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(SOUNDBITE OF J.T.BEY SONG, "THOUGHTS OF UNSUCCESSFUL ROMANCE")Ĭopyright © 2021 NPR. KAUR: (Chanting in non-English language).įRAYER: Lauren Frayer, NPR News, at the Singhu border north of New Delhi. Balwinder, the mother of two, says.įRAYER: We won't move until these laws are repealed. Modi, down.įRAYER: Protesters chanted slogans against Modi at the encampment I visited north of New Delhi, where temporary tents are looking more permanent these days. Everyone agrees that this has morphed from a debate over agriculture policy to a debate over politics. UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Chanting in non-English language).įRAYER: Half a million people turned out for a farmer protest in India's most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, which is ruled by Modi's party and happens to be holding elections in a few months. He's spent the past several months trying to drum up support in 20 different Indian states. But the small farmers, they didn't have any idea.įRAYER: The protest leader, Singh, is trying to remedy that. SEEMA BATHLA: We asked them about problems in how they sell their produce, and only medium-sized farmer and large farmers were aware about the new farm laws. She found only about 50% of them had even heard of the farm laws and protests. Seema Bathla is an agricultural economist who recently surveyed thousands of farmers outside Punjab.
When there was a little chaos, then the public opinion changed to a great extent, and that is where the government took full advantage and stopped the talks.įRAYER: Members of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling party have since called these farmers anti-national, unpatriotic, and they point out that the protests have been dominated by Punjabis, rather than a more diverse group of farmers from all Indian states. VM SINGH: People across the board supported the protests, but Indians are patriotic to the core. Protest leader VM Singh says he was dismayed by that violence, which he says hurt his cause. UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: (Yelling in non-English language).įRAYER: Some farmers hoisted separatist flags over the historic Red Fort in the capital. The turning point was January 26, the Republic Day, a big national holiday, when what had been peaceful protests suddenly erupted into clashes with police. The Supreme Court has suspended the farm laws, but farm unions want them repealed altogether. These arguments have been aired in the streets of India for many months. For them, the laws mean a loss of security, a threat of being undercut by big business.įRAYER: This is about our livelihoods and our ability to provide for our children, Balwinder says. Now it wants to step back and encourage farmers to sell directly, but many of them don't want to. The government used to be the middleman between farmers and wholesalers. Among them is Balwinder Kaur, who's been camping here on and off with her children for almost 10 months.īALWINDER KAUR: (Non-English language spoken).įRAYER: Since just after India's Parliament passed three farm laws that changed the way agriculture works here. They've built a huge tent city here with an outdoor kitchen.įRAYER: Where women stir giant vats of lentils bubbling over wood fires. LAUREN FRAYER, BYLINE: Farmers in colorful turbans chant a blessing before they sit down to eat on carpets laid over asphalt, smack in the middle of what used to be a highway. UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: (Chanting in non-English language). UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Chanting in non-English language). NPR's Lauren Frayer went to meet them at a protest camp north of New Delhi. A huge COVID wave forced many of them off the streets this spring, but now Indian farmers are heading back out to revive their movement. Now to India, where farmers earlier this year staged some of the biggest protests in that country's history.