Why are farmers protesting against the Indian government?
The Guardian’s south Asia correspondent and the founder of a sustainable farming movement explain why farmers are so angry
Rachel Humphreys talks to the Guardian’s south Asia correspondent, Hannah Ellis-Petersen, about the farmers’ protests taking place in India. The farmers object vociferously to new laws that constitute the most sweeping reform to agriculture for decades. The government of the prime minister, Narendra Modi, says the laws will bring necessary modernisation and private competition to an ailing sector that has left millions of farmers destitute. Farmers say the laws were passed without consultation and will allow private corporations to control the prices of crops, crush their livelihoods and take away their land.
Rachel also talks to Umendra Dutt who runs the Kheti Virasat mission, a people’s movement for sustainable farming and food safety in the state of Punjab. Umendra feels optimistic about the protests – he believes the government will no longer be able to ignore the issues facing farmers.
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