Why India's protesting farmers refuse to back down
Thousands of farmers in India remain determined to resume their march on the capital, New Delhi. Their main demand is a minimum guaranteed price for their produce, and their protest may well pose the biggest election challenge for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Transcript
00:00 "Long live the revolution!" they call.
00:07 With national elections just around the corner, such rallying cries from India's farmers should
00:13 make any government nervous.
00:15 "We will intensify the movement.
00:19 There is no way we'll go back now without the government agreeing to our demands."
00:24 "Modi is a dictator.
00:27 He won't listen.
00:28 We will sit here as long as we have to.
00:29 I have told my wife and children that either I'll come back successful or my dead body
00:34 will."
00:38 The farmers' main demand is a guaranteed minimum price for all their produce.
00:43 They also want better pensions and their loans waived.
00:47 But negotiations with government representatives have so far not led anywhere.
00:53 "Because of the election, the pressure on the government is increasing as more farmers
00:58 are joining in every day."
01:01 The timing of the protest is not lost on anyone.
01:05 India is set to hold national elections soon, and a big protest now could be a challenge
01:10 for Narendra Modi, who is seeking a rare third term as prime minister.
01:16 This is not his first brush with protesting farmers.
01:19 In 2021, the farmers' movement, which lasted for over a year, forced Prime Minister Modi
01:25 to roll back three controversial agricultural laws, which, according to farmers, could have
01:30 led to corporatisation of the farming sector.
01:35 Three years on, Manjeet Singh is one of the leaders of this protest camp at Shambhu border
01:41 in India's breadbasket state of Punjab.
01:44 He says Narendra Modi also made strong promises to the farmers when he was in the opposition,
01:50 including fixing the guaranteed minimum prices for crops.
01:54 But did nothing after coming into power.
01:57 "If Modi is considered such a strong leader, someone who does not back down, then we should
02:03 remind everyone that he is strong because of the people of the country.
02:08 He should work for the people.
02:10 We have no problem with who runs the government.
02:13 We are just saying that the farmers, who are the backbone of the country, should at least
02:16 be happy."
02:20 With government data showing more than 50% of India's farmers in debt, economist Arun
02:26 Kumar points to a growing disparity between urban and rural India.
02:31 He says that if not addressed, this imbalance of development could pose a political challenge
02:36 for years to come.
02:37 "The reason is that you see 85% of the farmers are small and marginal farmers.
02:43 The income that they're getting from farming is roughly around the poverty line, or even
02:47 below the poverty line.
02:48 Because they have very low income, to continue farming they have to borrow.
02:52 So they're in debt."
02:53 For now, heavy security forces and barbed wires are stopping Manjeet and the other farmers
02:59 from marching to the capital city.
03:02 But they are determined to stay put, miles away from their homes and families.
03:07 For them, they say, it is a matter of survival.
03:10 [BLANK_AUDIO]