Indian farmers cite support of Canada as farm laws repealed, but demands not met

Farmers engaged in a dispute with the Indian government say there is reason for small celebrations, thanks in part to international support, but the work is not yet complete.

Indian farmers who peacefully protested for 16 months are celebrating a major victory after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced his government’s intention to repeal three bills, which were dubbed as anti-farmer and pro-corporation by protestors. But, Harpal Sangha, a leader of a farmers’ union and president of the Azad Kisan Committee Doaba said the protests still don’t have an end in sight despite the bills being repealed.

“What we’ve sought was not agreed to, they’ve only done half of what we’ve wanted. We’re not done yet,” he said.

The controversial farm laws, which were initially passed without any discussion in parliament, will now be repealed in the upcoming parliament, which resumes in December, according to Modi.

The bills in question, which had been passed last year, eliminated the mandi system (MSP), which ensures farmers are paid a guaranteed minimum for their crops. Most farmers sell their crops under the government-controlled mandi system in order to avoid competing with larger corporations. These bills would in effect have changed the rules around selling, pricing and storage of produce, which farmers feared would further lead to privatization of the agricultural industry.

Farmers are now seeking to have MSP expanded to cover more crops. Currently grains like wheat and paddy (rice) are mostly covered in the Indian province of Punjab, but Sandha said the goal is to bring equality across India, not just in one region. Sangha said the farmers initial demands were always to see MSP be applied to all agricultural crops and across the entire country.

“They have not met our demands. Until they do that, we’re going to keep protesting,” he said. “In many parts of the country, farmers are still struggling. There is no structure in India, we need that.”

Prior to Friday’s announcement, Prime Minister Modi’s government had been steadfast in their belief that the bills would have created free market competition by allowing farmers to sell directly to buyers and avoid the wholesale market which would benefit farmers. However, despite the government’s desires to engage farmers in conversations, they were also simultaneously cracking down any dissidence. The government used a range of tactics including arresting journalists covering the protests, calling on Twitter to suspend accounts with opposing views and labeling celebrities supporting farmers as anti-Indian.

During his nationally televised speech, Modi said he wanted to apologize to the nation and “make a fresh start.”