As we have been reporting, protests have broken out in New Delhi, India, which are comprised of farmers voicing their concerns over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s push for deregulations they fear will sink them deeper into poverty.
With their economy sinking for several consecutive quarters before the COVID War broke out, India’s GDP is estimated to have fallen 15.7 percent over six months through September.
In response to the legislation, farmers have blocked major roads and burned their crops, contending that deregulation will lead to small farms becoming insolvent and eventually taken over by larger rivals.
“Most of the farmers, we have tried not to burn, but we wanted to show our resentment,” Devinder Singh, 41, told The New York Times. “If you impose on us, we will burn it.”
“They never expected farmers to come out in such large numbers to protest,” Vikram Singh, the joint secretary of the All India Agricultural Workers Union, told the Wall Street Journal. “We will not back off until our demands are met.”
TREND FORECAST: To reiterate our forecast, as we reported in early January, with the Indian economy in its seventh consecutive quarter of contraction, protests against the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi were escalating.
Also, in January, we reported on the demonstrations spreading throughout India as millions of Indian citizens continued the two months-long protests against the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act, spearheaded by Mr. Modi’s ruling Hindu nationalist party, which grants citizenship to religious minorities – except Muslims – from neighboring countries.
In response, these demonstrations were halted when the Prime Minister suddenly locked down the entire nation in March in his fight to win the COVID War.
As economic conditions continue to decline, demonstrations will escalate and India’s military/police forces will violently clamp down on protesters.
However, try as the military might to stop the protests, with hundreds of millions of Indians losing everything and with nothing left to lose, they will not back down until the government meets some of their demands.
