Farmers at a rally near Singhu border on the outskirts of New Delhi, on Tuesday.
Thousands of farmers on Tuesday escalated protests to revoke controversial agricultural laws, clashing with police and storming key landmarks in New Delhi to pressure Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The farmers, who have camped at various border points around the capital for two months, had permission to demonstrate after the completion of an annual military parade to mark Republic Day. But many gathered early in the day and broke through barricades on the outskirts of the city, prompting police to deploy tear gas in some areas.
Television footage showed thousands of protesters clashing with police in central Delhi before reaching the iconic Red Fort, where the prime minister addresses the nation on Independence Day. It remained unclear if the farmers — many of whom gathered peacefully — would seek to camp out in the middle of Delhi, or return to locations outside the city where they had been staying.
“We are talking to the farmers — we are convincing them to go back,” said Depender Pathak, special commissioner of police. “We have faith in farmers. This is an unprecedented situation.”
The Home Ministry suspended mobile Internet services in some parts of the city where the protests were most tense. Several metro stations were also shut down.
Farmer leaders called on protesters to stay peaceful, warning that any violence could hurt their cause.
“For the last two months, the entire country and the world has been saying that the peaceful nature of these farmers protests is their strength,” said Yogendra Yadav, leader of Sanyukta Kisan Morcha. “If this peace breaks down, our strength will take a hit.”
Leaders of the protests have rejected PM Modi’s offers to temporarily shelve the three laws passed in September that overhauled the way farm goods are sold in the country; of the 1.3 billion people in India, almost half depend on agriculture for their livelihood. The government has defended the legislation, saying they would eliminate middlemen in state-run wholesale markets, increase earnings for farmers and make India more self-reliant.
#WATCH Protestors enter Red Fort in Delhi, wave flags from the ramparts of the fort pic.twitter.com/4dgvG1iHZo
– ANI (@ANI) January 26, 2021
The farmers have continued to call on the government to repeal the legislation, which they say will hurt their incomes and leave them vulnerable to big corporations. While the BJP has a lock on parliament, the protests risk hurting the PM’s appeal in state elections and could halt momentum for other reforms.
Although the demonstrations have hurt the government, the scenes on Tuesday of unruly farmers may undermine their cause, according to Asim Ali, a New Delhi-based researcher at the Center for Policy Research.
“This was always the danger, and it seems that it has gone out of hand,” Mr Ali said. “This is possibly what the ruling party would have liked to see.”
The tractor rallies marked the first time the protesting farmers have marched into the capital. They are mostly from the neighboring states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. But they have also found support in other cities, including Mumbai and Bengaluru, where protest marches have also taken place.
“More than a 100,000 people with tractors have gathered here and we expect more to join us,” said Manjit Rai, 57, a farm leader coordinating entry at one of the half-dozen entry points into the capital. “People are enthusiastic about the celebrations and we are determined that we will peacefully continue to make our case.”