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Protests have erupted across the country in protest of a new land reform bill passed in Rajya Sabha, the upper house of India’s parliament. On Friday, the country’s farmers’ organizations called for a joint sit-in in India. Most of India’s opposition parties, including Congress, have expressed their support.
In addition to various places in Punjab and Haryana, farmers have also organized protests in Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Bihar. Barricades were set up in many places and protesters sat on the train tracks. Additional police have been deployed across the country to keep the situation under control.
The protest fires were most frequent in Punjab and Haryana. Several farmer organizations blocked roads in Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Ambala, and Chandigarh. The Kisan Union of India and the Revolutionary Marxist Party of India have blocked the Amritsar-Delhi national highway near Jalandhar since morning.
The Delhi-Chandigarh bus service was suspended due to protests in Ambala. The Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee has been conducting ‘Rail Rocco’ operations throughout Punjab since Thursday. Punjab’s Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh appealed to protesting farmers to peacefully protest in compliance with the coronavirus protection rules. NDA ally Shiromani Akali Dal also organized a three-hour ‘Chakka Jam’ in Punjab in protest of the bill.
Farmers’ organizations in the state of Karnataka took to the streets in protest against the 2020 Farm Reform Bill. In Bommanahali, farmers in the state protested by blocking the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu national highway. The left-leaning All India Kisan Sabha has also organized protests in Maharashtra. More than 30,000 Kisan Sabha members have protested the bill in some 21 districts of the state.
Farmers have also protested along the way in different parts of Uttar Pradesh. Large numbers of police officers were deployed to Chilla, on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border, to avoid adverse situations.
The ruling BJP government in India has been claiming from the outset that the land reform bill was introduced for the economic betterment of the country’s farmers. The BJP, led by Narendra Modi, passed the bill in Parliament overcoming objections from the opposition. Opposition groups have been protesting ever since.
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