After six consecutive months of strikes and protests, Indian farmers continue to call for the repeal of three recently passed agricultural bills. The protests began in August, when the three bills were first announced, and continued to grow rapidly as the bills were passed in September. The government has repeatedly rejected the demands of farmers and farm unions in subsequent meetings.

At its core, the protests reflect a global issue of labor rights and labor regulation (opens in new tab), and the Indian government's treatment of the protesters has begun to tread dangerously into the realm of human rights violations, yet has yet to receive significant coverage outside India (see (opens in new tab), even though people around the world are organizing their own protests in solidarity.) The situation changed, however, when peaceful protests turned violent at the end of January. On January 26, India's Republic Day, farmers planning a rally drove a tractor into central Delhi and stormed the capital's historic Red Fort, clashing with police armed with tear gas, batons, and assault rifles, according to the BBC (opens in new tab), One protester was killed and more than 300 police officers were injured in the clashes. According to Human Rights Watch (opens in new tab), more than 200 protesters were subsequently detained, as were eight working journalists.

In early February, after the Indian government reportedly restricted Internet access in areas surrounding the ongoing protests (opens in new tab), global activists like Rihanna began using their platform to advance the farmers' cause.

As the protests approach the six-month mark, the government shows no sign of accepting the protesters' demands, thus making the continuation of their civil disobedience almost certain. The following is a primer on the ongoing conflict.

At the heart of the farmers' protests is a dispute over three farm bills passed by the Indian parliament in September with the support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. According to PRS (open in new tab), a nonprofit legislative research organization in India, the three bills relax trade restrictions on farmers' goods, allow online and interstate trade, allow farmers and buyers to enter into exclusive contracts, and limit the government's ability to regulate the supply of essential goods.

These bills were presented by Modi and other bill supporters as giving farmers the freedom to control their own trade and expand their own markets. However, farmers argue that if this deregulation increases competition, corporate buyers, not farm workers, who make up nearly 60% of India's population, will have all the power. Buyers will have access to more suppliers, which will allow them to lower their prices. This phenomenon is further exacerbated by the bill's elimination of government-imposed minimum prices for certain goods. [According to Al Jazeera (opens in new tab), dozens of protesters have died from bad weather, heart attacks and other health conditions, car accidents during protests, and suicide since the protests began in August, before the bill was passed.

In short, the three laws have been completely repealed. Representatives of more than 30 agricultural unions opposed to the bill met with government officials 11 times to no avail. Government officials have called on farmers to participate in mediation, negotiations, and amendments to the laws, but farmers have refused, citing their demand for the full repeal of the bill.

"The government has the sharpest mind. Kiran Bissa, a union member and protest leader, told The Wire (opens in a new tab) in December: "The only way to meet our demands is to repeal the law completely. In other words, the only way to meet our demands is to repeal the law altogether. The government refuses to look into the substance of our demands in any substantive way."

In mid-January, the country's highest court issued an order suspending the bill and appointing a commission to oversee future negotiations, The Guardian (opens in new tab) reported. The protesters were reported to have taken the position of calling for a total suspension of the bill rather than an unsatisfactory compromise, with leaders stating that "now is not the time to hold a committee meeting."

In response to the suspension order, Bhog Singh Mansa, president of the Indian Farmers Union, echoed Vissa's sentiments. He said, "The suspension is not the solution. We are here to repeal these laws altogether," he told the Business Standard (opens in new tab). In a sense, the government has already agreed to repeal the laws when it said it would incorporate as many amendments as the farmers want."

"The government has already agreed to repeal the laws when it said it would incorporate as many amendments as the farmers want.

In the latest round of consultations on January 22, the government offered a suspension of the bill for up to 18 months as its best offer, but the farmers again rejected it as not meeting their explicit demands. according to The Print (opens in new tab), after running into this obstacle, each groups have yet to schedule the next round of talks.

In earlier talks, government officials said (opens in new tab) that they had reached an agreement with the protesters on the issues of decriminalizing the required controlled fires and removing the clause on raising electricity rates. Gopal Krishna Agarwal, a spokesman for Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party, told the New York Times (opens in new tab), "These leaders are not looking for a solution, they are trying to continue the movement against the government."

Throughout months of protests, supporters of the law have also argued that the farmers simply do not understand its provisions. However, the lack of concrete results from the 11 rounds of talks, coupled with growing evidence (open in new tab) that supporters of the bill are misinformed, proves that the protests are not based on misunderstanding but on fundamental disagreements over the rights and treatment of agricultural workers.

Moreover, on January 26, after the Republic Day riots, the Ministry of Interior announced that it would shut down mobile Internet service in several districts around Delhi, where hundreds of thousands of farmers have been camped out for months, the BBC (opens in new tab) reported; according to CNN (opens in new tab) The shutdown was supposed to last only a few hours, but has been extended several times daily, with officials claiming that the Internet shutdown is essentially shutting off farmers' ability to share and receive information "to maintain public safety and avoid an emergency situation."

Supporters of the bill have refused to accept the farmers' demand for full repeal, and no further discussion of a timetable has taken place, so the protests are likely to continue for weeks or even months, but once the March planting season begins, many farmers may choose to return to their farms Many farmers may choose to return to their farms once the March planting season begins.

"We are not going back. It's not in our genetic code," Lingu Yaspal, a protester camped outside Delhi, told The New York Times (opens in new tab) in the days following the Republic Day clashes. Agriculture has become a slow poison. We would rather die fighting here."

Also according to the Times, farmer leader Jagar Singh Bajwa told the assembled crowd, "We must not send out the message that we are tired and are going home," adding, "We will start afresh today with full unity."