As tens of thousands of farmers in India on Tuesday drove a convoy of tractors festooned with bright flags to protest against the government’s new agricultural laws, their counterparts thousands of miles away in the United Kingdom posted images on social media to express their solidarity with them.
The Landworkers’ Alliance, a farmers’ union representing more than 1,000 small and medium-scale farmers and land workers across the UK, said they have written a letter to British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and to the Narendra Modi government about the impact of industrialisation. The union urged both the governments to support small-scale farming methods.
“The current wave of strike action by Indian farmers is the largest civil society action by the agricultural community for three decades, with hundreds of thousands of farmers and farm workers protesting on the streets of Delhi for several months,” the union said in a statement.
Farmers in India claim that the new reforms will weaken the minimum support price system, lead to a deregulation of crop pricing and leave them at the mercy of large and private buyers. They have been camped outside Delhi for two months, seeking withdrawal of the laws. The central government maintains that the three laws, passed by Parliament in September, will overhaul outdated procurement procedures for farm produce, give farmers more options for selling their harvest and improve pricing.
Here are photos of farmers across UK supporting Indian protestors:
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!