Why Farmers in India are Staging Mass Protests

Over the last several weeks farmers in India have staged mass demonstrations to protest new government agricultural policies. The farmers say these new laws would be financially ruinous and allow large corporations to dictate the price of agricultural goods.

These laws, which were passed in September, were championed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his right wing Hindu nationalist party, the BJP.  Now, the apparently ever growing size of these farmer protests have brought worldwide attention to  seemingly arcane changes in Indian agricultural law.

On the line with me to help understand the significance of these farmer protests in India is Michael Kugelman, the Senior Associate for South Asia at the Woodrow Wilson Center. We kick off discussing the substance of these laws before having a broader conversation about the domestic and international implications of this protest movement.

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