(NationRise.com) – Officials in India deployed drones armed with tear gas to disperse crowds after farmers once again gathered in New Delhi to protest agricultural laws.
Farmers are claiming that Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, failed to uphold promises he made after farmers protested in 2020 and 2021. During that time, they were protesting his proposed “three laws” that, according to formers, would leave them with too little to survive. Most of India’s farmers were already living in poverty.
Modi eventually relented to the farmers late in 2021 after they ignored government pleas to break down their camps and leave the capital. Instead, they chose to brave harsh weather conditions and the pandemic outbreak for over a year.
However, farmers recently returned in force after they claimed Modi never implemented minimum crop prices or raised their income. They are now demanding a 12-point agenda that includes free energy, a pension program at the age of 60, and a more encompassing minimum support prices (MSP) system. The government says fulfilling the demands would be a “fiscal disaster.”
The government responded more harshly this time. In addition to tear gas, they have also used rubber bullets and arrested dozens of farmers. Barriers have also been erected in New Delhi and surrounding areas in an effort to keep farmers away. Some of those barriers have been reinforced with razor wire. Farmers could still be seen trying to break through some of them.
Farmers gathered by the tens of thousands in New Delhi, some in tractors and other farming vehicles, for the new protests. They have also demanded that India withdraw from the World Trade Organization and free trade agreements, claiming they unfairly impact the nation’s livestock and crop prices.
Indian farmers aren’t the only ones protesting against the WTO. Over 500 traveled to Geneva in late 2022 to protest the organization’s free trade agreements that, they believe, will contribute to a food security crisis across the world.
Dutch farmers also protested heavy regulations that same year, even warning US farmers to prepare for government overreach. One Dutch farmer told a reporter that US farmers should be “thankful” for the Second Amendment. The FBI also executed a highly controversial raid on an organic Amish farm soon after.
Farmers across Europe have also been protesting by the tens of thousands to protest heavy regulations that they claim are making it impossible for them to survive. They have gathered in France, Italy, Germany, Portugal, and Poland to block roads and cover government buildings in manure.
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