Indian Farmers to Extend Protests After Rejecting Court Proposal
- Supreme court appoints panel to aid talks with farmers
- Farmers won’t appear before court panel, want laws repealed
Farmers demonstrate in Amritsar, India, on Jan. 12.
Photographer: Narinder Nanu/AFP/Getty Images
Tens of thousands of farmers will continue their protests against India’s new farm laws until they are repealed, rejecting the top court’s decision to keep them in abeyance and adding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s woes.
The siege of a key roadway connecting the country’s capital where the farmers have been camping for the past two months will continue, protest leaders said, as will plans to march into the city later this month. A three-judge bench headed by the Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde on Tuesday barred the implementation of the law until the court hears the matter and arrives at a judgment. It also set up a panel to mediate between the government and the protesters and submit a report to the court.