NEW DELHI: Indian farmers on Monday (Feb 26) demanded that India leave the World Trade Organization (WTO), saying its policies were discriminatory against growers.
Demonstrators burned effigies of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the WTO to protest against capitalist policies that deny farmers’ rights, the farmers added.
The effigy also displayed posters of Indian billionaire Gautam Adani and the chief minister of the northern state of Haryana, whose police force is using force against them to prevent them from marching to New Delhi.
“The World Trade Organization (WTO) policy is dangerous for the Indian agriculture sector,” said protesting farmer Sukhjeet Singh.
Farmers said the WTO prevents subsidies and price regulation, and the country’s small farmers cannot compete in the free market.
Meanwhile, a three-day WTO ministerial meeting is underway in Abu Dhabi.
Farmers, mostly from the northern state of Punjab, have been trying to march on the capital for more than a week as part of their “Delhi Chalo” (Let’s Go to Delhi) campaign, demanding, among other things, legally binding higher prices for their crops. .
