Opinions about Tuesday’s events in Delhi, when police unleashed violence against protesting farmers who went on to break barricades and fly...
Opinions about Tuesday’s events in Delhi, when police unleashed violence against protesting farmers who went on to break barricades and fly a Sikh flag from the ramparts of the Red Fort, are likely to break down on partisan lines.
Those who believe in the cause of the farmers are likely to brush aside concerns of propriety when it comes to protest, pointing instead to the violence perpetrated by the state in the run-up to and on Republic Day. Those who support the laws or the government have been calling for a crackdown, decrying what they have labelled violent hooliganism in the Capital.
However you look at it, though, one thing is evident: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government’s handling of the issue has been a complete mess.
What consultation?
Start at the very beginning. The three farm laws, which seek to deregulate agricultural markets, create a basis for contract farming and take regulatory power away from state administrations, among other things, were announced as part of the “Atmanirbhar Bharat” package that sought to lift the Indian economy out of the Covid-19 induced quagmire.
That package contained little in the way of stimulus measures, earning the government much criticism for its unwillingness to spend any...
