NEW DELHI, Dec 9 — Indian farmers formally ended year-long mass protests today after Prime Minister Narendra Modi abandoned his push for agricultural reforms, defusing one of the biggest challenges faced by his government.
“Farmers’ unity, peace and patience has been the key to the victory and this will not be allowed to erode in any circumstance,” said Samyukta Kisan Morcha, a coalition of farmers’ unions, in a statement.They plan to wait until after a funeral for India’s defence chief General Bipin Rawat, who died in a helicopter crash yesterday, before returning to their homes on the weekend.
About two-thirds of India’s 1.3 billion population draw their livelihood from farming and the sector has long been a political minefield. But the reforms became a lightning rod for opposition to Modi’s administration by farmers, who said the changes would have left them at the mercy of big business.The protest sites on highways leading into Delhi turned into colourful, semi-permanent camps, with volunteers providing food, sanitation and even dentist surgeries and foot massage parlours.
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