Despite the pouring rain and freezing cold, for three months thousands of angry farmers have set up camp on the streets of New Delhi demanding the Indian government revoke new farming laws. Fair Go producer Blessen Tom takes a look at the issues.
On Tuesday, protests culminated in violent and fatal action. Using their tractors to pull apart barricades, the protesting farmers took on the police, a clash that saw the death of a 25-year-old.
It was a violent escalation of generally peaceful protests - testing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP-led government in unprecedented ways - and forcing it to make concessions to the new laws that were meant to revitalise India's agricultural sector.
But for many it's not enough - these farmers want a complete repeal of the law. And while the country celebrated its 72nd year of being a republic, farmers stormed into Delhi's Red Fort, forcing a government rethink.
So, what's it all about?
In late September 2020, the Indian government quickly passed a new set of farming laws, designed to loosen rules around the sale, pricing and storage of farm produce which have protected India's farmers from the free market for decades.
Farmers are worried because they fear the new laws will threaten decades-old concessions, such as assured prices, and could weaken their bargaining power, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation by huge private corporations.
They're also concerned the new rules would allow private buyers to hoard essential commodities for future sales - something only government agencies should be able to do.
But India's government strongly believes removing the middleman from the process is the way forward and the changes would eventually drive more investment into agriculture and increase farm incomes.
Soon after the laws passed, protests started in northern states Punjab and Haryana. While they make up just three per cent of the country’s land area; they produce close to 50 per cent of India’s surplus of rice and wheat.
In the beginning, the government largely ignored the protests, especially since they were largely confined to Punjab.
But then the government had to take notice as protestors started heading to Delhi, calling one farmers all over the country to join with them.
“Dilli Chalo” ( Let's go to Delhi) saw thousands of farmers on tractors, and even on foot, making their journey to the capital to add their voice to the chorus of complaints.
They set up temporary townships on the highways, which saw thousands of farmers housed, fed and even getting foot massages.
This isn't the first time farmers in Indian have rallied against big corporations, especially if they are allies of Prime Minister Modi, such as Reliance Industries (owned by the Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani) and the Adani Group (owned by Gautam Adani).
Over 1500 Jio telecom towers, owned by Reliance Jio, were damaged in Punjab early this month.
The company has since publicly announced they’re not entering the farming sector.
How important is farming in India?
Farmers are often seen as the heart and soul of India.
After independence in 1947, the nation struggled to feed its people and after a series of crop shortages and famines in the 1960s, India decided to boost food production by adopting hybrid high-yield varieties of wheat and rice.
The move was known as the Green Revolution of India and it saw for the first time, the use of mechanised farming backed by intensive use of chemical fertilisers.
The northern states of Punjab and Haryana were best suited to the new methods, because the farmers there own the land they farm (in other states the farmland is leased and so the tenant farmers were less keen to adopt mechanisation).
Within a few decades, Punjab and Haryana provided wheat and rice for the whole country - which meant India could stop imports of those crops.
The surplus grains were bought by the government through set, stable prices and were then distributed back to the poor at subsidised rates through a public distribution system.
These new laws could mean the role of government in this system is decreased, and big corporations might take over instead, which according to farmers could jeopardise fair prices.
What will happen now?
The Modi Government has a massive challenge in front of it. Its early attempts to link the protest with the Khalistan movement, a far-right religious movement demanding a separate country for Sikhs, backfired.
Labelling farmers "anti national" didn't help either. In fact, it only strengthened the protests.
With growing support from both farmers around the world (there have been protests in the US, Canada and even here in Auckland) and within India, things are going to be difficult for the Modi government.
Critics have highlighted the Modi government's tendency to push through reforms without building a consensus first.
When these laws were passed in parliament, BJP denied multiple requests from the opposition to discuss and debate the laws.
The farmers have consistently made their point through nine rounds of unsuccessful discussion, and after a recent observation from the Supreme Court, the next move is Narendra Modi's.
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