Thousands of farmers from Punjab have converged on New Delhi to voice protests against new farm laws. Initially the police response to them was excessively harsh: Farmers were tear gassed and water cannoned before being allowed to enter. As police clamped down, a campaign began on social media: There were Khalistanis or Sikh separatists among the farmers. It was alleged that protests are being ‘sponsored’, that there’s a political agenda.
With Punjab elections due in little over a year, farmers’ protests might be mingled with the hurly-burly of politics, there may be some motley agenda-driven elements in the crowd as exist in every political movement which in India tend to be like a ‘Shivji ki baraat’. But does this make the Read More
