Indian farmers end year-long protest against agricultural laws

NEW DELHI: Indian farmers on Thursday announced they would end their year-long protest against agricultural reforms after the government agreed to most of their demands.

Farmers from the states of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, where the country’s agriculture is concentrated and yields are high, have been protesting three laws passed in September 2020 that deregulated the agricultural sector and, as they say, left them at the mercy of private players.

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Cabinet caved to their demands and repealed the laws in parliament in late November, the protests continued as farmers requested more concessions.

They demanded that all legal cases filed against them over the demonstrations be dropped, that the government set a minimum support price, known as MSP, for agricultural goods, and that the families of protesters who lost their lives over the past year receive compensation.

As the government has agreed to meet these demands, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha, the main body representing farmers’ unions, announced in a statement that “current agitation stands suspended.”

“Battle has been won,” it said, adding that “the war to ensure farmers’ rights” will continue to make sure the government sticks to its commitments.

The farmers, who have held a sit-in around Delhi since November last year, said they will celebrate their victory with a march on Saturday.

“On Dec. 11, farmers will celebrate the victory and after that they will start going to their homes from the agitation sites in Delhi,” farmers’ leader Yogendra Yadav told protesters at a demonstration site in the Singhu area.

But prominent Punjab-based agriculture expert Devinder Sharma said the battle was only “half won.”

“The challenge for farmers would now be how to get the legal guarantee for the MSP and for that they need to keep the pressure on the government,” he told Arab News.

Farmers’ union leaders said they will meet again in mid-January to review the implementation of the new concessions pledged by the government.

The concessions come as Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, where agriculture dominates the economy, are due to hold local elections next year.

Farmers are the most influential voting bloc and winning the local polls may prove crucial for India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s general election hopes in 2024.

“No doubt upcoming elections in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab compelled the government to withdraw the laws,” Prof. Ronki Ram of Punjab University told Arab News. “It would be interesting to see how this issue plays out in the upcoming elections because farm unions do not have any political loyalty and they have not openly supported any political party so far.”