Farmers in India are celebrating the government’s decision to revoke three agricultural laws that sparked anger and massive protests in the whole country in September last year.
As news broke of the government deciding to revoke the laws, people distributed sweets and hugged each other after the success of one of the longest sit-ins in Indian history.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Friday that his government would repeal all the controversial farm laws, which came as a strong climbdown for the Bhartiya Janta Party’s (BJP) leader.
According to media reports, the move seems to have been made because of the election in Uttar Pradesh next year. Uttar Pradesh is India’s most populous state with large rural populations who are against these laws.
The Indian prime minister also assured that in the next parliament session, which would start at the end of this month, his government would complete the whole process to revoke these laws.
The said laws were passed in September last year, aimed at deregulating the agriculture sector. The laws had caused massive agitation among the farmers, who in protest marched towards Delhi.
The farmer protests took the shape of a sit-in, which occurred at the Singhu border between the Indian State of Haryana and New Delhi.
In an unfortunate turn of events, the protests took a violent turn on India’s Republic Day on Jan 26, as clashes broke out between the farmers and Indian forces, resulting in deaths and injuries.
Meanwhile, opposition parties have expressed their congratulations to the farmers on their win. India’s main opposition leader, Rahul Gandhi, termed the government ‘arrogant’ and said this was the victory of farmers.
