India blocked mobile internet services in several areas around New Delhi onSaturday as protesting farmers began a one-day hunger strike after a weekof clashes with authorities that left one dead and hundreds injured.
Angry at new agricultural laws that they say benefit large private foodbuyers at the expense of producers, tens of thousands of farmers have beencamped at protest sites on the outskirts of the capital for more than twomonths.
At the main protest site near the village of Singhu on the northernoutskirts of the city, there was a heightened police presence on Saturdayas hundreds of tractors arrived from Haryana, one of two states at thecentre of the protests.
“Many farmers’ groups have joined the protest site since last night,” saidMahesh Singh, a 65-year-old farmer from Haryana. “They have come to showtheir support and more farmers are expected to come in the next two days.”
India’s interior ministry said on Saturday internet services at threelocations on the outskirts of New Delhi where protests are occurring hadbeen suspended until 11 p.m. (1730 GMT) on Sunday to “maintain publicsafety”.
Indian authorities often block local internet services when they believethere will be unrest, although the move is unusual in the capital.
Farm leaders said the hunger strike by hundreds of protesters, primarily atSinghu and two other protest sites and designed to coincide with theanniversary of the death of Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi,would show Indians that the demonstrations were non-violent.
“The farmers’ movement was peaceful and will be peaceful,” said DarshanPal, a leader of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha group of farm unions organisingthe protests. “The events on January 30 will be organised to spread thevalues of truth and non-violence.”
Agriculture employs about half of India’s population of 1.3 billion, andunrest among an estimated 150 million landowning farmers is one of thebiggest challenges to the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi sincecoming to power in 2014.
Eleven rounds of talks between farm unions and the government have failedto break the deadlock. The government has offered to put the laws on holdfor 18 months, but farmers say they will not end their protests foranything less than full repeal.
In the past week, a planned tractor parade on Tuesday’s Republic Dayanniversary turned violent when some protesters deviated from pre-agreedroutes, tore down barricades and clashed with police, who used tear gas totry and restrain them.
Sporadic clashes between protesters, police and groups shouting anti-farmerslogans have broken out on multiple occasions since then.