Farmers in India have protested for over a year over laws passed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, purportedly to allow farmers to sell produce directly to bulk buyers and make contract farming easier.
Here is a timeline of events around the passing of the laws and the escalating protests:
June 2020: Three emergency executive orders are introduced, which Modi’s cabinet says are aimed at giving farmers the freedom to sell directly to institutional buyers such as big trading houses, large retailers and food processors.
September 17: Lower house of parliament, the Lok Sabha passes the orders. Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal resigns, calling the legislation “anti-farmer”.
September 18: Modi defends the new legislation, saying it will “unshackle” millions of farmers and help them get better prices.
September 20: Parliament passes the bills, despite growing protest from opposition parties, who say farmers’ bargaining power will be diminished.
September 24: Farmers from big northern heartland states – key producers of wheat and rice – block railway tracks. Bigger demonstrations are held across the country the next day, with growers blocking highways leading to the capital New Delhi with trucks, tractors and combine harvesters.
Children and farmers block railway tracks during a protest against the new farm bills at Jandiala Guru in Amritsar, October 27, 2020. Photo: PTI
November 30: Modi resists calls to repeal the laws, dismissing as misplaced fears the government will eventually abolish the wholesale markets.
Also Read: ‘If Modi Govt Really Respects Sikhs, it Should First Repeal Farm Laws’: Farmers on Kartarpur Move
December 1: In talks lasting several hours, ministers and representatives of the protesting farmers fail to break a deadlock over the farm laws.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks of the protests in a video message, saying his government had reached out to Indian authorities. In response, India’s foreign ministry said Canadian leaders were “ill-informed”.
December 7: Thousands protest and block traffic converge on the Indian embassy and march around Trafalgar Square area in central London over the Indian reforms. Police arrest 13 over breaches of COVID regulations.
December 8: Protests spread across India, as farm organisations call for a nationwide strike after inconclusive talks with the government.
December 16: A 65-year-old Sikh priest dies by suicide at one of the protest sites.
December 17: The protests expand to the Sikh diaspora, with 250 to 300 Sikhs and other Indians taking part in a rally in Melbourne. Protests take place over a few days in nearly 50 different cities around the world.
December 21: Farmers’ leaders begin a 24-hour relay hunger strike. More than 30 protesters camping out in the open on key national highways have died, mainly due to the cold with temperatures falling to 4° Celsius, farmer leaders said.
Farmers during a protest against the farm laws, at Singhu Border in New Delhi, Thursday, December 24, 2020. Photo: PTI/Atul Yadav
January 12, 2021: Supreme Court orders an indefinite stay on the implementation of the new agricultural laws, saying it wanted to protect farmers and would hear their objections.
January 26: Farmers overwhelm police and storm into New Delhi’s historic Red Fort complex after tearing down barricades and driving tractors through roadblocks. Police fire tear gas in an unsuccessful bid to force the protesters back. One protester was killed, a witness said, and Delhi police said 86 officers had been injured across the city.
February 2: Singer Rihanna tweets using the hashtag #FarmersProtest, saying: “Why aren’t we talking about this?!” Others follow, including Greta Thunberg and Meena Harris, niece of US Vice President Kamala Harris. India’s foreign ministry slams the comments, urging a proper understanding of the issues at hand.
Members of the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) hold placards condemning the arrest of climate activist Disha Ravi in New Delhi, February 22, 2021. Photo: PTI/Ravi Choudhary
February 15: Politicians and activists condemn the arrest of Disha Ravi, a 22-year-old climate campaigner accused of sedition for helping edit an online document Sweden’s Greta Thunberg had promoted in support of the protesting farmers. She is later granted bail, a court saying there was “scanty and sketchy evidence” of sedition in her efforts.
July 22: Farmers start a sit-in at Jantar Mantar, a large Mughal-era observatory near parliament in New Delhi, renewing a push for the repeal.
September 5: More than 500,000 farmers gather in Uttar Pradesh state, the biggest rally yet in a months-long series of demonstrations.
November 19: Modi says he will repeal the controversial laws farmers have protested against for over a year.