farmers protest in india

Farmers will leave all protest sites in Delhi by 15 December, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait said on Sunday after the year-long agitation against the three farm laws ended this week after the government accepted their demands, including repeal of the legislation.

Tikait said he will be leaving the city for a three-day programme in Haryana, Chandigarh and Amritsar to end the protests in those regions as well, according to news agency ANI.

On 26 January, the Republic Day of India, a rogue segment of the farmers' movement deviated from their pre-designated route and launched a procession at the Red Fort where they were met with the brutal force of the police resulting in one farmer's death. 

In response, the Uttar Pradesh government ordered the farmers to vacate the Delhi border at Singhu and Ghazipur.

Indian farmers, protesting over three new farm laws they say threaten their livelihoods, will start a sit-in near parliament in the centre of the capital New Delhi in a renewed push to pressure the government to repeal the laws.

In the longest-running growers' protest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, tens of thousands of farmers have camped out on major highways leading to New Delhi for more than seven months.

A Delhi court granted a police request on Friday to extend the detention of climate activist Disha Ravi who they accuse of sedition for her alleged role in the creation of an online "toolkit" intended to help farmers protesting reforms.

The 22-year-old Ravi, who is part of an organisation founded by Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg, appeared in court following her arrest in Bengaluru last weekend in a case that has raised concerns about a crackdown on dissent.

Greta Thunberg on Friday tweeted her support for an Indian activist jailed over a guide for anti-government farmers protests, which the Swedish climate campaigner had earlier shared to social media.

In a post on Twitter, Thunberg wrote "freedom of speech and the right to peaceful protest and assembly are non-negotiable human rights."

"These must be a fundamental part of any democracy. #StandWithDishaRavi," the 18-year-old activist tweeted, referring to Indian climate campaigner Disha Ravi.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday urged farmers to end their over two-month long protest against agricultural reforms, assuring them that a mechanism of floor prices for key crops would remain in place.

Demanding the repeal of three new farm laws that they say will hurt them to the benefit of large corporations and allow the government to discontinue buying food grains at a minimum support price (MSP), tens of thousands of farmers have been camped on the outskirts of Delhi since late 2020.

The United Nations human rights office called on Indian authorities and protesting farmers to exercise "maximum restraint" hours before the growers impose a nationwide road blockade on Saturday seeking a repeal of new agricultural laws.

Tens of thousands of farmers have camped out on the outskirts of New Delhi for more than two months, blocking key roads and demonstrating against the laws they say will benefit large private buyers at their expense.

Twitter was abuzz on Wednesday night as notable former and current India cricketers including legendary Sachin Tendulkar and captain Virat Kohli took to Twitter to voice their opinion on the ongoing farmers' protests.

Tendulkar, Kohli, Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane, limited-overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma, head coach Ravi Shastri, former India captain Anil Kumble, former India batsman Suresh Raina were some of the renowned names from the Indian cricket fraternity who tweeted on farmers' protest.

India slammed international celebrities on Wednesday for making comments in support of protesting farmers as inaccurate and irresponsible and said vested interest groups were trying to build opinion against the country.

US singer Rihanna, climate change activist Greta Thunberg and US lawyer and activist Meena Harris, the niece of Vice-President Kamala Harris, made comments on social media drawing attention to the plight of farmers who have been on a months-long campaign against reforms.

Indian police and paramilitary dug ditches and spread razor wire across main roads into New Delhi on Monday to prevent protesting farmers entering the capital as the finance minister prepared to deliver the government's annual budget in parliament.

Internet and messaging services were blocked in several neighbourhoods on the outskirts where protests turned violent last week, and security was stepped up around parliament and other important government offices in the central district.