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On July 22, the Indian Lok Sabha (House of the People) held its monsoon parliamentary session and took up discussion of three controversial agricultural laws that have sparked continued protests by farmers, who say they could be squeezed out of business. The laws date to September 2020. Supporters said they were a much-needed update of government-controlled, subsidized farm markets, known as mandis, that have operated for decades. Instead, owners of small farms said the laws favored big agriculture. Among other things, the reforms freed farmers to sell directly to other states and buyers. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) party insist the laws will revolutionize the country’s agricultural sector. But some 86 percent of India’s farmland is controlled by small farmers, who fear exploitation and have turned to protests. Since last November, some 100,000 farmers, mainly from the states of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at the borders of New Delhi to demand repeal of the BJP-backed farm laws. The protesters include children, women and the elderly. The government and 40 farm union leaders who represent the thousands of protesters held close to a dozen meetings until talks reached an impasse in January. Against that backdrop, Indian Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar was asked on July 22 about hundreds of farmers who reportedly died while protesting. The reply: The government of India has no record of farmers having died or fallen ill during the ongoing protests over the Centre’s farm laws." That is false. According to the Indian Express
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