Thousands of Indian farmers on Thursday blocked trains in several states, holding sit-ins on tracks to demonstrate against the government’s planned agricultural laws.
Trains in several states had to be cancelled or redirected due to the protests, local broadcaster NDTV reported.
Some farmers had also climbed onto locomotives during the four-hour-long agitation, while more security forces had been deployed in the affected areas, according to the report.
A large number of farmers, led by their unions, had camped at Delhi’s borders since late November demanding the withdrawal of three new agricultural laws that they said will leave them vulnerable to big corporations and the vagaries of the free market.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government says the laws, which ease rules regarding storage, marketing, and sale of produce, will modernise and energise the farming sector, on which more than 50 per cent of India’s population depend for a living
At the end of January, protesters clashed with security forces, leaving at least one farmer dead and 400 police officers injured, according to the police.
dpa/NAN
