Indian Farmer Protest. (repost)

 India's Farmer's Movement

By: Harishkumar Selvakumar

In the busy metropolis of New Delhi, a rare sight is to be seen: hundreds of tractors thundering down the highways. This is the response to a serious and growing problem in India: the hard and suffering filled life that farmers are subjected too. The farmers have been receiving severe blows from their own government. The recent actions concerning the restrictions of private companies and their relations with farmers have been described as "pro corporate" and harmful to the large population of agriculturalists. These new regulations give companies more freedom in the agriculture market, and on the contrary make lives of farmers a much more difficult. As a heavily agriculture dependent nation, India's farmers are an important asset to both itself and the world, with nearly 4 billion dollars of agriculture being exported to various countries every month. However, such an important job comes at a price: half of the country's farmers are in debt due to the absurd and tyrannical laws in place. Nearly 10000 farmers committed suicide in 2019 alone, and the rest live with laws of extreme privatization above them. This protest sparked more conflict, with the Indian army bearing weapons and tear gas and beating down on the angered farmers, resulting in one death. The treatment of the farmers sparked a rage across the world. This conflict has impacted the food production in India considerably, and in turn impacts a major source of food imports in many other nations. The entire world has begun a movement to protest the unfair, selfish, and greedy regulations in place. The farmers and activists both hope that at the end of this movement, the Indian farmer's life will be much better than now, and the world will be able to receive food knowing that those who worked hard for it were rewarded and treated fairly. 

Discussion Questions:

1. To what degree should the interests of private corporations and companies be considered and met in areas such as farming?

2. Some critics have described the actions of the Indian farmers as violent and rioting. Are the emotions and reactions of the farmers an appropriate response to the government? Should actions be taken against corporations themselves, rather than the government?

Sources:

The Star

CNN

NYT

Guardian 

Wikipedia