As India¡¯s virus numbers swell and the economy stumbles, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has another crisis to deal with: Tens of thousands of angry farmers vowing to camp outside the capital for months.
The farmers ¡ª mostly from Punjab, often called India¡¯s bread-basket ¡ª want him to repeal three laws passed in September that allow them to sell crops directly to private firms instead of licensed middlemen at state-controlled markets. While Modi has said the laws will help them earn more cash, farmers fear those companies won¡¯t give them minimum prices set by the government.
¡°Modi has joined hands with private companies ¡ª he is trying to grab our land through private firms,¡± said Sukhvinder Kaur, 65, who joined the protest along with 10 other women from her village in Punjab state, about 500 kilometers (310 miles) away. Braving Delhi¡¯s winter, the women sleep on a truck bed, bathe on the side of the road and eat food at a makeshift community kitchen.
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