Indian peasants determined to continue their mobilization form their assembly

The site is heavily framed by squadrons of armed police and paramilitaries, and closed off by large metal barriers. You have to state your identity, cross several checkpoints to reach the “Farmers’ Parliament”. Since July 22, Indian peasants have obtained the right to demonstrate under close surveillance in central Delhi, at Jantar Mantar, a place that houses an observatory dating from the Mughal era and which in the past was the scene of countless protests. due to its proximity to the Indian Parliament.

Symbolically, the peasants installed, while the deputies are meeting in session until August 9, an unofficial assembly, the Kisan Sansad (the “Farmers’ Parliament”, literally). The outdoor facilities are modest: a large tarpaulin, plastic chairs, temporary sanitary facilities. The opposition, which supports the movement, was banned from entering.

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Every day, only two hundred peasants are admitted there, being transported by bus, under police escort, to the sites of Ghazipur, Tikri and Singhu Border, where thousands of farmers have been camping for eight months and blocking access to the capital from the States. from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. They demand the withdrawal of three laws which liberalize trade in agricultural products, open it up to the private sector and put an end to regulated markets, which until then had provided farmers with a minimum price on their production.

Historical movement

The monsoon which has been soaking Delhi for several days does not discourage the participants – men, mostly Sikh peasants wearing turban and union flag, who take turns at the microphone to defend an agricultural model inherited from the “green revolution” and slay the dangers of reform. Gupparvinder Singh, a farmer from Firozpur, Punjab, arrived in Singhu in November 2020 and wants to show his determination despite the failure of negotiations with the government and the stalemate in their movement. “We still have a lot of hope, because our movement is historic. We will hold out until 2024 if necessary ”, he assures, a badge around his neck displaying his identity.

The peasants, who deny playing politics against the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, have in mind the political calendar, the general elections in three years, and the regional elections in a few months in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, and where the voices of the peasants will count. One of the leaders of the latter, Rakesh Tikait, announced that from September they would block access to the city of Lucknow, capital of Uttar Pradesh. Despite the unprecedented scale of peasant anger, the government continues to claim that its reform will give farmers better access to the market and stimulate production through private investment.

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