New Delhi
Leaders of protesting Indian farmers began a one-day hunger strike on Monday against agricultural reforms they say threaten their livelihoods. The move is meant to step up pressure on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to withdraw the legislation.
Farmers have been demonstrating for nearly three weeks against deregulation of the agriculture sector that will allow them to sell produce to buyers beyond government-regulated wholesale markets, where growers are assured a minimum price. “We want them to repeal the laws,” said Gurbax Singh, a protest leader from the northern state of Punjab, which is at the forefront of the opposition, as he and other leaders began a hunger strike at a main protest site.
