THUNDER BAY – Thunder Bay residents joined in a global wave of protests against agricultural reforms in India Saturday, voicing their concerns that the changes will enrich corporations at the expense of hundreds of millions who depend on the country's agricultural sector.
About 25 protestors demonstrated along Fort William Road Saturday afternoon, holding signs and chanting “no farmers, no food.”
Organizers said they felt called to join an international movement they hoped would pressure the Indian government into reversing course.
Farmers in the country have been protesting for months over the changes, which would deregulate the agriculture sector and see farmers sell directly on the open market, rather than through government agencies, which have guaranteed minimum prices for over 20 crops.
Critics fear the move will empower large corporations to erode commodity prices, lowering revenues for farmers, many of whom already struggle with large debt loads and a high suicide rate.
Those fears are amplified by the large role agriculture plays in India’s economy, employing close to half of the country’s workforce.
In recent weeks, tens of thousands have engaged in strikes to protest the changes, with farmers blocking roads and converging on the Indian capital of New Delhi.
Mehrose Singh, who led chants over a megaphone at Saturday's rally, said he saw it as his duty to stand with the farmers from his home country – even if it was from halfway around the world.
“My father was a farmer, my grandfather was a farmer,” he said. “It’s our land, it’s our responsibility – even if we’re in Canada, it’s our responsibility to save our livelihood, because in the coming times there would be no farmers [if the laws are not repealed].”
Singh expressed gratitude for recent comments by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who called the situation concerning and vowed Canada “will always be there to defend the rights of peaceful protest,” after some farmers’ groups were met with water cannons and tear gas by police.
Trudeau's comments prompted sharp rebukes from the Indian government.
Kanwar Singh, a Circle K supervisor who hails from India, said he couldn’t stand by while his government put the interests of multinational corporations over those of the farmers.
“It’s unconstitutional and there are so many flaws in [the new laws],” he said. “These ordinances are in favour of the corporate sector. That’s why we are here, that’s why farmers in India are in the roads to protest.”
He was hopeful the intensifying protests would force the government to back down, saying protestors in India and around the world were armed with the will to continue the fight until then.
“We will do it until they take these bills back,” he said. “We’ll protest indefinitely if they don’t do that.”
