Indian farmers start mass hunger strike!
Indian farmers and their leaders spearheading more than two months of protests against new agriculture laws began a daylong hunger strike Saturday, directing their fury toward Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government, reports AP from Delhi.
Farmer leaders said the hunger strike, which coincides with the death anniversary of Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi, would reaffirm the peaceful nature of the protests.
“The way the government is spreading planned lies and violence is condemnable,” according to Samyukta Kisan Morcha or United Farmers’ Front, a coalition of farmers’ unions. It includes hundreds of protest leaders taking part in the strike.
Farmers are demanding the withdrawal of laws passed by Parliament last September. They say the legislature will favour large corporations, devastate the earnings of many farmers and leave those with small plots behind.
The long-running protests have largely been peaceful but violence erupted on Tuesday, India’s Republic Day, when tens of thousands of farmers riding tractors and on foot stormed the 17th century Red Fort in a brief but shocking takeover.
