What is behind India’s U-turn on its farming laws?
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said the government will withdraw a set of controversial farming laws.
For more than a year, farmers across India have been holding mass protests, strikes and sit-ins.
Their actions have been against a set of farm laws that, they say, hurt their livelihoods.
Keep reading
list of 4 itemsThe inexplicable rise of kidney disease in Sri Lanka’s farming communities
Inside the pressures facing Quebec’s billion-dollar maple syrup industry
Why are British farmers pleading for a universal basic income?
But the government had long defended the legislation, which would have ended minimum price guarantees for produce.
That was until Friday, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a sudden announcement his administration will withdraw the controversial laws.
But why now, and what are the political and economic implications?
Presenter: Hashem Ahelbarra
Guests:
Yogendra Yadav – Founder of Jai Kisan Andolan, an all India Farmers’ and Farmworkers’ Organization of Sawaj
Ashish Shukla – International journalist covering India’s current affairs and its governing party extensively
Javed M Ansari – Political analyst and commentator