Why are farmers protesting in India? – BBC Newsnight

Since November 2020, thousands of farmers have been on strike protesting new laws they fear will drive them out of business. Please subscribe HERE http://bit.ly/1rbfUog

Farmers and their families have been protesting in India for months, camped out in Delhi demonstrating over the government’s new farm laws which they think will ruin their livelihoods.

The three new farming laws were brought in last summer.

They loosen the rules around the sale, pricing and storage of farm produce – which means farmers can sell directly to private buyers, instead of government-controlled markets where they get a minimum guaranteed price.

The government says the changes will leave farmers better off by making markets more efficient and attracting more investment.

But in January India’s supreme court put the laws on hold "until further notice".

Newsnight’s Mark Urban is joined by the President of the Hindu Forum of Britain Trupti Patel and Sunny Hundel, a Sikh political commentator who writes the online blog OpenDemocracy.

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