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Farmers

Across India, Protesters Mark Six Months Of Historic Farmers’ Agitation

Hundreds of thousands of farmers, workers and members of trade unions, student and women organizations observed a protest at thousands of places across India on Wednesday, May 26. The day marked the completion of six months of the historic farmers’ protest against the three contentious farm laws passed by the government of Narendra Modi. Farmers across India have opposed the laws, saying it will dismantle vital state regulations, reduce the price they get for their produce and lead to greater corporate entry in agriculture.

Haitian Farmers Fight Dictatorship

Breakthrough News was on the ground in Haiti for eight days covering the popular uprising sweeping that country. Our BT News team went to Haiti's agricultural heartland to detail the struggles of small and cooperative farmers against land grabs. Hear directly from the voices of those fighting displacement, destructive mining and agribusiness about their struggles and visions for a better future. As well as its connection to the ongoing struggle against Haiti's dictatorial ruler Jovenel Moïse and his backer in the US government.

Farmers Block Expressway In Indian State Of Haryana To Protest Against Farm Laws

Hundreds of farmers from across India have been camping out Delhi's borders for the past four months to protest against newly introduced agricultural laws by the federal government. While the farmers are demanding the laws, passed last September be repealed, the government has agreed to only making amendments and refused to repeal them. Intensifying their protests against newly introduced agriculture laws, farmers blocked the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal expressway at several places in state of Haryana on Saturday. Several farm leaders were detained by the Haryana Police even as farmers sitting on the expressway were forcibly removed for allowing the traffic to pass. Huge jams on the highway have been seen since morning when farmers hit the expressway. 

How India’s Farmers’ Protests Could Upend The Political Landscape

For the past three months, Indian farmers and agricultural workers have been in the middle of a difficult struggle against the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Tens of thousands of them have gathered around the capital city of New Delhi; they say that they will not disband unless the government repeals three laws that negatively impact their ability to remain economically viable. The government has shown no sign that it will withdraw these laws, which provide immense advantages to the large corporate houses that are close to Prime Minister Modi. The government’s attempt to crack down on the farmers and agricultural workers has altered the mood in the country: those who grow the food for the country are hard to depict as “terrorists” and as “anti-national.” Modi’s party—the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)—currently holds power in several of the states that border Delhi.

As Farmers Expand Their Agitation, Indian Government Intensifies Repression

Pushed on the back foot by the popular support for the farmers’ agitation against its pro-agribusiness farm laws, India’s right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government is systematically intensifying state repression against protesters and their supporters. Since late November, tens of thousands of protesting farmers, principally from the nearby states of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, have been encamped on the outskirts of the Delhi National Capital Territory. Their Delhi Chalo (Let’s go to Delhi) protest, which is demanding the repeal of all three recently-enacted farm laws, was prevented from entering the capital by a massive police mobilisation organised by the Modi government.

The Largest Strike In Human History

Radhakrishnan explains why farmers are rising up, how they are organized, and how the neoliberal government of Narendra Modi has responded to the movement. Just one day after this interview, the Modi government raided the offices of Radhakrishnan’s employer, Newsclick.in, and detained its editors in what has been denounced as an act of intimidation against critical media. Learn more about the disturbing press crackdown here.

India’s Farmers’ Protests: ‘This Is History In The Making’

On January 26, 2021, India observed its 71st Republic Day under historically unprecedented circumstances. On an occasion meant to commemorate the adoption of the Indian Constitution, two fiercely antagonistic visions of the country locked horns with each other in the capital of Delhi. On the Rajpath ceremonial boulevard in the heart of Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s homegrown Hindu nationalist proto-fascism was on full display. It was no coincidence, for example, that the winner of the Republic Day Parade’s tableaux competition was the state of Uttar Pradesh, whose float celebrated the demolition of the Babri Mosque in 1992 and its impending replacement by a Hindu temple...

Court Orders Shell To Pay Nigerian Farmers Over Oil Spills

A Dutch court has ordered the Nigerian subsidiary of Shell to pay compensation over oil spills in Nigeria’s Niger Delta, a ruling which could pave the way for more cases against multinational oil firms. The Court of Appeal in The Hague on Friday ruled that the Nigerian arm of the British-Dutch company must issue payouts over a long-running civil case involving four Nigerian farmers who were seeking compensation, and a clean-up, from the company over pollution caused by leaking oil pipelines. It held Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary liable for two leaks that spewed oil over an area of a total of about 60 football pitches in two villages, saying that it could not be established “beyond a reasonable doubt” that saboteurs were to blame.

Farmers Blame Miscreants For Maligning Their Image On Republic Day

As part of their Tractor Protest Rally, thousands of farmers entered Delhi on Tuesday morning riding SUVs, cars, and wheeled farm equipment. A faction of the rally soon invaded Delhi's iconic Red Fort, leading to violent clashes with police as the farmers seek the repeal of several farm laws recently decreed by the central government. While farm leaders in the state of Haryana and Punjab distance themselves from the events at Delhi’s iconic Red Fort on India’s 72nd Republic Day, saying agitation against the new farm laws has nothing to do with violence, social media continues to buzz over the possible cause of clashes in the centre of the Indian capital.

Farmers’ Parade Takes Center Stage On India’s Republic Day

New Delhi, India - January 26, the day India became a Republic, is traditionally celebrated at Rajpath — the road from the India Gate to the President’s residence — in New Delhi. The ceremony includes a parade that is a display of the might of India’s military and showcases the cultural diversity of India.  This year, however, the center stage was taken not by the ceremonial parade, but the farmers’ parade that was being held in the capital city. The peaceful rally of farmers on tractors was supposed to commence from three different points in the city and follow pre-approved routes for all three. While the government and authorities had grudgingly granted permission for the rally, there was a staggering deployment of police force throughout the parade.  

My Wish Is That You Win This Fight For Truth

On 26 January, India’s Republic Day, thousands of farmers and agricultural workers will drive their tractors and walk into the heart of the capital, New Delhi, to bring their fight to the doors of the government. For two months, these farmers and agricultural workers have been part of a nation-wide revolt against a government policy that seeks to deliver all the gains of their labour to the large corporate houses, whose profits have ballooned during this pandemic. Despite the cold weather and the pandemic, the farmers and agricultural workers have created a socialistic culture in their encampments with community kitchens and laundries, distribution points providing free essentials, recreational activities and places for discussion.

Indian Government Offers To Suspend Farm Laws

India’s government has offered to suspend implementation of three new farm laws that have triggered the biggest farmers’ protests in years. The cornerstone of the legislation, introduced in September, allows private buyers to deal directly with farmers. Angry farmers, who say that will make India’s traditional wholesale markets irrelevant and leave them at the mercy of big retailers and food processors, have camped out on main highways outside capital New Delhi for more than two months. Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Wednesday said the government was open to suspending the laws for up to 18 months, during which time representatives of the government and farmers should work to “provide solutions” for the industry.

Will US Farmers Follow India’s Lead?

Thousands of farmers in India are braving cold winter temperatures in the outskirts of New Delhi, their tractors and tents blocking traffic along three main roads leading to the capital city, in protest of new agricultural laws that farmers say leave them at the mercy of multinational corporations. The protests, which began in August, morphed into a general strike of 250 million workers on November 26, which has been called the largest-ever global demonstration. The ongoing demonstrations have struck a chord with agricultural communities in North America, where solidarity protests were held throughout December, including a march to the Indian Consulate in Toronto and a protest outside of Facebook’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California.

Iowa Farm Bankruptcies Continue To Rise, Despite Aid

There were 27 farm bankruptcies in Iowa in 2019 — more than double the 13 bankruptcies in 2018, the American Farm Bureau Federation reported. This was despite the $1.58 billion the federal government paid Iowa farmers in Market Facilitation Program payments to ease losses because of the trade dispute with China. Later this month, we’ll know how many Iowa farms went bankrupt in 2020, but Iowa State University economics professor and crop markets specialist Chad Hart said to expect another increase. “The government has provided a lot of short-term funding to help farmers get through the year,” Hart said, referring to market facilitation and coronavirus food assistance programs, which funneled two rounds of aid to farmers in 2020.

Indian Farmers Plan To March Into New Delhi

India’s protesting farmers, who have been camped on the outskirts of the capital, Delhi, have warned of intensifying their agitation if their demands are not met. Farmers’ organizations announced on Saturday, January 2 that they would hold a series of agitations culminating in a tractor parade in Delhi on January 26, which is celebrated as Republic Day. The government has so far refused to accept the key demand of the farmers, which is the withdrawal of three farm laws which were rammed through parliament in September. Farmers fear these laws will drive down the prices they get for their produce and pave the way for greater corporate involvement in agriculture.
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