Indian Farmers Resume Protests Demanding Crop Price Guarantees
As India approaches general elections, thousands of farmers march to New Delhi, challenging the government with demands for better agricultural policies.
- Thousands of Indian farmers resume their march to New Delhi demanding minimum price guarantees for their crops, employing new strategies to avoid police blockades.
- The protests have restarted ahead of India's general elections, with farmers being a significant voting bloc. The government's reluctance to meet their demands has led to multiple breakdowns in talks.
- Farmers' demands include assured pricing, pensions for the elderly, debt waivers, increased work days under the rural employment guarantee scheme, and withdrawal from the WTO and free trade agreements.
- Authorities have responded with heavy security measures, including barricades and detentions, in an attempt to prevent the protesters from reaching the capital.
- The farmers' movement has garnered widespread support, despite attempts by the government to suppress their protests, and is seen as a major challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration ahead of the elections.
South China Morning Post 
CNA 
BBC 