India: Farmers Hold Tractors-Rally on Republic Day

They seek to draw the government’s attention towards their demand of repealing the three farm laws.

To demonstrate their rejection of three pro-market laws, farmers are taking out a tractors-rally in Delhi on Tuesday on the occasion of the India’s Republic Day.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration has allowed as many as 5,000 tractors and 5,000 farmers to take out the rally between 12:00 noon and 17:00 hours, once the customary Republic Day Parade concludes.

The tractors-rally is a bid by the agitated farmers to draw the government’s attention towards their demand of repealing the three farm laws. They have been protesting at different sites on inter-state state borders around Delhi for over 60 days against these pro-corporate laws.

Security and intelligence agencies have been pressed into service to keep a strict vigil over the tractors-rally. Live drone-cameras will be used to keep an aerial check over the farmers during their rally, said media reports.

Various routes leading to Delhi from neighboring states have been partially blocked in the wake of the farmers’ call for tractors rally. Traffic advisories have been issued directing commuters to avoid these routes on Tuesday.

The Modi administration claims that the new farm laws have been enacted to raise the farmers’ incomes, the latter argue that these laws are detrimental to their interests.

So far as many as 11 rounds of talks between the two sides have failed to find a solution.

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