Supporters of the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordinating Committee (a farmer organization group) held a flag at a protest in Hyderabad, India on Thursday to commemorate the first anniversary of the implementation of the Split Agriculture Law and demanded the withdrawal of the Electricity Amendment Act.

Noah Shiram/AFP/Getty Images

Gazipur border, New Delhi-In the past year, a sugarcane farmer wearing a bright green headscarf chanted in a bamboo tent set up in the middle of the highway in the suburbs of the Indian capital.

In this huge protest camp, Ramkumar Pagdiwale, in his 50s, built a small shrine containing several pots of water from the Ganges, soil from his farm about 30 miles away, and An oil lamp of special significance to him. It belongs to his ancestors.

He explained: “This is the eternal fire that has been burning since India’s struggle for independence in 1947.” “It provides us with guidance during the protest movement.”

Ramkumar Pagdiwale, a sugarcane farmer from Uttar Pradesh, India, built a small shrine in a bamboo tent in a protest camp in the middle of the highway in the eastern suburbs of the Indian capital.

This week, Pagdiwale believes that this light brings good luck again. On Wednesday, the Indian Cabinet approved the repeal of three controversial agricultural laws that farmers have been protesting over the past year.

They held a tractor rally, blocked the highway, and built camps like Pagdi Valle had always lived in. Friday is the first anniversary of their first anniversary of mobilization-which has turned into the biggest challenge to the rule of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to date.

"The ruler needs to consider his subjects. But Modi did not consult us," Pagdi Vale said. "He brought these laws and thought no one would raise their voice?"

Now, with Modi giving in and repealing the law, some farmers are packing up and returning to their fields. Others said they would squat down to make more demands.

The farmers said that their victory was a victory of nonviolent resistance. Although India ranks high on the list of countries that have regressed in democracy, this is a rare example of a popular grassroots movement affecting political change.

But analysts said that Modi's transformation is also a shrewd political move that may eventually strengthen his strength.

In Ghazipur, east of Delhi, a portrait of a famous Indian social reformer hangs on the wall of a rally tent. These portraits include farmers during the struggle for independence in India, as well as the main author of the Indian Constitution, Dalit scholar (formerly known as "Untouchable") BR Ambedkar.

The parliament passed three agricultural laws in September 2020, aiming to loosen control of Indian agriculture, remove government supervision of crop sales, and allow companies to negotiate directly with farmers. The government calls them much-needed free market reforms. But many farmers worry that they will cut their already meager profits and turn to large companies.

In response, the farmers launched one of the largest civil disobedience movements since India became independent from Britain. More than half of Indians-as many as 800 million people-live directly or indirectly from agriculture.

Many of them are poor. Rising prices of fertilizers, pesticides and seeds have put more and more farmers in debt. Suicides among farmers are prevalent.

But farmers in India are the largest agricultural labor force in the world. When they gathered hundreds of thousands in the street, they attracted attention.

In January this year, the Supreme Court of India suspended the implementation of the Agricultural Law and ordered the government to negotiate with agricultural unions. Then this month, Modi, India's most popular prime minister for decades, surrendered.

"This is a great victory for non-violent people's struggle, following the path shown by Mahatma Gandhi," Medha Patkar, a well-known Indian social reformer, told NPR by phone from her base in rural Maharashtra.

Gandhi used non-violent protests to counter colonial forces. Farmers use it to counter a powerful government that passed agricultural reforms without consulting them.

"Worldwide, democratic governance is collapsing. But we always have a glimmer of hope," Patka said. "Capitalist forces are being challenged, and in India, this challenge comes from our farmers and workers."

Earlier this week, the peasants' protest rally in Ghazipur in eastern Delhi was sparsely crowded. Friday is the first anniversary of the farmers' protests.

Although the majority of the protesters were non-violent, some of their gatherings were damaged by the conflict. January 26-Republic Day, a national holiday-protesting farmers broke through the police barricades in Delhi, waving flags and climbing the 17th century Red Fort. The police chased them, beat the protesters with bamboo poles called lathis and fired tear gas. A farmer was killed in the chaos.

In October, the son of a government minister of Modi allegedly crashed his father's car into a group of farmers protesters, killing four of them. The politician's son was arrested. This incident became a call for farmers and their supporters.

But even though farmers celebrated their victory this week, analysts said that the prime minister may also have a glimmer of hope.

Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state, and Punjab, another state of Uttar Pradesh, are expected to hold elections in early 2022. Both are agricultural bases where farmers hold large-scale protest rallies, and they are also where agricultural trade unions dominate. (In contrast, many farmers in other states did not participate in anti-government protests; some even silently support agricultural laws.)

Although Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in power in Uttar Pradesh, farmers and observers say that the party has been heavily supported in agricultural areas in the southern and western regions of the state.

"As the election approaches, I think the government realizes that they will have to make concessions," Jayaty Ghosh, a professor and development economist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, told NPR during a recent visit to Delhi.

Similarly, in the opposition-ruled Punjab State, the BJP has little hope of making progress without farmers voting. Punjab is known as the granary of India, where rice and wheat farmers supply a disproportionate share of the country’s staple food. It is also a Sikh-majority country, unlike most parts of India, where Hinduism is the majority.

Pro-farmer graffiti on a highway barrier near Ghazipur, where Indian farmers have been camping for a year to protest Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s agricultural laws.

Modi first announced his intention to repeal these laws on November 19-an important Sikh holiday.

"This is completely electoral. It caters to the needs of voters in Punjab, which has always been the center of peasant turmoil," Ghosh said. "[Modi] wanted to erase the painful memories of the farmers of his own words. He called them'professional instigators'." His ministers called them anti-ethnic and disorderly. All kinds of insults were abandoned by them. He wants everyone to forget this before the election. "

As reported by the BBC, digital investigators also discovered a network of fake social media information designed to slander Sikhs and promote the image of the Indian government during farmers’ protests. It bears the signs of previous BJP false propaganda activities, although there is no evidence that there is a connection, and the government declined to comment on the report.

In a speech on November 19, Modi referred to farmers as his "brothers."

Modi said in a televised speech: "I apologize to the people of the whole country with a sincere and pure heart." "There must be some shortcomings in our efforts. We cannot convince some farmers."

This is an apology that some people consider ambiguous. But Modi may hope it will help win farmers in key states such as Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. If so, his farm law may go down in history because of the collateral damage brought about by the turning point that helped Modi consolidate more power.

Sugarcane farmer Pagdi Vale said he was not sure whether Modi’s apology was enough to win his vote. He said that he is from Uttar Pradesh and has voted for the BJP once in the past. Now he hesitated.

"If the current government is ready to listen to farmers' opinions, we can consider voting for them," Pagdi Vale said. "But if they propose any such strict laws against farmers in the future, they will once again lose our respect."

Many economists said that Indian agriculture still urgently needs reform. It employs approximately 60% of Indians, but accounts for less than 15% of the country’s GDP. The Modi government may propose a follow-up farm bill. But farmers may be cautious.

Ramkumar Pagdiwale wears a green headscarf and smokes a traditional hookah from his hometown of Uttar Pradesh. Pagdiwale is a sugarcane farmer who has been camping in the Indian capital for the past year to protest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new agricultural law.

At the same time, around the issue of minimum support prices, there is still a big unmet need of agricultural trade unions.

Currently, the government has set minimum prices for 22 crops that are considered staple foods, including wheat and rice. However, it is not technically illegal to sell these crops at prices below the minimum support price or MSP. Farmers hope that MSP will be written into the law and be better implemented. (Due to lax supervision, some wholesale buyers ignore the lowest prices and deceive farmers to sell their crops at lower prices, usually at a loss.) Some farmers also hope to expand the list of eligible crops to among the 22 staple foods. outside.

Economist Ghosh said this is a reasonable request. But she doubted the government would agree. She thought Modi's apology might be his willingness.

"What surprises me is that the farmers have so far successfully defeated a stubborn government that never likes to admit defeat. So they have achieved a lot. But can they push MSP to the law? I doubt that," Ghosh said . "The government may do the classic moves of governments that feel cornered: They will set up a committee, they will have discussions, they will prolong the whole thing — and focus on winning elections."

Some farmers stated that they will not give in until their MSP requirements are met. But others are already packing.

The protest camp in Ghazipur on the eastern edge of Delhi may take some time to be dismantled. There are thousands of tents, tens of thousands of cribs and sleeping bags. There are several tents with kitchens and even a laundry station. Women hang clothes to dry on the edge of the highway overpass. Water tankers transport fresh supplies.

Residents said that in the fullest circumstances, the camp had hosted more than 2 million farmers. Two larger camps are located in the north and west of the city. These camps were supported by donations from farmer groups and Sikh temples as far away as California.

A scene of a farmer protesting against a camp in the eastern outskirts of the Indian capital. The most complete, the residents say there are more than 2 million farmers in this camp. But after a year of protests and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's request to surrender to farmers and stating that he will repeal three controversial agricultural laws, the crowd has diminished.

But when NPR visited this week, the Ghazipur camp was empty. There are only a few hundred farmers left. They held a rally there this weekend to plan their next move.

Pardeep Hooda, 42 years old, comes from a farmer's family in Haryana and is engaged in the seed business. He said: "Modi is only thinking about elections. Maybe he is thinking about power. But we are thinking about the country."

He said he was not sure whether to stay or go home.

"I will miss all these friends! It's been a year. Now these [comrades farmers] are like my family," Hu Da said. "This is the best year of my life. It really taught me how to fight and how to live."

Freelance producer Runjhun Sharma assisted in writing this report from New Delhi.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To view more information, please visit https://www.npr.org.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told COP26 that by 2070, India, the world's third-largest carbon emitter, will achieve net zero emissions. But the demand for coal, which supplies 70% of India's electricity, remains high.

India celebrated its 1 billionth COVID-19 vaccination on Thursday, which is a promising milestone for South Asian countries, where the delta variants of the country drove a massive surge earlier this year, and the initial mistakes Hindered its vaccination activities.

Tags: homepage headlines, Asia, business, world, news, agriculture, agriculture