Opposition to controversial Indian legislation farmers say could devastate crop prices has come to the streets of Sechelt as part of a widespread effort to bring international awareness to the crisis.
About 30 cars drove from Davis Bay and through the downtown core of Sechelt the afternoon of Dec. 8, with passengers waving signs that read, “I stand with farmers.”
Demonstrators fear the three new laws could cause the government to stop buying grain at guaranteed prices, making farmers more vulnerable to exploitation by corporations that would drive down prices.
The government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi says the laws will bring much needed reform to agriculture by allowing farmers the freedom to market their produce and boost production through private investment. Opposition parties and some Modi allies have called the laws anti-farmer.
Farmers are demanding the laws be scrapped.
Rallies against the reform have swept through Lower Mainland communities this week, including downtown Vancouver and Abbotsford. They’re also underway in the United States, the U.K. and Australia.
“Agriculture plays a vital role in my country,” said organizer and Sechelt resident Harpreet Singh, whose family still farms wheat and rice in the northern state of Punjab, where peaceful protests have been occurring since September.
Many in the South Asian community on the Sunshine Coast are personally affected by the reforms because of their families’ ties to agriculture, said Singh.
About half of India’s population depends on farming, but the economic clout of the industry has dwindled over the past three decades to 15 per cent of gross domestic product, valued at $2.9 trillion a year.
Singh’s family joined hundreds of thousands in travelling to New Delhi, where protesters blocked major access points to the city, with media reporting clashes with police. “They started beating them with batons and water canons,” Singh told Coast Reporter, adding his relatives were unharmed.
Singh said he hopes through the rallying he can bring local awareness of the issue to pressure the federal government to take a strong stance against the legislation.
The laws, which came into effect in September, have now been challenged by a major farming union through a petition to India’s Supreme Court, according to media reports.
Singh said he doesn’t expect to see a quick resolution to the crisis – and demonstrations will likely continue.
“Most of the farmers are living under the poverty line,” he said. “If the government [keeps] these laws, then they will not be able to survive.”
– with files from Ashok Sharma / The Associated Press
