What will it take to end Indian farmers’ protests?
Farmers in India are angry over new deregulation laws, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi says the change was needed.
For the past three weeks, tens of thousands of Indian farmers have been protesting against new agricultural laws.
They say the changes will hurt their livelihoods by making them vulnerable to big corporations.
But the government insists deregulation of the industry is badly needed.
Police say at least 25 people have died – several of them from cold weather – as farmers continue to block highways and camp on the outskirts of the capital New Delhi.
On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered to hold further talks, as weeks of negotiations have failed to reach a compromise.
Modi says the farmers are being exploited by opposition parties who he says were in favour of these laws when they held government.
But as protests intensify, what will he do?
Presenter: Hashem Ahelbarra
Guests
Nikita Sud – associate professor of Development Studies at the University of Oxford
Tuhin Sinha – member of the Bharatiya Janata Party
Arun Kumar – chair professor at the Institute of Social Sciences
