Angry calls of defiance echoed from the speakers. “We are not leaving, whatever happens,” the speaker yelled, amid loud cheers from the crowd. “Reverse the black laws.”
For weeks, the atmosphere in the Ghazipur farmers’ protest camp on the outskirts of Delhi had been joyous. But by Friday morning it had turned into a cold fury.
Since November, tens of thousands of Indian farmers have camped at the site and at two other locations along the roads leading to Delhi, to demand the repeal of new farm laws that they say will destroy their livelihoods. While negotiations between the farmers and the government continued, the police had left them in relative peace for two months. But suddenly all that changed.
The state government ordered the farmers to leave the Ghazipur protest site, and on Thursday night, hundreds of police officers in riot gear arrived in the area to clean up the farmers, and the camp’s water and electricity were cut off.
But the farmers were not going to move easily. Their number increased and it is estimated 18,000 tractors of neighboring states gathered at the border. After a confrontation that continued well into the night, the police backed down.
“We understand that the government will bring cases against us to intimidate us and try to create fissures between farmers, but we will not give in,” said Roop Lal, a farmer from Faridabad, Haryana, who was camped out in Ghazipur.
Balwinder Singh, a 50-year-old farmer, was among those who rushed to camp from Meerut, a city 50 miles east of Delhi, on Thursday night when he learned of an impending police crackdown. “The attempt by the police to remove the protesters last night was an assault on the dignity of the farmers,” he said.
By Friday, tension and scenes of violence had spread to the neighboring Singhu protest camp, where a crowd of 200 men, mostly members of the Hindu nationalist group Hindu Sena, descended on farmers, throwing stones at protesters. and tearing apart. their tents, yelling at them to clear the way. Chaos erupted when police responded with tear gas and batons, although the retaliation appeared to be largely against farmers.
Farmers’ protests have proven to be one of the biggest challenges for the government of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Farmers, who make up nearly 50% of India’s workforce, say farm laws passed by the government in September, without their consultation, put their livelihoods at risk and leave them at the mercy of large corporations.
The farmers, led by powerful unions, have been adamant that they will not suspend the protests until the laws are repealed. Nine rounds of negotiations with the government have failed.
Tensions had started to rise on Tuesday, India’s Republic Day, after a farmers’ march in Delhi turned violent. Thousands of farmers, many on tractors and on horseback, broke through barricades around Delhi and stormed India’s historic Red Fort, and police responded with tear gas and batons.
A farmer was killed and more than 200 arrests were made, and many of the farmers were detained under draconian anti-terrorism laws. Police complaints were also filed against journalists, activists and opposition politicians accusing them of “sedition” and inciting violence in the Red Fort.
Initially, the clashes seemed to divide the peasants, whose protests had been peaceful up to that point. Several farmers’ unions condemned the violence and expressed concern that it would return to the country against their cause. Many said the violence had been led by rogue figures planted in the movement by the BJP.
But when word spread of a government order to clean up the Ghazipur camp, which was declared “illegal,” the farmers promised to stay until the laws were repealed. In a speech broadcast on news channels Thursday night, the leader of the farmers’ union, Rakesh Tikait, broke down in tears. “This government will destroy the farmers, the BJP thugs will come and attack them with the police,” he said.
Security remained tight around the Ghazipur and Singhu camps on Friday, with police banning people and trucks carrying water from entering. Anger against the government was strong among farmers who promised that no force would make them move. “In the last two elections we voted Modi to power and he promised that he would improve the life of a farmer, but he betrayed us,” said Sukhi Singh, a landowner in Mohana village in Haryana.
“With Modi, the plight of farmers has worsened and the prices of fertilizers and seeds have risen. The government still has to reimburse us for the crops sold two years ago. “
Others had demonstrated in solidarity. Kamaljeet Gill, president of a taxi union, said the protests were aimed at protecting India. “We have come to support the farmers,” he said. “If we stay silent now, this country will be attacked by Modi’s corporate friends.”
