Indian farmers block railways, roads to mark 4 months of protests

Farmers squat on railway tracks and roads across India to mark months of protests against new farm laws.

Hundreds of farmers have blocked roads and railway tracks across India, disrupting traffic to mark four months of protests against a set of farm laws they say will leave them at the mercy of big corporations. The farmers’ unions called for a 12-hour countrywide strike on Friday to maintain pressure to repeal the laws passed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in September 2020. Modi’s government says the laws, which ease rules regarding storage, marketing and the sale of produce, will modernise and energise the farming sector.