NEW DELHI (AP) – Tens of thousands of farmers drove a convoy of tractors into the Indian capital as the nation celebrated Republic Day on Tuesday amid agricultural protests that have turned into a rebellion and confused the government.
The roads of the capital were lined with rows upon rows of tractors with flags of India and peasant unions. Peasants wearing striking colorful turbans shouted slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and what they call his “black laws.” Thousands more marched on foot as they danced and sang, and in one place were showered with petals from residents, some of whom recorded the unprecedented gathering on their phones.
“We want to show Modi our strength,” said Satpal Singh, a farmer who marched into the capital on a tractor with his family of five. “We will not surrender.”
Police in riot gear used tear gas and water cannon in two places to push back the protesters who tried to bring down barricades. Authorities also parked large trucks to barricade multiple routes so farmers would not march inland from the capital.
The farmer leaders said more than 10,000 tractors would march through the capital for the rally and thousands of volunteers would try to help the police maintain order.
The protests were triggered by new agricultural laws passed by parliament in September. Modi’s government insists that the laws will benefit farmers and stimulate production through private investment, but farmers fear that cartels and commercialization of agriculture will destroy their earnings.
Farmers first attempted to march to New Delhi in November, but were stopped by police. Since then, unaffected by the cold overnight winter temperatures, they have rolled up their sleeves with food and fuel supplies and threatened to besiege the capital until peasant laws are repealed.
The government has offered to amend the laws and suspend their implementation for 18 months. But farmers insist that they will settle for nothing less than a complete withdrawal. They plan a march on foot to the Indian Parliament on Feb. 1, when the country’s new budget will be presented.
The tractor rally overshadowed the Republic Day celebration in New Delhi, even as the annual military parade was scaled down due to the coronavirus pandemic.
A small crowd gathered next to New Delhi’s ceremonial Rajpath boulevard to witness the country’s military might and cultural diversity. People wore masks and kept a social distance as police and military battalions marched along the parade route. Several states showed their floats to showcase their culture and the military showed its latest equipment during the parade.
Republic Day marks the anniversary of the adoption of the country’s constitution on January 26, 1950.
Farmers are the latest group to disrupt Modi’s image of imperturbable dominance in Indian politics.
Since coming to power for a second consecutive term, Modi’s government has been characterized by several convulsions. The economy has tanked, social struggles have intensified, protests have broken out against discriminatory laws, and his government has been questioning its response to the pandemic. In 2019, he brought together a coalition of diverse and disparate groups: minorities and majoritarians, rights activists and journalists, communists and socialists, students and teachers, including the once dormant opposition, to form a popular march against a controversial new citizenship law that discriminates against Muslims.
Now, in the form of peasants, he is facing a growing rebellion from India’s most influential ballot box.
Agriculture supports more than half of the country’s 1.4 billion people. But farmers’ economic influence has declined over the past three decades. Once accounting for a third of India’s gross domestic product, farmers now represent just 15% of the country’s $ 2.9 trillion economy.
According to official data, more than half of farmers are in debt, with 20,638 suicides in 2018 and 2019.
The controversial legislation has exacerbated existing resentment among farmers, who have long been seen as the heart and soul of India, but often complain that they are being ignored by the government.
Modi has attempted to allay farmers’ fears by largely allay their concerns and has repeatedly accused opposition parties of arousing them by spreading rumors. Some of his party’s leaders have called the farmers “anti-national,” a label often given to those who criticize Modi or his policies.
Devinder Sharma, an agricultural expert who has campaigned for income equality for Indian farmers for the past 20 years, said they were not only protesting the reforms but also “challenging the whole economic design of the country.”
“The anger you are seeing is even more anger,” Sharma said. “Inequality is growing in India and farmers are getting poorer. Policy planners have failed to realize this and have sucked revenues from bottom to top. The farmers only demand what is their right. “