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Farmers' March: Why Lakhs Of Protesters Will Be On Delhi's Roads This Week

The main demand of the farmers' is a 21-day-long joint parliamentary session dedicated to the agrarian crisis.
Farmers march in Mumbai demanding loan waivers and the transfer of forest lands to villagers.
Francis Mascarenhas / Reuters
Farmers march in Mumbai demanding loan waivers and the transfer of forest lands to villagers.

Nagpur, MAHARASHTRA — Over one lakh farmers from all across the country are expected to participate in the Kisan Mukti March in the national capital on 29 and 30 November.

The march is being organised under the banner of All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC), a confederation of around 200 farmers' groups from across the country.

According to the AIKSCC, the farmers will be joined by agricultural labourers and dispossessed rural Indians who have been hit hard by the agrarian crisis for over three decades now.

The 'Dilli Chalo' march also has a well-updated website, and the organisers claim that it is receiving support from different sections of the society.

Senior journalist P Sainath, who is also traveling across the country to mobilise support for the march, said that the idea for the march came from the Nashik-to-Mumbai farmers' march earlier this year.

That march was exceptionally well-organised and saw the middle class of the city come out on to the roads to support the farmers and provide them with food and other necessities.

"When was the last time people from the middle classes interacted with the farmers? The great thing about Nashik-Mumbai march was that it started happening. Middle classes started reconnecting. I think this is a very important thing and it goes beyond 29 or 30 November that the farmers and the labourers are returning into public discourse and the middle classes are talking to peoplefrom the Anganwadis, to people from the farms, to agricultural labourers. It's a good thing for democracy, it's a good thing for equality," Sainath told HuffPost India.

The main demand of the farmers' is a 21-day-long joint parliamentary session dedicated to the agrarian crisis.

The farmers will gather at the Ram Leela Maidan in New Delhi on 29 November and march towards Parliament the next day to demand that two private member bills be passed and a special session of the Parliament be called. The two bills are The Farmers Freedom from Indebtedness Bill, 2018 and Farmers' Right to Guaranteed Remunerative Minimum Support Price for Agricultural Commodities Bill, 2018.

"We are making a determined attempt to reach out to all sections of people across India because the agrarian crisis ultimately affects everyone. Our attempt is to generate an understanding of the long historical processes, especially of the past two decades, that has precipitated the agrarian crisis," the 'Dilli Chalo' website states.

The 'Dilli Chalo' march will likely put the Narendra Modi government on the defensive as it is one of the biggest mobilisations against it since the government assumed charge in 2014.

Many civil society groups, political parties, and the Delhi government have also extended their support to this march. Political observers will be watching to see how the Modi government deals with such a huge mobilisation.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.