In The Buzz Cut, we bring you a round-up of all the weird, controversial, and wonderful stories we’ve been reading all week.
India is currently in the throes of the largest protest in world history — more than 250 million farmers are protesting privatization measures that will rob them of income security. Here’s what’s happening.
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The farmers are protesting three bills introduced by the government, and approved in the Lok Sabha. Some see the proposed legislation as giving more freedom to farmers, while farmers themselves fear losing protections for their revenue. Since the issue is not cut and dry, here’s a breakdown of exactly what’s at stake with the three bills.
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The wording of one of the bills, however, affects more than just farmers — “No suit, prosecution or other legal proceedings shall lie against the Central Government or the State Government,” meaning the government is trying to deter anybody, not just farmers, from seeking legal recourse against state policies. Here’s how it affects you.
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Aside from the legal lingo, one of the major ways in which the current farmers’ protests have managed to capture international attention is their overwhelming presence on the streets — in trucks, on foot, and with their families — as they marched to Delhi to have their dissent heard. Here, the farmers, and the police deployed to stop them, in pictures.
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While the pictures from the farmers’ protests depict a majority of men, women are increasingly being acknowledged as the backbone of the current wave of dissent. Not only are they showing up to the streets, but they’re also doing the necessary work of tending to home and farm, while their male family members march to Delhi.
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The current protests also revealed deep-rooted biases urban elites harbor toward those residing in rural areas, those that don’t have Internet jobs, and flaunt their English-speaking elitism. When farmers giving interviews during their protest spoke English, a choice few expressed wonder and shock at the phenomenon, leading us to question — just what is so surprising about farmers speaking English anyway?
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One thing we must realize is that the current farmers’ agitation is not new, and has been going on longer than any mainstream media outlet thought to cover it. As far as October, farmers had been holding panchayats against the bills, burning Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s effigy, blockading major railway tracks, and using Ambani’s and Adani’s faces on scarecrows in their fields. This agitation has gone on way before anyone among the urban elites paid notice, and will go on way after they lose interest.
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But in the meantime, the farmers’ voices are being heard internationally, with people in several countries around the world protesting with Indian farmers in solidarity. What comes of this latest wave of dissent — one that’s becoming all too normal, all to frequent in today’s political climate — remains to be seen.
