Why aren't we hearing about the farmer's protest in India?
Elon Musk's X has confirmed they have deleted posts
“We’ll have to take a domestic flight from Delhi, there will be roadblocks because of the protests”, my dad is chaotically trying to tell me over FaceTime while I’m visiting my nephews.
“Sure okay whatever you think”, I’m thinking solely about the middle kid saying “you’re the green one” over and over in my ear, while pointing to his pop up pirate game that I have no intention of playing.
It takes a week before it finally hits me.
“PROTESTS?!”
I say it out loud, sitting in my office, writing an email to my agent. I open a new browser and type in what I knew ‘India farmer protests’.
Typing ‘farmer’ was muscle memory, but I was not wrong. I couldn’t help but wonder why hadn’t I heard about any of it. Why wasn’t it in the news?
I never finished that email to my agent, instead I had over 20 tabs open, searching for answers to my multiple questions.
I’m going to India in a couple weeks — to check up on my grandad and do some shopping for the house, my wardrobe — the usual. Of course, we’ll be spending a large chunk of it in the pind, sunbathing fully clothed on roof tops adorned with a never ending cycle of drying sheets.
But not once in this run up to the trip was I made aware that the farmer protests had started again.
In 2020, we saw India’s largest protest take place, when the government passed farm bills that took money out of the hands of farmers. In order to repeal, farmers got together to protest these bills — in an attempt to regain control.
They demanded the creation of a minimum support price (MSP) bill alongside the three the government passed, to ensure corporates cannot control the prices of their produce.
In late November 2021, the Modi administration finally repealed all three farm bills.
And then on 13 of February 2024, the 2024 Indian farmers' protest started due to unfulfilled previous demands.
Despite the withdrawal of the bills, their demands remain - financial and market-based security is still vital.
Life for farmers in India is precarious as they deal with unpredictable weather patterns and the constant fear of crop failure. Debt haunts many farmers in India, leading to a high rate of suicide.
And then Wednesday 21 February, a protestor died.
I still heard nothing.
21 year old farmer Shubhkaran Singh is suspected have sustained a head injury, leading to his death, although a post mortem examination still needs to take place to confirm this.
Medical superintendent HS Rekhi, though, indicated that he actually died from a bullet wound "He was brought dead, and on initial examination it appears that he was hit by a bullet. We will be able to ascertain the nature of the bullet only after a post-mortem.”
And then on Friday 23 February, 62 year old farmer Darshan Singh died.
Still…nothing.
The 2020 protests were so largely reported, I remember even Rihanna gave her two cents. But this was not.
In a continued effort to rewrite the definition of ‘free speech’, Elon Musk, the Indian government, Modi — all have a hand to play in this censorship.
India has done this using its 2009 Blocking Rule under Section 69A of the IT Act, 2000, which empowers Government to block information from public access under specific conditions of : (i) interest of sovereignty and integrity of India, (ii) defence of India, (iii) security of the State, (iv) friendly relations with foreign States or (v) public order or (vi) for preventing incitement to the commission of any cognizable offense relating to above.
The reason the Indian government has called on this suppression, is partly because a new general election is due in the coming months where Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is expected to win a third term.
The BJP is an authoritarian government, using tactics of civil suppression such as ethnic cleansing, in order to control and create a largely Hindu majority.
It functions under a wealth and status based caste system, that sparks violence and unrest when it is questioned.
Suddenly, It starts to make more sense why I haven’t heard about this.
But as I’m going to India soon, I imagine it won’t be something I’ll be oblivious to.
And I hope this post has brought some light onto that darkened corner of the web.