Indian Farmers Made Modi Back Down
Narendra Modi has faced few serious barriers to his authoritarian, far-right agenda since taking office — which makes his backing down on proposed free-market agricultural reforms in response to mass protest from farmers all the more remarkable.
Farmers in India have been protesting for over a year, demanding the rollback of laws aimed at deregulating the farming sector. (Naveen Sharma / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images)
New Delhi: Inside a tin shanty, built right in the middle of the national highway, Hardeep Singh had stockpiled blankets and quilts as the winter began in New Delhi. He was glued to the TV, perched precariously atop an iron stand, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a surprise media appearance on November 19.
Above his shanty, a mile board directs toward the state of Haryana. Singh has called this highway home since he marched toward New Delhi with hundreds of thousands of farmers, in a protest against the three new agricultural reform laws forced by the Modi-led government, last year.
After they were tear-gassed until they stopped at the capital’s borders, farmers braced through harsh winters, scorching summers, and flooding monsoons to become the biggest political challenge Modi has faced in office.
Sorry, but this article is available to active subscribers only. Please log in or become a subscriber.