Try refreshing your browser. Sudbury man worries about father as farm protests turn violent in India Back to video
For several days, Karan Singh has been frantically checking the latest news from India where his father and other farmers have been demanding the government repeal new agriculture laws that open more space for private investors.
The 25-year-old from Sudbury says concern for his father who farms cotton, wheat and sugar cane in India’s northern Punjab state started in September. That’s when Prime Minister Narendra Modi introduced three bills that farmers say will reshape agriculture in the region, and Singh’s father and friends joined protests.
One of the bills allows farmers to forge deals with companies to produce a certain amount and to sell their crops directly to private buyers instead of to the Indian government at a regulated price.
Modi s government argues the new laws will bring growth. But smaller farmers like Singh s dad fear that the removal of state protections that they already consider insufficient will leave them at the mercy of greedy corporations.
Singh says his stress peaked two days ago when Modi s government shut down internet in parts of New Delhi where protesters were gathering. Singh lost touch with his father and friends for about two hours as they made their way to India s capital.
Fakiha Baig
Demonstrators parade in trucks and dump trucks in support of farmers in India during a protest in Toronto Dec. 12, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn January 29, 2021 - 11:20 AM
For several days, Karan Singh has been frantically checking the latest news from India where his father and other farmers have been demanding the government repeal new agriculture laws that open more space for private investors.
The 25-year-old from Sudbury, Ont., says concern for his father â who farms cotton, wheat and sugar cane in India s northern Punjab state â started in September. That s when Prime Minister Narendra Modi introduced three bills that farmers say will reshape agriculture in the region, and Singh s father and friends joined protests.