm laws in November 2021 there were renewed demands for a guaranteed MSP This had been the second major demand throughout the farmers protest 119 120 This came amid reminders of the government s target of doubling farmers incomes by 2022 121 in 2016 the finance minister had stated we need to think beyond food security and give back to our farmers a sense of income security 122 Relevant recommendations by the MS Swaminathan headed National Commission on Farmers have been cited as a reminder 123 71 List of protesting farm unions Edit Under the coordination of bodies such as Samyukt Kisan Morcha and All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee b the protesting farm unions include 124 106 125 Rakesh Tikait Bharatiya Kisan Union BKU Uttar Pradesh Balbir Singh Rajewal Bhartiya Kisan Union BKU Rajewal Farm union leaders during the protest Bharatiya Kisan Union Ugrahan Sidhupur Rajewal Chaduni Dakaunda Jai Kisan Andolan All India Kisan Sabha Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha National Alliance for People s Movements Lok Sangharsh Morcha All India Kisan Khet Majdoor Sangathan Kissan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee Rashtriya Kisan Majdoor Sangathan All India Kisan Mazdoor Sabha Krantikari Kisan Union ASHA Kisan Swaraj Lok Sangharsh Morcha All India Kisan Mahasabha Punjab Kisan Union Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana Sangtin Kisan Mazdoor Sanghatan Jamhoori Kisan Sabha Kisan Sangharsh Samiti Terai Kisan Sabha Transport bodies such as the All India Motor Transport Congress AIMTC have extended support 126 Protests and incidents Edit March to Delhi 27 November Protests at Tikri border December 20202020 Edit In Punjab small scale protests had started in August 2020 when the Farm Bills were made public It was only after the passage of the acts that more farmers and farm unions across India joined the protests against the reforms citation needed On 25 September 2020 farm unions all over India called for a Bharat Bandh lit transl nation wide shutting down to protest against these farm laws 127 The most widespread protests took place in Punjab Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh 128 but demonstrations were also reported in Uttar Pradesh Karnataka 129 Tamil Nadu 130 Odisha 131 Kerala 132 and other states 133 Railway services remained suspended in Punjab for more than two months due to the protests starting from October 134 Following this farmers from different states then marched to Delhi to protest against the laws 135 Farmers also criticized the national media for misrepresenting the protest 136 From 12 December farmer unions took over highway toll plazas in Haryana and allowed free movement of vehicles 137 In certain parts of India bullock cart rallies in support of farmer s protest have also been organized by marginal farmers 138 Transport bodies such as the All India Motor Transport Congress AIMTC representing about 9 5 million truckers and 5 million bus and taxi drivers have threatened to halt the movement of supplies in the northern states and if the government fails to address the farmer s issues it would be done nationwide 126 Rail Roko and Dilli Chalo Edit See also 2020 Indian general strike On 24 September 2020 farmers started a Rail roko transl stop the trains campaign following which train services to and from Punjab were affected 139 Farmers extended the campaign into October 140 On 23 October some farmer unions decided to call off the campaign as supplies of fertilizer and other goods in the state were starting to run short 141 After failing to get the support of their respective state governments the farmers decided to pressure the Central Government by marching to Delhi 106 On 25 November protesters from the Dilli Chalo transl let us go to Delhi campaign were met by the police at the borders of the city 142 The police employed the use of tear gas and water cannons dug up roads and used layers of barricades and sand barriers to stop the protesters 143 leading to at least three farmer casualties 144 Amidst the clashes on 27 November media highlighted the actions of a youth who jumped onto a police water cannon targeting protesting farmers and turned it off He was later charged with attempted murder 145 146 The march on Delhi was accompanied by a 24 hour strike of millions c of people across India on 26 November in opposition to both the farm law reform and the proposed changes to the labour law 34 151 Between 28 November and 3 December the number of farmers blocking the border roads of Delhi was estimated at 150 to 300 thousand 152 Despite demands for immediate talks the centre chalked out 3 December 2020 as the date Further the Prime Minister would not be present and only select farm unions were invited 153 This select invitation caused some unions to refuse to attend the meeting 154 One of the demands of the centre was that the farmers move to a designated protest site in Burari while the farmers wanted to protest at Jantar Mantar in central Delhi 155 Effigies of PM Modi and leaders of corporations were set on fire and prominent personalities began announcing their plans to return their awards received from the Central Government This was followed by more strikes and talks between the central government and farmer and their unions 156 157 158 A day before the strike on 8 December the farmer s union announced that it would hold the strike between 11 am and 3 pm alone to avoid inconveniencing the public 159 On 9 December 2020 the farmers unions rejected the government s proposals for changes in laws even as the Centre in a written proposal assured the minimum support price for crops 160 On 26 January 2021 Republic Day thousands protested in Delhi where tractor rallies and a storming of the historic Red Fort took place 161 162 Blocking of borders and roads Edit Roadblock before Sangrur Interactive fullscreen map Affected borders and locations due to the farmer protests around Delhi 163 164 A number of borders including the Kundli Border Dhansa border Jharoda Kalan border Tikri border Singhu border Kalindi Kunj border Chilla border Bahadurgarh border and Faridabad border were blocked by protesters during the protests 165 166 On 29 November the protesters announced that they would block five further points of entry into Delhi namely Ghaziabad Hapur Rohtak Sonipat Jaipur and Mathura 167 This resulted in minor clashes involving stone pelting and lathi charges with the police 168 169 In early February 2021 metal barricades cement walls and iron nails were put up at the roads leading to the three main borders Tikri Singhu and Ghazipur to block any vehicles from entering Delhi Barbed fences were also put up to prevent people from entering Delhi on foot 170 171 As of 22 March 2021 a number of Delhi borders remained shut 172 There are around 40 000 protestors sitting at Singhu and Tikri 10 Some highways were also blocked in protest 173 Counter protests Edit The Shetkari Sanghatana a farmers union in Maharashtra supports the bills and wants the market to decide the prices of agricultural commodities It claims that the minimum support prices have actually weakened farmers instead of empowering them The Sanghatana demands that the government stops intervening in the agricultural commodity market so that farmers will not have to depend on the minimum support prices 174 175 On 24 December 20 000 Kisan Sena members marched to Delhi in support of farm laws 176 177 However five of the groups supporting the laws were directly linked with the ruling party and many do not have any relation to agriculture or farmers 178 On 28 January 2021 the residents of the border villages which the farmers occupied staged protests to make farmers vacate the sites as it affected their commute They also accused the farmers for disrespecting the Indian flag at Red Fort 179 18 January 20212021 Edit Republic Day Kisan Parade Edit Main article 2021 Indian farmers Republic Day protest 26 January 2021On 26 January tens of thousands of the farmers protesting agricultural reforms held a parade with a large convoy of tractors and drove into Delhi The farmers drove in long lines of tractors riding horses or marching on foot 180 The parade started from Singhu Border Tikri Border and Ghazipur in Delhi on the routes approved by the Police The farmers were barred from entering the central part of the city where the official Republic Day parade was taking place 181 At the Singhu Border starting point according to the police estimates around 7000 tractors had gathered Reuters reported citing farmers unions that close to 200 000 tractors had participated 181 At around 8 am a few hours early from the permitted time farmers started to gather separately at Ghazipur Singhu and Tikri borders The tractor rally commenced from the Singhu border and was designated to follow a decided route However as the rally progressed it deviated and marched towards other routes 182 The protestors marched towards ITO metro station and the city centre and broke through the barricades The Delhi Police used tear gas and baton charged the protesting farmers leading to clashes 183 184 68 Several metro stations were closed and mobile internet was suspended by police 185 The protestors entered the Red Fort of Delhi 186 and one of the farmers was seen climbing a flagpole in front of the fort and hoisting the religious flag Nishan Sahib on the flagpole 187 The clash between police and farmers also caused damage to facilities inside the fort 188 394 policemen and thousands of farmers were reported injured 30 police vehicles were damaged 23 and internet services were suspended for hours in several parts of Delhi and the NCR region 189 The police took hours in vacating the fort premises after continuous announcements and use of force 190 191 After the 26 January tractor march 192 the police constructed cement barricades dug trenches and cemented nails at all three borders where farmers continue to protest 193 The barricading and police has restricted movement of locals farmers as well as journalists to the protest sites 194 195 At the Ghazipur border farmer leaders alleged that water and electricity supply was cut off 196 197 As of 28 January the Delhi Police stated that it has filed various criminal cases on the incidents of violence and arrested several people 198 More than 300 police personnel were injured in the violence by protesters who used batons and sharp weapons 199 The violence and hoisting of a religious flag on the ramparts of the Red Fort made the Bharatiya Kisan Union Bhanu and All India Kisan Sangharsh Co ordination Committee decide to quit the farmers protest 200 Sharad Pawar the leader of the Nationalist Congress Party 201 and Captain Amarinder Singh the Chief Minister of Punjab condemned the violence 202 One person died in the protest as his tractor overturned on him Later the postmortem also confirmed that he died due to haemorrhage due to head injuries 162 Impact of COVID 19 pandemic Edit Protestors at the protest sites around Delhi have decreased following the second wave of the COVID 19 pandemic however this has also been attributed to the harvest season 203 Following protests Edit On 3 February farmer leaders warned of escalating the protest to overthrowing the government if the farm laws were not repealed 204 205 A peaceful anti farm law protest is attacked in Bihar 206 On 21 March specific mention was made of Bengaluru you farmers have to turn Bengaluru into Delhi You will have to lay siege to the city from all directions 207 As of 21 March 2021 according to Haryana Police there are around 40 000 committed protestors sitting at Singhu and Tikri at the Delhi border 10 The SKM has planned that 200 farmers will protest outside the Parliament every day during the monsoon session starting from 22 July 2021 208 209 On 5 September 2021 a farmers mahapanchayat was held in Muzaffarnagar 210 On 22 July they started a sit in at Jantar Mantar a large Mughal era observatory near the Parliament 211 On 5 September more than 500 000 farmers attended a demonstration rally in the city of Muzaffarnagar Uttar Pradesh 212 On 27 September farmer unions called a Bharat Bandh The bandh had limited nation wide impact 213 A protest on 3 October 2021 in Lakhimpur Kheri resulted in a number of deaths 214 In November 2021 farmers stopped the screening of a movie in five cinema halls in Hoshiarpur disgruntled that Akshay Kumar had not come out in support 215 A farmer s protest on 5 November turned violent and a MP s car window was smashed 216 A tractor march to Parliament on 29 November 2021 was suspended The unions made clear that the protest was not ending 217 In late November 2021 the Modi administration finally repealed all three farm bills 218 However protests would continue until 11 December 2021 when the protests were finally declared over and the farmers started returning to their homes 2 Organisation Edit Visuals from a section of the protests including from the Singhu border Langars Edit Scores of langars and makeshift kitchens 219 were deployed by farmer s organizations and NGOs to meet the food needs of the tens of thousands of farmers in the farmers camps that sprung up on the borders of Delhi after the Delhi Police barred the farmers from entering the city on 26 November 2020 These langars worked round the clock and provided free food to protesters 220 221 222 The hot meals provided by the langars included pizzas lentils seasonal vegetables roti buttermilk and tea Media outlets made significant coverage on some aspects of the langars such as the use of mechanical roti makers which can cook 1000 roti an hour 223 or when farmers were seen eating pizzas at the Singhu border which drew mockery of the farmer s movement 224 Also videos of farmers surfaced distributing liquor at the protest site The media also highlighted farmer s consumption of dried fruits and nuts such as cashews and raisins at an almond langar 225 Organizations engaged in setting up and running langars include Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Committee at Singhu border Baba Kashmir Singh ji Bhuriwale sect Tikri border Khalsa Aid Dera Baba Jagtar Singh from Tarn Taran Delhi based Jamindara Student Organisation Gurdwara Head Darbar Kot Puran Ropar Muslim Federation of Punjab and several others including NRI NGOs which have pitched in with aid in kind 222 225 226 Along with the langars a makeshift school has been set up at the camp mostly for children who are unable to attend school due to financial issues and the ongoing COVID 19 pandemic 227 Accommodation and supplies Edit In addition to food and tea the farmers in the camps are being supported by domestic and international NGOs including UK based controversial NGO Khalsa Aid with provisions of tents solar powered mobile charging points air conditioners televisions laundry library medical stalls dental camp which did tooth retraction cleaning filling and scaling treatments foot massage chairs for protesters 228 Security and control Edit At the Singhu border farmers have installed eight CCTV cameras to keep a watch on the protest site since there are so many people coming in now We come to know of incidents where people with ulterior motives try to create problems This way we can keep a record of what is happening and counter any narrative to blame us for any anti social activity said a farmer from Sanyukt Kisan Morcha s CCTV department 229 Healthcare Edit Doctor Swaiman Singh was doing a fellowship with Newark Beth Israel Medical Center when he heard of the death of someone close at the farmer protest in December 2020 He planned to provide services at the protest sites on the outskirts of the capital territory for just a few weeks but ended up spending a number of months Through his non government organisation a large team of doctors are available at the protest sites periodically Volunteers also turned out to help with the needs of the free medical camps such as transporting supplies 230 231 232 Fatalities EditOn 20 December 2020 the day the farmer s collectively condoled the deaths of farmers the death toll was 41 233 On 30 December 2020 it was over 50 234 On 2 January 2021 the estimate of dead farmers had reached 57 235 236 On 8 January 2021 the week following the onset of winter rains death toll of farmers including death by suicide during farmer s satyagraha according to leaders of the farmer s movement had crossed 120 237 238 As of 5 March 2021 248 farmers were confirmed dead 239 Samyukt Kisan Morcha has stated that until 10 July 2021 over 537 participants have died in the protest 15 In October and November 2021 BKU leader Rakesh Tikait stated that around 750 protestors had died 16 17 2020 Edit The first farmer to die was Dhanna Singh age 45 of Mansa district in Punjab He was a leader of the Bharatiya Kisan Union Dakaunda He died on the night of 26 November 2020 according to farmer leaders and media reports while trying to negotiate his tractor past the Haryana Police road barricade of sand laden trucks and stones He was on his way to join the farmers who had been stopped by the Delhi Police on 26 November on the border of Haryana and Delhi 240 241 On 20 December the death toll of farmers for the period 15 September to 20 December according to media reports was 41 233 Of these 38 were from Punjab 30 from Malwa six from Doaba and two from Majha and three from Haryana 242 This total includes seven farmers who have died due to the cold and heart attacks at the Tikri border and six at Singhu border including Sant Baba Ram Singh who committed suicide on 16 December In the period 26 November 18 December according to Manoj Yadava 243 Director General of Police Haryana 25 farmers died heart attacks and cold 14 accident 10 suicide 1 244 This estimate however did not match with the estimated deaths in the struggle by Dr Darshan Pal the farmer leader according to whom the death toll of farmers in the struggle during this period is 35 244 Piara Singh a 70 year old poor farmer and member of BKU Dakaunda died on 29 December of pneumonia in a Sangrur private hospital Piara Singh according to his elder brother was part of the contingent participating in the farmer s satyagraha since 26 November Other farmers cremated on 29 December included Amarjeet Singh Rai in Jalalabad and farm laborer Malkiat Kaur of Mazdoor Mukti Morcha in Mansa Punjab 234 2021 Edit On 1 January 2021 Galtan Singh 57 of Baghpat UP who was part of the protesters at Ghazipur border died after complaining of breathlessness He became the first farmer fatality of 2021 and first reported farmer death on the UP border 245 On 2 January three farmers died two at the Tikri Border and one at the Singhu border In Tikri Jagbir Singh 66 from Jind district died of suspected heart attack and Jashnpreet 18 from Bathinda died after he was evacuated to after evacuation to PGIMS Rohtak Shamsher Singh 44 a dalit farmer who was in Singhu camp with his son 13 died after he complained of chest pain before reaching the hospital in Soneput Haryana 246 Navreet Singh 25 resident of Rampur district a student of Melbourne University on vacation in India died while participating in farmers Republic Day tractor rally on 26 January 2021 He was the lone fatality during the farmer s rally According to Delhi Police First Information Report FIR and the autopsy Navreet Singh died from head injuries sustained in a tractor accident Avinash Chandra Additional Director General of Police DGP Bareilly Zone whose jurisdiction includes Rampur told reporters that the postmortem report has confirmed that Navreet Singh was not shot and succumbed to antemortem injuries received after his tractor toppled 247 248 249 Navreet Singh s grandfather Hardeep Singh Dibdiba with whom he was staying and other family members have denied police version of events They allege that Navneet Singh died from gunshot wounds from firing by Delhi police 248 Journalists who reported these allegations were charged with sedition by the Uttar Pradesh police Those charged include Siddharth Varadarajan Mrinal Pande Rajdeep Sardesai Vinod Jose Zafar Agha Paresh Nath and Anant Nath and Shashi Tharoor Congress MP Varadarajan has called the police FIR malicious prosecution 250 248 A freelance journalist Mandeep Punia was arrested by Delhi Police on 30 January in view of his reports regarding the violence that took place at Singhu border the day before He was granted bail on 2 February 251 On 3 October during the Lakhimpur Kheri massacre eight farmers were killed and several injured after they were run over by an SUV from the convoy of the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Kumar Mishra during a black flag protest at Tikunia in UP s Lakhimpur Kheri Following the incident some protesting farmers set the SUV and one other vehicle on fire and lynched 4 people to death including three BJP members and a driver 252 214 253 The son of Ajay Mishra Ashish Mishra was alleged to be the driver behind the ramming attack and was interrogated and arrested on 9 October 254 Suicides Edit See also Farmers suicides in India As of 9 January 2021 the death toll of farmers by suicide to protest the government s farm policy was five Sant Baba Ram Singh a Sikh priest shot himself on 16 December 2020 at the Singhu border in protest against the farm laws 255 256 According to J S Randhawa Senior Superintendent of Police Sonepat Haryana Ram Singh left behind a 10 page note dated 14 December and a handwritten suicide letter dated 16 December 2020 in which he wrote that he could not bear the pain of the farmers At his funeral on 18 December in Karnal attended by farmer leaders religious heads and Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee chief Bibi Jagir Kaur the suicide letter was read out which said Bullets fired from the guns kill only those whom they strike The bullet of injustice however kills many with a single stroke It is humiliating to suffer injustice 257 On 18 December according to Joginder Singh Jawanda BKU Ugrahan leader a heavily indebted 22 year old Punjab farmer killed himself with poison in his village after returning from Singhu the protest site on the Delhi border 233 On 27 December Amarjit Singh Rai a lawyer committed suicide by taking poison Rai before he took his life wrote in a note that he was sacrificing his life in support of farmer s protest and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to listen to the voice of the people 258 2 January 2021 Kashmir Singh Ladi 75 year old farmer from Bilaspur Rampur district Uttar Pradesh UP committed suicide He was the fourth farmer suicide since the farm protesters were stopped on 26 November 2020 by UP Police on Delhi UP Ghazipur Border also called UP gate Kashmir Singh who had been camping at the border since 28 November along with his son and grandson hanged himself in a toilet Ladi according to a government official left a note in Punjabi that says Till when shall we sit here in the cold This government isn t listening at all Hence I give up my life so that some solution emerges 235 On 9 January 2021 it was reported that Amrinder Singh a 40 year old Punjabi farmer had killed himself by swallowing aluminium phosphide tablets at the Singhu border The man had been depressed at the state of the negotiations and had downed the tablets at a stage set up for protesters to speak whereupon he was rushed to the hospital but they were unable to resuscitate him 259 Homage to the dead Edit On 20 December the 25th day of the protest to honour the memory of 41 farmers who have died since 15 September called shahid by the farmer s leaders national Shradhanjali Diwas Homage and Remembrance Day was observed at Singhu Tikri UP Gate and Chilla farmer camps with largest farmer s presence on the borders of Delhi and in town and villages all round the country 260 261 According to Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan general secretary of BKU Ugrahan simultaneous events were organized in 98 villages in 15 Punjab districts on 20 December to honour the dead These commemorations continued until 24 December 233 262 On 4 January 2021 on the insistence of farmer s leaders government ministers and officials of National Democratic Alliance Government participated in two minute silence during the seventh round of talks between the government and farmers leaders held in Vigyan Bhavan New Delhi 246 On 11 February 2021 Rahul Gandhi in the Loka Sabha proposed that the house observe two minutes silence for farmers who had died during the protests Response and reactions EditDomestic Edit On 17 September the Food Processing Industries Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal of Shiromani Akali Dal resigned from her post in protest against the bills 263 On 26 September Shiromani Akali Dal left the National Democratic Alliance 264 On 1 December Independent MLA Somveer Sangwan withdrew support from the Bharatiya Janata Party government in the Haryana Assembly 265 The BJP s ally the Jannayak Janta Party JJP also asked the central government to consider giving a written assurance of the continuation of Minimum Support Price MSP for crops 266 On 30 November PM Modi raised concerns over the issue of misled and radicalized farmers He stated that the farmers are being deceived on these historic agriculture reform laws by the same people who have misled them for decades citing numerous times opposition members were convicted of spreading lies Modi added that the old system was not being replaced but instead that new options were being put forward for the farmers Several Union Ministers also made statements to this effect 267 268 On 17 December the Minister of Agriculture amp Farmers Welfare wrote an open letter to farmers over the new laws 45 Talks between Government of India and farmers Edit Ten rounds of talks have taken place between the Centre and farmers represented by farm unions until 20 January 2021 269 270 The first round of talks were on 14 October 2020 in which the farmers walked out on finding that the agriculture secretary was present but not the minister 271 The meeting on 4 January was attended by three Union Ministers agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar and commerce ministers Piyush Goyal and Som Parkash 269 The three Union Ministers declined the requests of scrapping the three new farm laws as it required more consultation with higher authorities 272 It is reported that the two sides have managed to reach an agreement on only two issues which the farmers are concerned by the rise in power tariffs and penalties for stubble burning 272 273 Farmer leaders also rejected a government proposal dated 21 January 2021 of suspending the laws for 18 months 41 Failure of government communication Edit A number of experts have commented on the failure and lack of the governments communication with regard to informing farmers and political allies about the importance of the farm bills 274 275 276 277 Farm reforms have been mentioned in both BJP and Congress manifestos 278 Violence by Nihangs Edit Following the lynching of an alleged desecrater by Nihangs 19 the wife of one of the Nihangs involved said he did the right thing 279 A United Akali Dal spokesperson commented on the incident In my view this justice is correct we cannot tolerate sacrilege 19 Incidents of fake news Edit Several politicians have circulated misinformation and fake news about the protests and based on this have made allegations of separatism sedition and anti national activities concerning the farmers protests In response to these in December 2020 a group of protesting farmers announced that they would be establishing a unit to counter misinformation being spread about the protests 280 Notable incidents of fake news include The general secretary of the BJP Dushyant Kumar Gautam alleged slogans of Khalistan Zindabad and Pakistan Zindabad being used during the protests 281 On 28 November the Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said that unwanted elements like radical Khalistan sympathizers have been seen among the peacefully and democratically protesting farmers 282 283 However fact checks conducted by news outlet India Today as well as non profit fact checking website Alt News both indicated that old images from a 2013 protest were being used to make false claims about Khalistani separatism during the farmers protests 284 285 Protesters also have accused the national media of not telling the truth in relation to the laws 286 A protester told Scroll in that The Modi media is calling us Khalistanis We have been sitting peacefully for two month That make us terrorists 286 Commentators have said that the Khalistan angle is being used to defame the protests 287 The Editors Guild of India asked the media not label protesting farmers as Khalistanis or anti nationals saying that This goes against the tenets of responsible and ethical journalism Such actions compromise the credibility of the media 288 In December 2020 Bharatiya Janata Party IT Cell s head Amit Malviya shared a misleading and fake video regarding the farmers protests claiming that there had been no police violence in response to evidence of police violence shared by Congress politician Rahul Gandhi Twitter flagged Malviya s video as manipulated media placing a warning below the tweet to indicate that the content shared by Malviya was deceptively altered or fabricated with the intention of misleading people 289 290 291 A tweet by Canadian MP Jack Harris in support of the protest was falsely attributed to American Vice president elect Kamala Harris Harris released a statement clarifying that she had not made the statement 292 The BJP s Punjab unit shared an advertisement containing what they claimed was of a happy farmer supporting the new laws The image was actually of a protesting farmer who had not consented to their use of his image After he publicly objected and filed a legal notice against the Punjab BJP the image was replaced with a cartoon drawing of a farmer instead 293 294 295 Priti Gandhi the social media for the BJP s Women s Cell shared an image of farmers allegedly protesting the change to the state of Kashmir s constitutional status in 2019 This image was not taken during the farmers protest but was from a protest held in 2019 by the Shiromani Akali Dal political party 292 Several BJP politicians including Union Minister Giriraj Singh shared a video of police officials removing the turban of a Sikh protester and falsely claimed that the protester was not Sikh but was in fact Muslim and further claimed that this was evidence of Muslims instigating protests This video had previously been shared during the 2019 Citizenship Act protests and was debunked as fake then despite which it was shared again during the 2020 farmers protests to raise allegations against Muslim citizens 296 In January 2021 a user generated National Geographic Magazine cover was circulated as a real cover depicting the farmers protest as the cover story 297 In January 2021 several BJP leaders including Jawahar Yadav and Facebook fan pages of Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused protesting farmers of vandalizing signboards on highways sharing images of such signboards The images were later established as being taken from old news articles covering protests in 2017 about the placement of Punjabi language signs on these boards 298 Rajdeep Sardesai spread a fake news story of a farmer being killed by Delhi Police during the violence of the tractor parade on 26 January India Today took the noted media personality off air and deducted one months pay for his unverified remarks 299 In January 2021 Zee News aired a video of decorated tractors claiming that it was evidence of a forthcoming protest by farmers and commenting Why use such tractors of terror in the farmer protests Are these tractors a means of waging war with the law Are these farmers tractors or terror tractors The video in question contained persons speaking in German and was confirmed as having been taken from a rally conducted in Germany in December 2020 in which tractors were decorated and displayed to raise funds for children who were being treated for cancer 300 Allegations of conspiracy Edit Union Minister Piyush Goyal has described the protesting farmers as Leftist and Maoist and being hijacked by unknown conspirators 301 Former Rajya Sabha MP and vice president of BJP in Himachal Pradesh Kripal Parmar stated The protest is driven by vested interest of few anti national elements 302 Union Minister and BJP politician Raosaheb Danve has alleged an international conspiracy claiming that China and Pakistan are behind the ongoing protests by farmers 303 BJP MLA Surendra Singh said this is a sponsored agitation by anti national forces and has foreign funding 304 BJP Uttarakhand chief Dushyant Kumar Gautam stated that the protests had been hijacked by terrorists and anti national forces 305 Several BJP leaders have blamed what they have called the Tukde Tukde Gang a pejorative term used by the BJP and its supporters against anyone who disagrees with its politics which implies that the person supports secession as instigating the protests and linked them to previous protests about India s citizenship laws Delhi BJP MP Manoj Tiwari has accused such unnamed conspirators of instigating the protests as has Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad 306 In response to the BJP s claims Sukhbir Singh Badal former Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab claimed that the BJP was the real Tukde Tukde Gang and trying to divide Punjab 307 BJP General Secretary Manoj Tiwari has also described the protesting farmers as urban naxals 308 Rajasthan BJP leader Madan Dilawar has accused protesting farmers of conspiring to spread avian influenza in India after reports of some cases of avian flu were made in January Dilawar claimed that protesting farmers were spreading avian influenza by eating chicken biryani and cashew nuts almonds although he did not clarify how these foods and avian influenza are connected 309 Opposition to the claims of conspiracy has been voiced from within the BJP and outside it BJP leader Surjit Singh Jyani who was part of a committee that negotiated with several farmers unions vocally opposed the claims stating This type of language should be avoided We know many farmers groups are left leaning but branding them tukde tukde gang and anti national will not end the deadlock 310 Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray has voiced opposition to the labelling of protesters as anti national pointing to some confusion among BJP leaders about the source of the allegations of conspiracy 311 He stated BJP leaders should decide who farmers are are they Leftist Pakistani or they have come from China 311 The conspiracy claims have also been opposed by Rajasthan Chief Minister and Congress politician Ashok Gehlot who urged the government to come to an amicable solution with protesting farmers instead of blaming gangs anti national elements for these protests 312 International Edit A small scale protest in New York City in support of the farmers in December 2020 Australia Victoria Member of Parliament Rob Mitchell and Russell Wortley were among the Labour leaders who spoke in support of the farmers protests with Mitchell addressing the Victorian parliament on the subject after several protests were held in Australia by citizens 313 Canada Justin Trudeau Prime Minister of Canada expressed concerns about the handling of protests by the Indian government He was the very first politician on international grounds to speak for the farmers 314 Trudeau stated that Canada will always be there to defend the right of peaceful protestors and expressed support for the process of dialogue 315 In response the Indian Ministry of External Affairs summoned the Canadian High Commissioner to India Nadir Patel and issued a demarche stating that Trudeau s comments were an unacceptable interference in our internal affairs 316 Trudeau reiterated his statement despite the Indian Government s warning that his comments threatened diplomatic relations between the two countries 317 On Saturday 5 December hundreds of supporters protested in downtown Toronto and Vancouver gathering in front of the Indian consulate in both cities to show their support 318 319 Organized by members of the Sikh community the demonstrators stood in solidarity with the farmers and their right to peacefully protest Italy Indian Ambassador to Italy Neena Malhotra visited a gurudwara in Rome in December as part of an outreach effort by the Indian government to Sikhs amid the farm protests Malhotra received backlash on social media when the Embassy claimed she had been well received during the visit However Malhotra was heckled by members of the gurudwara management committee while she spoke in favor of the new farm laws 320 321 New Zealand In early December 2020 1 500 Indian New Zealanders protested in Auckland s Aotea Square against the new agricultural laws 322 Pakistan Federal minister Fawad Chaudhry from Punjab Pakistan called out the Indian government s behavior with Punjabi farmers and termed it shameful He further stated that Modi s policies were threats for regional peace 323 United Kingdom Several Labour MPs in the United Kingdom expressed support for the protests and raised concerns about the government response to protesters including Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi Preet Kaur Gill Claudia Webbe and John McDonnell 324 325 A few British MPs and cricketer Monty Panesar also tweeted in support of farmers 326 In December 2020 a group of 36 British MPs from the Labour Conservative Liberal Democrats and Scottish National Party asked the British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to raise their concerns with the Indian government 327 328 The British prime minister Boris Johnson after being confronted with the issue confused it with the India Pakistan conflict drawing criticism domestically and in India 329 330 Nadia Whittome a British politician released a statement in support of the farmers 331 United States Several Indian American protests were held in support of the farmers with rallies being held outside Indian consulates in San Francisco Chicago Indianapolis New York City Houston Michigan Atlanta and Washington D C 332 333 334 A rally of over a thousand Indian Americans was also held in Detroit 335 and a car rally was held in Fort Wayne 336 Several American Congressmen from both the Republican and Democratic parties voiced support for these protests including Josh Harder TJ Cox Doug LaMalfa and Andy Levin 337 In December 2020 seven Congresspersons wrote to the Secretary of State asking him raise the issue of the farmers protests with India 338 339 The Congressional Research Service published a report on the farmer protests on 1 March 340 341 Bob Menendez and Chuck Schumer wrote a letter to the Biden government in relation to the protests urging it to discuss the farmer issue with the Indian government 342 On 7 February Sikh farmers in California s Central Valley funded a 30 second ad which ran during Super Bowl LV in support of the protesters in India 343 In February 2021 Trevor Noah ran an eight minute segment on the farm protests 344 Organisations Edit United Nations Antonio Guterres secretary general called on the Indian government to allow the protests affirming the right to voice opposition to the government stating People have a right to demonstrate peacefully and authorities need to let them do so 345 International Monetary Fund Gerry Rice Director of Communications IMF said that the agriculture reforms have the potential to represent a significant step forward for agricultural reforms in India He contended that the bills will eventually reduce middlemen and improve efficiency He also remarked that a social safety net should be there to protect those who might be adversely impacted during the transition to this new system 346 Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch issued a statement on 2 February calling on the Indian government to drop baseless criminal charges against journalists covering the protests 347 Academics Edit Agricultural economist Ashok Gulati has been vocal in his support for the bills and contends that the bills are bold steps in the right direction 348 The Chief Economist of the International Monetary Fund Gita Gopinath said the farm bills and labour bills are very important steps in the right direction They have the potential to have more labour market flexibility providing greater social security to workers and more formalisation of the labour market In the case of agriculture having a much more integrated market creating competition having farmers getting a greater share of the price that finally the retail price that s paid So that helps with rural incomes She also stressed that the implementation of it must be right 349 Milind Sathye a professor at the University of Canberra asserts that the new laws will enable farmers to act together and join hands with the private sector and that the previous system had led to growing farm debt and farmers suicides among other problems 350 Rajshri Jayaraman Associate Economics Professor at the University of Toronto states that the bills are confusing and to pass legislation like this affects the largest single sector of the economy and the poorest people in an already poor country during a pandemic 351 On 1 January 2021 866 academicians from across India came out in support of the three farm laws This includes seven vice chancellors and academicians from Delhi University JNU Rajasthan University Gujarat University Allahabad University and Banaras Hindu University among others 352 353 Kaushik Basu former chief economist at the World Bank supports the cause of the peasants against the position of Arvind Panagariya former Chief Economist at the Asian Development Bank 354 Hansong Li a Chinese scholar at Harvard University argues that although India s farm reforms bear resemblance to China s own market oriented agricultural reforms India lacks the risk mitigation mechanisms in the Chinese context and that the overall crisis has shown a lack of public trust and cohesion in India 355 On 24 April 2021 a number of civil society members urged both sides to end the stalemate 356 Repudiation of awards Edit Former Chief Minister of Punjab Parkash Singh Badal of the Shiromani Akali Dal returned his Padma Vibhushan award to the President of India on 3 December 2020 in his support of the farmers protest On 4 December 2020 environmentalist Baba Sewa Singh returned his Padma Shri Award 357 Punjabi folk singer Harbhajan Mann refused to accept the Shiromani Punjabi Award by the Punjab Languages Department of the Government of Punjab India in support of the protests 358 Rajya Sabha MP and SAD D president Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa also announced that he would return his Padma award due to his personal support of the protests 359 Social media Edit Videos and images of the protests have helped bring awareness to the farmers cause and many have gone viral including one of a police officer with baton raised in hand towards an elderly Sikh man Sukhdev Singh 360 Fake news also circulated such as a morphed video claiming that no violence in this incident had occurred was shared by BJP leader Amit Malviya however this video was flagged as being misinformation by Twitter and the video was criticized publicly as being propaganda 360 Alternately protestors wielding swords circulated on the media following the Republic Day protests over 300 policemen were injured on the 26th 14 361 13 Hashtags are also being used by youth to show their support and ensure that their hashtags like FarmersProtest standwithfarmerschallenge SpeakUpForFarmers iamwithfarmers kisanektazindabaad tractor2twitter isupportfarmersare 362 trending to keep the subject relevant on the various social media platforms Another purpose for the youth posting on social media is to counter the negative posts These posts also benefit the unions and help them to reach the public about their issues and concerns 362 On 20 December 2020 Facebook removed a page named Kisan Ekta Morcha an official news source from farmers protest It was restored after public outrage Since then both Facebook and Facebook owned Instagram have been accused of removing and shadow banning content that spoke either in favour of farmers or against the BJP led government an accusation it has faced in past too 363 In early February a social media war erupted after a tweet by Rihanna saying why aren t we talking about this with the hashtag FarmersProtest Numerous celebrities and international figures came out in support such as Greta Thunberg Lilly Singh Jamie Margolin Elizabeth Wathuti and Claudia Webbe 364 Following this the Indian Ministry of External affairs came out with a clarification statement with the hashtags IndiaTogether and IndiaAgainstPropaganda Indian celebrities such as Akshay Kumar Ajay Devgn Suniel Shetty Karan Johar Ekta Kapoor Lata Mangeshkar Kailash Kher Ravi Shastri Anil Kumble Sachin Tendulkar Virat Kohli Rohit Sharma Shikhar Dhawan Ajinkya Rahane Gautam Gambhir Suresh Raina P T Usha Manika Batra Saina Nehwal Geeta Phogat also posted tweets with the hashtags IndiaTogether and IndiaAgainstPropaganda 365 366 367 The Ministry of External Affairs statement characterised a small section of farmers as protesting against the legislation and highlighted the Prime Minister s offer to keep the laws on hold 368 In February 2021 Twitter removed over 500 accounts that criticized Narendra Modi s government for its conduct during Indian farmers protests 369 Ravi Shankar Prasad the justice and technology minister told India s parliament I politely remind the companies whether it is Twitter Facebook LinkedIn or WhatsApp or anyone they are free to work in India do business but they need to respect the Indian Constitution 370 Protest Toolkit Edit On 3 February Greta Thunberg uploaded a document on Twitter which allegedly guided protestors about protests and on how to mobilise people against India and target Indian interests embassies abroad It contained actions taken up to 26 January 2021 future actions to undertake hashtags which trended and would trend celebrities who would be sympathetic to these protests and solidarity videos etc She soon deleted the tweet saying that the document was outdated and uploaded another toolkit to support protests sparking a further row 371 372 The Times of India reported that an initial probe by the Modi government into the source of the toolkit that Thunberg posted suggested that it was put together by a Canadian pro Khalistan organization based in Vancouver and that the toolkit had a plan to carry forward the malign Indian campaign even if the government repealed the laws According to one official This showed how sinister the entire campaign was 373 On 13 February Bangalore Fridays for Future activist Disha Ravi was arrested by Delhi Police allegedly for creating and sharing the toolkit 374 375 On 23 February she was granted bail by Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana who commented that the offence of sedition cannot be invoked to minister to the wounded vanity of governments 376 377 Eight month later the Delhi Police had made no headway and the Indian Express reported that police were unlikely to file a charge sheet against her with one option being to close the case 377 Supreme Court of India involvement EditThe Supreme Court of India has received numerous petitions seeking direction to remove protesting farmers from blocking access routes to the capital The Supreme Court has also conveyed to the central government that it intends to set up a body for taking forward the negotiations 46 47 On 17 December the Supreme Court acknowledged the right to peaceful protest but added you farmers have a purpose also and that purpose is served only if you talk discuss and reach a conclusion 378 379 The central government opposed the court s recommendation of putting on hold the implementation of the farm laws 380 381 Agitating farmer unions have decided to consult Prashant Bhushan Dushyant Dave HS Phoolka and Colin Gonsalves as far as the Supreme Court proceedings go 382 A plea submitted by several students of Panjab University on 2 December 2020 was registered by the Supreme Court as a public petition on 4 January 2021 383 The plea was in the form of a letter which called out police excesses illegal detentions of protesters misrepresentation polarization and sensationalisation by media channels and approached the matter on humanitarian grounds 383 A student who drafted the petition informed The Wire that over the course of over 100 days of the farmers protest this is the first petition filed in favour of the protest 383 Farmers have said they will not listen to the courts if told to back off or even if the laws are stayed 48 49 Farmer union leaders have also raised the issue of the government dodging dialogue since the SC has said earlier that it will not intervene Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala made a statement in this regard Why does the government want the SC to solve all contentious issues from the CAA and the National Register of Citizens to farm laws 48 Chief Justices of the Supreme Court during the stay order on the farm laws Chief Justice of Supreme Court of India Justice S A Bobde along with justices V Ramasubramanian and A S Bopanna have heard the matters stemming from the farm laws Chief Justice N V Ramana took over in April 2021 He has been asked by a farm committee member to make the committee report public 384 On 11 January 2021 the Chief Justice of India said during hearings We are not experts on agriculture and economics Tell us whether you the government will put these laws on hold or else we will do it What s the prestige issue here We don t know if you are part of the solution or part of the problem We have an apprehension that someday maybe there might be a breach of peace Each one of us will be responsible if anything goes wrong If the vast majority says that laws are good let them say it to a committee 385 The Court also stated to the government that they were extremely disappointed at the way government is handling all this farmers protests We don t know what consultative process you followed before the laws Many states are up in rebellion 386 The Court also rejected a claim by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that the vast majority of farmers supported the laws stating that they had not received any submissions from any person that the laws were beneficial 387 388 Supreme Court stay order and farm laws committee Edit On 12 January 2021 the Supreme Court of India suspended the farm laws and formed a committee to look into the grievances of protesting farmers The CJI Sharad Arvind Bobde requested the farmer unions to cooperate 389 The members of the committee included agriculture experts Ashok Gulati Pramod Kumar Joshi Anil Ghanwat and Bhupinder Singh Mann 390 However two days later Bhupinder Singh Mann recused himself in solidarity with the farmers 391 Irrespective of Mann recusing himself and the following criticism the Supreme Court and the remaining members of the Supreme Court appointed committee continued with the tasks outlined to the committee Criticism raised related to bias in appointing the committee was addressed by the Supreme Court 392 The committee called on the public for suggestions by 20 February 2021 52 It went on to conduct a number of meetings online including speaking to 73 farmers organisations and related organisations 393 The report was submitted to the Supreme Court on 19 March 2021 53 Committee members requested the report be made public three times 53 384 Following the repeal of the laws the report was released by committee member Anil Ghanwat on 21 March 2022 53 72 Counter legislation by states EditThe Punjab state assembly passed four bills to counter the Centre s three farm laws 394 Following this Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh also tabled bills to amend and counter the central laws 395 55 The respective state governors have either returned the bills or have sat on them refusing to give them assent and send it to the President 56 57 58 Fallout EditAs fallout of the growing belief amongst protesting farmers that Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani were the principal beneficiaries of the farm laws enacted by the NDA Government Punjab and Haryana farmers in protest decided to surrender Jio sims and switch to rival networks 396 397 398 A number of Reliance Jio telecom towers and other infrastructure were damaged in Punjab in the last week of December 2020 22 Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh appealed to the farmers to stop disrupting the communication towers 397 399 On 30 December Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh objected to the Punjab Governor Vijayender Pal Singh Badnore s summoning of the state s chief secretary and the Director General of Punjab Police Dinkar Gupta Gupta has served as DG of Intelligence of Punjab police and with Intelligence Bureau for eight years before being appointed DG Punjab police 400 Singh alleged that Badnore had bowed to the antics of the BJP which has falsely claimed breakdown of law and order in Punjab He called upon the BJP to stop slandering the farmers with terms like Naxalites Khalistanis and for the BJP central leadership to pay heed to the voice of the farmers and repeal the farm laws 401 Repeal Edit Narendra Modi announcing the repeal of the three controversial laws in a televised address on 19 November 2021In a televised address on 19 November 2021 Narendra Modi the prime minister of India said his government would be repealing the three acts in the upcoming winter parliamentary session in December In his statement he lamented his government s inability to convince farmers of the law s advantages saying but despite several attempts to explain the benefits to the farmers we have failed On the occasion of Guru Purab the government has decided to repeal the three farm laws 69 402 403 Experts and poll watchers suggested that the forthcoming state elections in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh in 2022 had an effect on Modi s decision 404 The national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Kisan Union Rakesh Tikait stated the protests would only cease once the laws were repealed 405 On 29 November both Houses of the Indian Parliament passed the Farm Laws Repeal Bill 2021 by voice vote While there were no objections to the bill the Opposition objected to passing the bill without debate 70 The repeal bill was signed by the President of India two days later 406 Later in March 2022 a high powered expert panel constituted by the Supreme Court found out that 86 of the farmer organizations representing 38 3 million farmers supported the farm laws The panel received over 19000 representation from various groups The panel concluded that the repeal and long suspension of farm laws would be unfair to the silent majority of farmers 407 In music popular media and slogans EditSee also Trolley Times Since the beginning of protests many songs have been released by singers songwriters describing the protest and showing unity and solidarity 408 Several clips of the protest featured in an international collaboration Ek Din by Bohemia The Game and Karan Aujla 409 better source needed Kanwar Grewal who has been involved in gathering support for the protests since the beginning said Wherever Punjabis are settled in the world they will always be connected to their roots their land and their community and praised the support of those who were living abroad 410 Sunn Dilliye by Damanjot Kisaan Anthem by Shree Brar Ailan and Jawani Zindabad by Kanwar Grewal Pecha by Harf Cheema Kanwar Grewal Delhi Aa Punjab Nal Pange Thik Nahi by R Nait Asi Vaddange by Himmat Sandhu Jatta Takda Hoja by Jass Bajwa Haq and Murrde ni laye bina haq Dilliye by Harbhajan Mann Farmers Protest Theme Song by Bidita BagA number of slogans were used including No farmers no food 411 412 India is Killing its Farmers 411 Murderer of Democracy in India 411 Recall the farm bills 411 Dharti Mata Ki Jai transl Hail Mother Earth 413 Narendra Modi Kisan Virodhi transl Narendra Modi farmer enemy 413 Inquilab Zindabad transl Long live the revolution 413 Chahe Kuch Bhi Karlo Hum Badhte Jaenge transl No matter what you do we will keep moving forward 413 No Manch or Mike to Politicians transl No stage or mic for politicians 414 See also Edit India portal Freedom of Speech portalAgrarian distressNational Commission on Farmers Neoliberalism SatyagrahaReferences and notes EditExplanatory notes Edit The definition of food grains varies Kisan क स न means farmer in Hindi Not 250 million people as per various media reports 147 148 149 fact checking done by Alt News 150 Citations Edit AIKSCC holds protests against agri Ordinances Business Line 2020 08 09 Retrieved 2020 10 28 a b Photos Indian farmers head home after year long protests Video Aircraft Showers Flowers on Farmers Returning Home After a Year Farmer agitation Centre issues formal letter agreeing to farmers demands The 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India 2020 11 28 Archived from the original on 2020 11 28 Retrieved 2020 12 03 JJP seeks withdrawal of cases against protesting farmers ANI News Archived from the original on 2020 12 07 Retrieved 2020 12 13 Dasgupta Sravasti 2020 12 05 No takers for govt s offer to amend farm laws farmers say nothing short of repeal acceptable ThePrint Archived from the original on 2021 01 22 Retrieved 2021 01 15 Farmers Protest Live News Round 11 talks inconclusive as farmers government firm on their stands The Financial Express 2021 01 22 Archived from the original on 2021 01 22 Retrieved 2021 01 23 Farmers reject government s proposal to stay farm laws for 18 months The Times of India 2021 01 21 Retrieved 2021 02 02 Markandey Katju asks government to repeal farm laws to prevent Jalianwala Bagh type massacre situation on Republic Day India Legal 2021 01 14 Archived from the original on 2021 01 14 Retrieved 2021 01 15 Repeal farm laws says Thirumavalavan The Hindu 2021 01 13 ISSN 0971 751X Archived from the original on 2021 01 24 Retrieved 2021 01 15 Farmer organisations now point at MSP mounting debts as Cabinet clears repeal of farm laws The New Indian Express 2021 11 24 Retrieved 2021 11 25 Kulkarni Sagar 2021 11 20 After repeal of farm laws farmers now demand legal cover for MSP protests to continue Deccan Herald Retrieved 2021 11 25 PTI 2021 11 24 Farmers Protest Won t End Yet Next Decision On November 27 Rakesh Tikait NDTV Retrieved 2021 11 25 Satyasai K J S Bhart Sandhya March April 2016 Department of Economic Analysis and Research NABARD Doubling Farmers Income Way Forward Rural Pulse XIV via researchgate net Mohanty Kenneth 2021 11 22 Why protesting farmers are digging their heels in over guaranteed MSP demand News18 Retrieved 2021 11 26 farmers groups have said that the formula recommended by the MS Swaminathan led National Commission on Farmers should be applied Modi government is scared says farmers alliance Samyukt Kisan Morcha The Tribune 2020 11 25 Archived from the original on 2020 11 25 Retrieved 2020 11 29 Nath Rajan 2020 12 08 Farmers protest Ruldu Singh Mansa Bogh Singh join meeting with Amit Shah PTC NEWS Archived from the original on 2020 12 08 Retrieved 2020 12 09 a b Farmers protest Transporters threaten to halt operations in North India from Dec 8 Tribuneindia News Service 2020 12 02 Archived from the original on 2020 12 03 Retrieved 2020 12 03 Indian Farmers observe Bharat Bandh in protest against agriculture bills Archived 8 December 2020 at the Wayback Machine 25 September 2020 The Statesman Retrieved 24 November 2020 Farmers protest in Punjab and Haryana Archived 30 November 2020 at the Wayback Machine 25 September2020 NDTV Retrieved 24 November 2020 Farmers protest in Karnataka Archived 29 November 2020 at the Wayback Machine 29 September 2020 The Economics Time Retrieved 24 November 2020 Tamil Nadu farmers protest with human skulls on bharat bandh Archived 21 November 2020 at the Wayback Machine 25 September 2020 News 18 Retrieved 24 November 2020 Farm bodies protest against farm bills in Odisha Archived 27 November 2020 at the Wayback Machine 26 September 2020 Times of India Retrieved 24 November 2020 Farm bills protest organised in more than 250 centers in Kerala Archived 9 December 2020 at the Wayback Machine 25 September 2020 The Hindu Retrieved 24 November 2020 Farmers across India continue to protest against three farm acts Archived 2 December 2020 at the Wayback Machine 28 September 2020 Times of India Retrieved 24 November 2020 Explained The Railways network in Punjab and how it has been impacted by the ongoing protests The Indian Express 2020 11 11 Archived from the original on 2020 11 25 Retrieved 2020 11 29 Protest may intensify farmers from 4 states look to join stir Hindustan Times 2020 11 28 Archived from the original on 2020 11 28 Retrieved 2020 11 29 Godi media murdabad Protesting farmers hit out at media refuse to speak to some channels Newslaundry Archived from the original on 2020 11 30 Retrieved 2020 12 01 Farmers lay siege to toll plazas in Haryana allow free movement of vehicles Hindustan Times 2020 12 12 Archived from the original on 2020 12 12 Retrieved 2020 12 13 Bullock cart rally held to protest farm laws The Times of India 2020 10 08 Archived from the original on 2020 12 14 Retrieved 2020 12 31 Amarinder speaks to Shah again assures smooth train movement The Indian Express 2020 11 09 Archived from the original on 2020 11 27 Retrieved 2020 11 30 Farmers extend rail roko protest till October 21 Hindustan Times 2020 10 17 Archived from the original on 2020 11 29 Retrieved 2020 11 30 Sethi Chitleen K 2020 11 09 BJP sets up talks between farmers Rajnath amp Goyal to end deadlock over Punjab train services ThePrint Archived from the original on 2020 11 10 Retrieved 2020 11 30 Dilli Chalo Farmers protest enters fifth day The Hindu Press Trust of India 2020 11 30 ISSN 0971 751X Archived from the original on 2020 11 30 Retrieved 2020 11 30 Expired tear gas shells used in Haryana to disperse Punjab farmers Tribune India 2020 11 29 Archived from the original on 2020 12 09 Retrieved 2020 11 29 At Least Three Deaths Reported During Farmers Delhi Chalo Protest The Wire Archived from the original on 2020 12 04 Retrieved 2020 12 03 Singh Jaskaran 2020 11 27 Haryana Ambala man who climbed water cannon to turn it off during farm agitation booked under attempt to murder charge The Times of India Archived from the original on 2020 12 07 Retrieved 2020 12 04 Farmer climbs atop police vehicle during protest turns off water cannon photo goes viral Tribuneindia News Service 2020 11 27 Archived from the original on 2020 12 11 Retrieved 2020 12 04 Shoker Sandish 2020 12 12 Why UK protesters are supporting Indian farmers BBC News Retrieved 2021 09 08 Pahwa Nitish 2020 12 09 India Just Had the Biggest Protest in World History Will it make a difference Slate Magazine Retrieved 2021 09 07 Meesala Shriya 2021 02 23 Farm to Table The World s Largest Protest in India sites uab edu UAB Institute for Human Rights Blog Retrieved 2021 09 07 Mehta Archit 2020 12 14 Images of protests held in the past shared as massive crowd at farmers protest Alt News Retrieved 2021 09 08 Nationwide strike affects normal life in Kerala Odisha other states over 25 crore workers join agitation Trade unions The Tribune Chandigarh 2020 11 26 Archived from the original on 2020 12 05 Retrieved 2020 12 05 Farmers protest Two lakh more set to reach Delhi in 40km long cavalcade Business Standard 2020 11 28 Archived from the original on 2020 12 06 Retrieved 2020 12 06 Farmers continue to protest against Central farm laws BKU asks why they should shift to Delhi s Burari Yahoo Finance Archived from the original on 2020 12 10 Retrieved 2020 11 29 Punjab farmers body refuses to attend meeting with Centre Tribuneindia News Service Archived from the original on 2020 12 02 Retrieved 2020 12 03 Jagga Raakhi 2020 11 29 Punjab farmer unions reject Amit Shah s offer firm on protesting at Delhi s Jantar Mantar The Indian Express Archived from the original on 2020 11 29 Retrieved 2020 11 29 Farmers call for Bharat Bandh on Dec 8 threaten to intensify stir 5th round of talks today Top Developments India Today 2020 12 04 Archived from the original on 2020 12 04 Retrieved 2020 12 04 Haryana farmers to burn effigies of PM business tycoons today The Indian Express 2020 12 04 Archived from the original on 2020 12 05 Retrieved 2020 12 04 Indian farmers vow to intensify protests after talks fail again Al Jazeera 2020 12 05 Archived from the original on 2020 12 05 Retrieved 2020 12 05 Bharat Bandh tomorrow Will begin from 11am don t want to trouble common man say farmers Hindustan Times 2020 12 07 Archived from the original on 2020 12 09 Retrieved 2020 12 09 Farmers Protest Highlights Farmers Reject Government s Proposals Even As Centre Assures MSP NDTV com 2020 12 10 Archived from the original on 2020 12 09 Retrieved 2020 12 10 Mitra Esha Regan Helen Hundreds of thousands of Indian farmers ramp up their protest by riding tractors into New Delhi CNN Retrieved 2021 01 26 a b Ananya Bhardwaj 2021 01 28 Not shot but crushed by tractor post mortem on farmer who died in Delhi protests reveals The Print Khan Zara ed 2021 01 04 Farmers protest Delhi s Chilla Ghazipur borders remain partially closed Hindustan Times Archived from the original on 2021 01 06 Retrieved 2021 01 06 Delhi borders remain closed due to farmers stir traffic diverted Hindustan Times 2021 01 03 Archived from the original on 2021 01 08 Retrieved 2021 01 06 Farmers protest Avoid these roads in Delhi to skip traffic snarls on Saturday India Today 2020 11 27 Archived from the original on 2020 11 28 Retrieved 2020 11 30 Dwivedi Sukirti 2020 11 29 Farmers March Road Blocks Leave Delhi Haryana Commuters Frustrated NDTV Archived from the original on 2020 11 29 Retrieved 2020 11 30 Farmers Protest Highlights Protesting farmers refuse to budge say demands are non negotiable The Indian Express 2020 12 01 Archived from the original on 2020 12 03 Retrieved 2020 12 04 Kumar Anuj 2021 01 28 Farmers protests Pressure mounts on protesters at Ghazipur border The Hindu Ghaziabad Farmers protest Clashes break out at Singhu border lathi charge tear gas used The Times of India Press Trust Of India 2021 01 29 Protest sites turn fortresses Barricades strengthened roads studded with nails The Times of India 2021 02 01 Retrieved 2021 02 02 Farmers govt standoff Getting into protest sites now tough as nails The Indian Express 2021 02 02 Retrieved 2021 02 02 Khan Zara ed 2021 03 22 Farmers protest Key Delhi borders remain shut traffic diverted Hindustan Times Retrieved 2021 03 22 Farmers block Jaipur Delhi highway in Rajasthan s Alwar The Tribune Archived from the original on 2020 12 13 Retrieved 2020 12 14 Jadhav Radheshyam 2020 10 15 As Maharashtra farmers get more from trade want MSP out businessline Retrieved 2020 12 08 Explained Who are Shetkari Sanghatana the group backing Govt on farm laws The Indian Express 2020 12 23 Retrieved 2021 02 04 20 000 Kisan Sena Members To March To Delhi in Support Of Farm Laws Tomorrow NDTV 2020 12 23 Archived from the original on 2021 01 10 Retrieved 2021 01 08 20 000 Kisan Sena Members to March From UP to Support Farm Laws TheQuint 2020 12 24 Archived from the original on 2021 01 09 Retrieved 2021 01 08 Kumar Basant 2021 01 08 Who are the farmer leaders supporting Modi on farm laws Newslaundry Archived from the original on 2021 01 09 Retrieved 2021 01 11 Farmers protests Farmers face pressure to leave protest sites The Hindu 2021 01 28 India farmer protesters clash with police on Republic Day Deutsche Welle 2021 01 26 Retrieved 2021 01 30 a b Bhatia Gurman 2021 01 29 Tractors to Delhi Reuters Retrieved 2021 01 30 Krishnan Revathi 2021 01 26 Breaking barriers to Red Fort march timeline of how farmer protest turned ugly within hours The Print Arvind Ojha 2021 01 26 86 cops injured in farmers protest several admitted Police India Today Farmers protest 41 security personnel sustain injuries at Red Fort The Hindu 2021 01 26 India protest Farmers breach Delhi s Red Fort in huge tractor rally BBC News India 2021 01 26 Retrieved 2021 01 27 Red Fort violence Delhi police detain 200 after farmer protests BBC News 2021 01 27 Retrieved 2021 01 30 In pictures Indian farmers enter Delhi s Red Fort as protests break out across the country Dawn Pakistan 2021 01 26 Retrieved 2021 01 29 ASI shuts Red Fort till January 31 for visitors after vandalism by tractor rally protesters 2021 01 28 Retrieved 2021 01 28 Sabarwal Harshit 2021 01 26 Tractor rally violence Internet services snapped in parts of Delhi NCR Hindustan Times New Delhi Additional Forces in Delhi After Amit Shah s Security Meet Over Clashes NDTV com 2021 01 26 Farmers removed from Red Fort premises by police The Week Retrieved 2021 01 30 Haider Tanseem Mishra Himanshu Singh Ram Kinkar 2021 02 01 Nails on road barricades cement walls Delhi Police turns farmers protest sites into fortresses India Today Retrieved 2021 02 04 Concertina Wire Barricades And Buses Situation at the Ghazipur Border NDTV com Retrieved 2021 02 04 Police blocks entry to journalists others to protest site at Singhu Border The Hindu 2021 02 02 ISSN 0971 751X Retrieved 2021 02 04 Delhi Police Stops Journalists from Entering the Site of Farmer s Protest The Kashmiriyat 2021 02 02 Retrieved 2021 02 04 Govt turns up heat on farmers to end protest high drama at Ghazipur as Tikait takes do or die route India Today 2021 01 29 Retrieved 2021 02 04 Farmers protest Heavy police deployment at Ghazipur protest site National Herald Inter Asian News Service 2021 01 28 Retrieved 2021 02 04 Deep Sidhu Lakha Sidhana booked for Red Fort violence Tribuneindia News Service Retrieved 2021 01 28 Proud of their courage Amit Shah visits cops injured in R day violence Hindustan Times 2021 01 28 Retrieved 2021 01 31 Farmers protests Two unions withdraw from agitation citing Republic Day violence The Hindu 2021 01 27 Retrieved 2021 01 31 Farmers were agitating with restraint but Centre didn t solve their problems NCP chief Sharad Pawar DNA India 2021 01 26 Retrieved 2021 01 31 Capt Amarinder on Delhi clashes Shocking violence by some elements unacceptable The Indian Express 2021 01 26 Retrieved 2021 01 31 Dasgupta Sravasti 2021 04 23 Covid is Modi govt conspiracy to end protests farmers at Singhu Ghazipur say ThePrint Retrieved 2021 05 15 Farmers protest Rakesh Tikait holds show of strength warns govt of gaddi wapsi demand The Times of India Press Trust of India 2021 02 03 Retrieved 2021 02 04 BJP Might Face Gaddi Wapsi If It Refuses To Carry Out Bill Wapsi Farmer Leader Rakesh Tikait Outlook India Press Trust of India 2021 02 03 Retrieved 2021 02 04 Watch the State 2021 07 02 One year of farmers protests in India June 2020 to June 2021 The Polis Project Archived from the original on 2021 09 08 Retrieved 2021 09 08 Lay siege to Bengaluru with tractors to protest farm laws Rakesh Tikait The Indian Express PTI 2021 03 21 Retrieved 2021 03 22 Haider Tanseem 2021 07 18 Delhi Police to meet farmers on Sunday likely to suggest alternative venues for Parliament protest India Today Retrieved 2021 08 13 Bhatia Varinder 2021 08 12 I Day celebration in Haryana No minister will unfurl flag in 7 troubled districts that are hub of farm protests The Indian Express Retrieved 2021 08 13 Roads flyovers in Muzaffarnagar jam packed as thousands attend farmers mahapanchayat Pictures and videos India Today 2021 09 05 Retrieved 2021 09 05 Farmers Protesting Agricultural Laws To Start Stir At Jantar Mantar From Thursday The Wire Indian farmers resume protests against Modi s agriculture reforms Arab News 2021 09 06 Bharat Bandh News Bharat Bandh paralyses Punjab has limited impact elsewhere The Times of India 2021 09 28 Retrieved 2021 09 29 a b Singh Kanwardeep 2021 10 04 4 farmers 4 BJP men killed as UP protest turns violent The Times of India Retrieved 2021 10 13 Farmers stop Sooryavanshi screening in Punjab s Hoshiarpur slam Akshay Kumar for not supporting farmer s protest The Times of India PTI 2021 11 07 Retrieved 2021 11 08 Windshield of BJP MP s car smashed during farmers protest in Haryana The Times of India PTI 2021 11 05 Retrieved 2021 11 08 Mohan Vishwa Rana Yudhvir 2021 11 28 parliament Farmers defer tractor rally to Parliament say stir on The Times of India Retrieved 2021 11 28 Updated 1037 GMT 1837 HKT 26 November 2021 2021 11 26 Indian farmers protests forced Modi to back down on new laws So why aren t they going home CNN Edition cnn com Retrieved 2022 05 09 Udhoke Dr Sukhpreet Singh 2021 01 06 Farmers Protest Sikh Scholar Dr Sukhpreet Singh Udhoke न Sikh Heritage म Langar क History बत ई Farmers Protest Sikh Scholar Dr Sukhpreet Singh Udhoke tells the history of Langar in Sikh Heritage The Lallantop in Hindi Archived from the original on 2021 01 24 Retrieved 2021 01 07 Pasricha Anjana 2020 12 14 Sikh Tradition of Community Kitchens Sustains India s Farmers Protest Voice of America Archived from the original on 2021 01 10 Retrieved 2021 01 06 Langar Tradition Plays Out in Farmers Protest Students Use Social Media To Organise Essentials 2020 India Today 2020 12 02 Archived from the original on 2021 01 24 Retrieved 2021 01 06 via YouTube a b Farmers Protest Who s Feeding Protesters at the Borders Deccan Herald 2020 12 20 Archived from the original on 2020 12 20 Retrieved 2020 01 06 Sinha Jignasa 2020 12 11 Protest site draws Sewa medicine stalls laundry service temple amp library come up The Indian Express Archived from the original on 2020 12 11 Retrieved 2020 12 12 Sharma Mahesh 2020 12 09 Pizza langar for protesting farmers attracts crowd The Tribune Archived from the original on 2020 12 12 Retrieved 2020 12 12 a b Singh IP 2020 12 05 Almond langar for farmers on protest The Times of India Archived from the original on 2020 12 11 Retrieved 2020 12 18 Team of Muslim Men Serving Langar All Day to Protesting Farmers at Singhu Border India Today 2020 12 05 Archived from the original on 2021 01 08 Retrieved 2021 01 06 Kuchay Bilal A school for the underprivileged at Indian farmers protest site Al Jazeera Archived from the original on 2021 01 24 Retrieved 2021 01 23 Elderly must be tired Khalsa Aid installs 25 foot massagers for protesting farmers Times Now 2020 12 11 Archived from the original on 2020 12 11 Retrieved 2020 12 12 Bhatnagar Amil 2020 12 27 Month on as protest grows farmers install CCTVs to keep eye on crowd The Indian Express Archived from the original on 2020 12 27 Retrieved 2020 12 27 Kamal Neel 2021 01 15 US doctor keeping Tikri fit with Pind California The Times of India Retrieved 2021 11 23 Sarfaraz Kainat 2021 03 05 Cardiologist all the way from New Jersey has his finger on pulse of protesters Hindustan Times Retrieved 2021 11 23 Kaur Harmeet 2021 03 14 An American doctor went to India last year to care for protesting farmers The conditions on the ground convinced him to stay CNN Retrieved 2021 11 23 a b c d Jagga Raakhi 2020 12 21 Punjab Tributes Paid to 41 Farmers Who Died during Protests The Indian Express Archived from the original on 2020 12 30 Retrieved 2020 12 29 a b Jagga Raakhi 2020 12 30 70 Yr Old Farmer Who Spent 4 Weeks at Tikri Dies of Pneumonia on Return The Indian Express Archived from the original on 2020 12 31 Retrieved 2020 12 31 a b Sengar Mukesh Singh 2021 01 02 75 Year Old Protesting Farmer Found Dead at Delhi Ghaziabad Border NDTV Archived from the original on 2021 01 03 Retrieved 2021 01 02 Farmers protest Congress slams Modi govt s apathy The Telegraph Kolkota 2021 01 03 Archived from the original on 2021 01 02 Retrieved 2021 01 11 ਕ ਸ ਨ ਅ ਦ ਲਨ ਚ ਇਕ ਹ ਰ ਸ ਹ ਦਤ ਬਰਨ ਲ ਦ ਕ ਸ ਨ ਨ ਤ ੜ ਆ ਦ ਮ Living India News Retrieved 2022 10 15 Balbir Singh Rajewal ਦ ਧਮ ਕ ਦ ਰ ਸਪ ਚ, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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