Farmers’ Protests, Air Pollution, and Public Health Crisis in India’s Capital Are Legacy of Socialism: Expert NEW DELHI—Farmers are protesting by the thousands on New Delhi’s border, to demand the repeal of an air quality measure that, among other things, penalizes the burning of agricultural stubble, a major cause of air pollution in India’s national capital region. Meanwhile, protests over the pollution caused by the massive annual burning of husks in the northern state of Punjab, and the resulting public health crisis that is affecting so many lives, are deeply rooted in the country’s socialist agricultural policies that the current government is trying to change, according to an analyst.