Sunday, 07 February 2021 _Indian police have deployed a significant number of its forces nationwide in an attempt to smother fresh protests by farmers who have been nursing a grievance against agricultural reforms introduced by New Delhi.
On Saturday, ten subway stations were closed in central New Delhi and thousands of police personnel manned barricades and roadblocks at key intersections.
Last month, the central parts of the capital saw a tractor march that turned into a violent rampage.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government introduced a series of agricultural laws in September 2020, to the discontent of farmers, who say the new laws will hurt their livelihoods.
Clashes between protesters, police, and groups of anti-farmers have taken place on multiple occasions since then.
Farmers’ unions say the laws will affect nearly 70 percent of the 1.3-billion population who are drawing their livelihood from agriculture. They say they would not budge “until the laws are repealed.”
The government insists it will not bow to the protesters’ demands.
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