HYDERABAD, Jan 27 (IPS) – Yesterday, Jan. 26, India celebrated its Republic Day. But it was marked by scenes of farmers driving their tractors in convoy and marching to New Delhi’s historic Red Fort. IPS senior correspondent STELLA PAUL unpacks the issues behind India’s farmers’ protests.
“This road is my home now and it will decide my future,” Sukhvinder Singh, a 27-year old farmer from the Moga district of Punjab, tells IPS. Last November, weeks after the government of India passed three farm bills he felt were anti-farmer, Singh travelled to Singhu, a village near Delhi, to demand the laws be repealed. Since then, he has been living in a tent he shares with five other fellow farmer-protesters.
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