Indian farmers union to begin daily protests in front of the Parliament House
The Indian farmers union has pledged to today begin daily protests in front of the Parliament House in New Delhi, until August 13—the end of the 2021 Monsoon Session.
At nearly their eighth consecutive month of protests, India’s farmers’ bootless cries that the right-wing National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government repeal controversial agriculture laws and restore crop sale price controls seems to have had little effect on parliamentarians thus far. At issue, NDA has maintained the reforms benefit farmers while the farmers themselves believe the reforms will enable corporate farms to run them out of business.
New Delhi’s police have parlayed with the protestors to push them to change their protest site to no avail. As a result, police have now fortified various sites around New Delhi in preparation.
Expect today’s protests to draw a small crowd as police harden the Parliament House’s security. Likewise, it is unlikely today’s protest will move the buck forward on repealing the farm laws. Parliamentarians have remained open to discussing the laws in principle but have not budged from their position that they are necessary. As such, with no middle-ground, expect protests to continue in the medium- to long-term as farmers persist in their civil resistance campaign.
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