Indian Prime Minister Narinder Modi reportedly struck back with drones and tear gas today against protests by farmers demanding the government buy their products at above market rate in the latest escalation of a three year conflict.
Police in India fired tear gas at hundreds of farmers and their supporters during a protest march toward New Delhi to pressure the government to honor a promise it made in 2021 to pay more for crops https://t.co/FIZwLFxklN pic.twitter.com/MfZ3SvGFSK
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 13, 2024
Prime Minister Modi’s Hindu nationalist government has begun to deploy drones and tear gas against protesting farmers at the Punjab and Haryana border after blockades designed to disrupt their march were torn down, according to Reuters. The protestors are reportedly angry promises made in 2021 by Modi that minimum prices would be extended to all produce and that farmers’ incomes would double had not come to fruition.
Modi’s attempts to establish India as a modern free-market economy have yielded immense growth in his tenure overall, according to Forbes India. However, while India’s farmers represent a shrinking percentage of GDP, they remain a huge voting block and attempts to deregulate the agricultural market and reduce price-fixing and subsidies have met with huge resistance leading to violent clashes in New Delhi, India’s capital, according to multiple reports. (RELATED: French Farmers Lay ‘Siege’ To Paris To Protest Environmental Red Tape)
Modi backed down from his efforts at reform in 2021 ahead of state elections, Reuters reported. Since then, however, assurances made to farming groups have not been met, leading to the recent marches, according to the outlet. Although the protest is reportedly over 100 miles north of Delhi at present, the government has installed barricades and banned large gatherings as a precaution against a repeat of the scenes in the capital in 2021.