Indian farmers, who have been protesting for higher prices for their crops, are planning to escalate their protests from Wednesday by entering the capital New Delhi by bus and train. Thousands of farmers, mainly from the northern states of Punjab and Haryana, with around 3,000 tractors, are currently stuck at three borders that were blocked by police and paramilitary troops with barricades.
The farmers, who have been protesting for several months, intensified their protest after several rounds of failed talks. They are determined to continue protesting until their demands for higher support prices, backed by law, are met.
Farmers from various states, from Kerala in the south to Madhya Pradesh in central India, will arrive in New Delhi by trains and buses on Wednesday, Ramandeep Singh Mann, a farmer leader, told Reuters.“Farmers from Punjab and Haryana will continue protesting at the existing protest sites with tractor trolleys. They will attempt to enter New Delhi with tractors only,” he said.
Clashes between farmers and security forces, including cane charges and tear gas canisters dropped by drones, have played on television screens for several days. The farmers say at least one protester has died in the clashes while dozens have been injured on both sides.
The protesting farmers will also block railway lines across the country for four hours during the afternoon of March 10, Mann said. The government announces support prices for more than 20 crops each year, but state agencies buy only rice and wheat at the support level, which benefits only about 6% of farmers who raise those two crops.
The escalation of the protests comes amid heightened tensions between the farmers and the government, which has been criticized for not addressing the farmers’ demands. The farmers’ demands include higher support prices for crops, better access to markets, and a repeal of laws that they say favor large corporations and hurt small farmers
