I’m all for peaceful solutions too, but if you look through history you’ll find plenty of morally righteous violent resistance. In this case it seems inevitable to me. The aggrieved parties here mostly come from a place that was previously violently conquered by the Mughal Empire, then later violently won their independence to form the Sikh Empire, shortly after that they were violently conquered again by the British Raj. The British Raj was ousted by nonviolent resistance, but that’s an incredible anomaly in history, and was only really possible because the British had largely lost interest in holding the colony.
The result was the partitioning of India, which worked out terribly for a lot of people. Especially the Punjabis, who’s state was cut in half and split between Islamic Pakistan, and Hindu India. Hindu Nationalism on the India side of the border has lead to decades of often violent oppression of minority group in India. Why would violent resistance not be a morally defensible response?
I also find the international coverage of this issue quite funny. If you only read international sources you might come away with the impression that this conflict is just between “farmers” and the Indian government. If you read Indian sources you’re more likely to get the impression this is a separatist conflict between “Khalistani terrorists” and the Indian government.
> you’ll find plenty of morally righteous violent resistance.
Sure, but we should have a sense of proportion here. Supreme court is hearing the case and the Govt has agreed to put the new law on hold for 1.5 years. Why not wait for Supreme court's judgement?
How do you justify blocking highways for over 2 months causing great economic damage to your fellow countrymen, that too during COVID times when people are struggling to put the food on the table.
I have read the bill and I am linking it here (this is Govt. Of India website). There is nothing there that can justify the violence we just witnessed.
The protest is against the farm Bill, which is seen as a further act of oppression against minority groups, from a government formed to serve only Hindu India. The agriculture industry in India is dominated by minorities, mainly Sikhs, and mainly Punjabis. The aggrieved parties here see this as an act of economic oppression, and if you want to make sense of the controversy, you have to view it in the broader context of Indian history, especially wrt everything that’s happened in the post-partition period. Tanks rolling up to the golden temple is still a very fresh memory for a lot of these protestors.
https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1626703
Madhya Pradesh has lagged Punjab in wheat production although it is several times the size of Punjab in area.
The first slot is usually taken by UP or Punjab
http://agriexchange.apeda.gov.in/india%20production/India_Pr...
Note that I am citing governments records.
They have been peaceful protesting for literally months now. One bad incident does not mean anything and there is a lot of information about how the government goons infiltrated the protests.
If you are all for peaceful protests, you wouldn't single out one single incident but that's exactly what you are doing and I think it's malicious. Which you are free to do, but please don't pretend otherwise.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqiwIbUzPyo
Here is a the Guardian link. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/26/violent-clashe...
Times now
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1kC7RPEniM
> there is a lot of information about how the government goons infiltrated the protests.
Can you cite a source?
EDIT: Formatting
> Samyukta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella organisation representing more than 40 farmers’ unions, condemned those who had taken part in the clashes and said that “anti-social elements had infiltrated the otherwise peaceful movement”.
The organizers clearly condemned the violence. What else should they do?
Repeating what you conveniently ignored: one bad incident does not override months of completely peaceful protests, acknowledged by residents of the areas where they were protesting. And yet, you bring up just that one thing, which is very much in line with the government propaganda. The Republic link was the icing on the cake. Like I said, you are free to believe what you want but painting yourself as pro freedom of protests while ignoring the fact that they have been peaceful for months and singling out this one thing says a lot about your bias.
Source: https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/farmers-storm-india-s-red-fort-...
> The farmers have been staging largely peaceful protests for nearly two months
I am not the one conveniently forgetting violence at the Red fort. Let me ask you, why even protest when the Supreme court is hearing the case and Govt has agreed to put the law on hold for 1.5 years. Why violence & blocking highways? Why not take it up with Supreme Court?
I repeat: protesting is a fundamental right. Farmers have been protesting peacefully for months. One bad incident is not reflective of the otherwise largely peaceful protests. You are ignoring this line.
https://www.newslaundry.com/2021/01/14/sorry-this-isnt-a-man...
You can drop the facade at this stage and stop wasting everyone's time. At least have the audacity to be genuine of your beliefs. To not be so is cowardly.
https://www.freepressjournal.in/viral/protest-or-pay-a-fine-...
We are talking about areas around Delhi where women and children have much less liberty when compared to other regions of India.
Coming back to your question: the farmers have clearly said they denounce the violence in more than one ways. The other thing that is leading more credence to this theory is how the police treated the people indulging in violence. Evidence from the ground shows that the police shook hands and were generally very respectful towards them. This suggests infiltration. More sources: https://thewire.in/agriculture/day-of-clashes-with-bjp-spons...
Which one is it? So I'm peacefully protesting... And then someone ELSE two street away from me breaks a window... Am I not allowed to peacefully protest anymore?
Just take a look at this video and tell me you will be able to differentiate. There are no "two" different streets here, just one big chaos.