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Meena Harris, niece of historic first Indian-American V. POTUS Kamala Harris, seems to have scored a win on global stage. Her social media campaign (probably with moral support of her aunt) played a role in building international pressure that contributed to what is being called a big win for farmers fighting for their rights in her aunt's ancestral homeland.
H/T NPR.
Farmers’ Protest: Kamala Harris’ Niece Meena is a Force of Her Own
Meena Harris’ support towards the ongoing farmers’ movement shouldn’t entirely come as a surprise.
India's farmers faced down a popular prime minister and won. What will they do now?
November 26, 20216:22 PM ET
Heard on All Things Considered
Lauren Frayer
Noah Seelam/AFP/Getty Images
GHAZIPUR BORDER, New Delhi — Every day for the past year, a sugarcane farmer in a bright-green turban has been chanting prayers inside a bamboo tent erected in the middle of a highway on the Indian capital's outskirts.
Ramkumar Pagdiwale, who is in his 50s, has built a little shrine in this sprawling protest camp, with jars of water from the Ganges River, soil from his farm about 30 miles away and an oil lamp that holds special meaning for him. It belonged to his ancestors.
"This is an eternal flame that's been burning continuously since 1947, during India's fight for independence," he explains. "It guides us during protest movements."
Ramkumar Pagdiwale, a sugarcane farmer from India's Uttar Pradesh state, has built a little shrine inside his bamboo tent at a protest camp erected in the middle of a highway on the eastern outskirts of India's capital.
This week, Pagdiwale believes the lamp brought good fortune again. On Wednesday, India's Cabinet ratified the repeal of three controversial agriculture laws the farmers have been protesting against for the past year.
They've held tractor rallies, blocked highways and built encampments like the one Pagdiwale has been living in. Friday is the first anniversary of their mobilization — which morphed into the biggest challenge yet to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rule.
"A ruler needs to think about his subjects. But Modi didn't consult us," Pagdiwale says. "He brought these laws and thought no one would raise their voice?"
Now, with Modi backing down and repealing the laws, some farmers are packing up and going back to their fields. Others say they'll hunker down and make more demands.
Theirs was a victory for nonviolent resistance, farmers say. Even as India tops lists of countries where democracy is backsliding, it's a rare example of a popular grassroots movement effecting political change.
But analysts say Modi's turnaround is also an astute political move, which could strengthen his hand in the end.
Farmers mobilized the biggest challenge yet to a popular prime minister's rule
Passed by parliament in September 2020, the three farm laws sought to deregulate Indian agriculture, lifting government supervision of crop sales and allowing corporations to negotiate directly with farmers. The government called them much-needed free market reforms. But many farmers feared they would cut into their already meager profits and favor big businesses instead.
In response, farmers waged one of the largest civil disobedience campaigns since India won its independence from Britain. More than half of Indians — as many as 800 million people — make a living, directly or indirectly, from farming.
...
npr.org/2021/11/26/1059200463/india-farmer-protests-modi-farm-laws
Related
Kamala Harris has not publicly backed farmers' protest
A fake screenshot of US vice-president-elect Kamala Harris apparently extending support to the protesting farmers in India has been shared on Facebook.
It shows a tweet - seemingly under her Twitter handle - alongside text which reads: "We are shocked to see the Indian government's suppression of farmers protesting new laws which will endanger their livelihood. Instead of using water cannons and tear gas, the Indian government needs to engage in open dialogue with farmers."
But Facebook has put a warning on the post, stating it has been manipulated.
Ms Harris, the daughter of immigrants from India and Jamaica, has not commented on these protests, on either her personal or official Twitter accounts.
Her media team responded to our enquiry about the post with a brief statement, informing us: "Yes, this is fake."
A Canadian MP called Jack Harris (no relation) did tweet in support of the Indian farmers on 27 November. The text in his tweet exactly matches the text in the one falsely attributed to Kamala Harris.
There have been public expressions of concern about the police response to the farmers' protest from Justin Trudeau, prime minister of Canada, where there is a significant Indian population.
Mr Trudeau's remarks were rebuffed by the Indian government, which said they were "ill-informed."
bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-55157714
'Dear POTUS...,' tweets farmer leader ahead of Biden's meeting with Modi
'700 farmers have died in the last 11 months protesting. These black (farm) laws should be repealed to save us. Please focus on our concern while meeting PM Modi,' said Rakesh Tikait to Biden
Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait on Friday appealed to Indians living in the US to hold a protest during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's programme in New York on Saturday in support of the 10-month-long farmers' agitation at Delhi's borders.
September 24, 2021
business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/rakesh-tikait-urges-indians-in-us-to-protest-during-pm-modi-s-sep-25-event-121092400547_1.html
H/T NPR.
Farmers’ Protest: Kamala Harris’ Niece Meena is a Force of Her Own
Meena Harris’ support towards the ongoing farmers’ movement shouldn’t entirely come as a surprise.
India's farmers faced down a popular prime minister and won. What will they do now?
November 26, 20216:22 PM ET
Heard on All Things Considered
Lauren Frayer
Noah Seelam/AFP/Getty Images
GHAZIPUR BORDER, New Delhi — Every day for the past year, a sugarcane farmer in a bright-green turban has been chanting prayers inside a bamboo tent erected in the middle of a highway on the Indian capital's outskirts.
Ramkumar Pagdiwale, who is in his 50s, has built a little shrine in this sprawling protest camp, with jars of water from the Ganges River, soil from his farm about 30 miles away and an oil lamp that holds special meaning for him. It belonged to his ancestors.
"This is an eternal flame that's been burning continuously since 1947, during India's fight for independence," he explains. "It guides us during protest movements."
Ramkumar Pagdiwale, a sugarcane farmer from India's Uttar Pradesh state, has built a little shrine inside his bamboo tent at a protest camp erected in the middle of a highway on the eastern outskirts of India's capital.
This week, Pagdiwale believes the lamp brought good fortune again. On Wednesday, India's Cabinet ratified the repeal of three controversial agriculture laws the farmers have been protesting against for the past year.
They've held tractor rallies, blocked highways and built encampments like the one Pagdiwale has been living in. Friday is the first anniversary of their mobilization — which morphed into the biggest challenge yet to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rule.
"A ruler needs to think about his subjects. But Modi didn't consult us," Pagdiwale says. "He brought these laws and thought no one would raise their voice?"
Now, with Modi backing down and repealing the laws, some farmers are packing up and going back to their fields. Others say they'll hunker down and make more demands.
Theirs was a victory for nonviolent resistance, farmers say. Even as India tops lists of countries where democracy is backsliding, it's a rare example of a popular grassroots movement effecting political change.
But analysts say Modi's turnaround is also an astute political move, which could strengthen his hand in the end.
Farmers mobilized the biggest challenge yet to a popular prime minister's rule
Passed by parliament in September 2020, the three farm laws sought to deregulate Indian agriculture, lifting government supervision of crop sales and allowing corporations to negotiate directly with farmers. The government called them much-needed free market reforms. But many farmers feared they would cut into their already meager profits and favor big businesses instead.
In response, farmers waged one of the largest civil disobedience campaigns since India won its independence from Britain. More than half of Indians — as many as 800 million people — make a living, directly or indirectly, from farming.
...
npr.org/2021/11/26/1059200463/india-farmer-protests-modi-farm-laws
Related
Kamala Harris has not publicly backed farmers' protest
A fake screenshot of US vice-president-elect Kamala Harris apparently extending support to the protesting farmers in India has been shared on Facebook.
It shows a tweet - seemingly under her Twitter handle - alongside text which reads: "We are shocked to see the Indian government's suppression of farmers protesting new laws which will endanger their livelihood. Instead of using water cannons and tear gas, the Indian government needs to engage in open dialogue with farmers."
But Facebook has put a warning on the post, stating it has been manipulated.
Ms Harris, the daughter of immigrants from India and Jamaica, has not commented on these protests, on either her personal or official Twitter accounts.
Her media team responded to our enquiry about the post with a brief statement, informing us: "Yes, this is fake."
A Canadian MP called Jack Harris (no relation) did tweet in support of the Indian farmers on 27 November. The text in his tweet exactly matches the text in the one falsely attributed to Kamala Harris.
There have been public expressions of concern about the police response to the farmers' protest from Justin Trudeau, prime minister of Canada, where there is a significant Indian population.
Mr Trudeau's remarks were rebuffed by the Indian government, which said they were "ill-informed."
bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-55157714
'Dear POTUS...,' tweets farmer leader ahead of Biden's meeting with Modi
'700 farmers have died in the last 11 months protesting. These black (farm) laws should be repealed to save us. Please focus on our concern while meeting PM Modi,' said Rakesh Tikait to Biden
Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait on Friday appealed to Indians living in the US to hold a protest during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's programme in New York on Saturday in support of the 10-month-long farmers' agitation at Delhi's borders.
September 24, 2021
business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/rakesh-tikait-urges-indians-in-us-to-protest-during-pm-modi-s-sep-25-event-121092400547_1.html
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