Confused sentiments by Indian farmers to evacuate protest sites near the capital Protest News

New Delhi, India – Three thousand Indian farmers have cleared three protest sites outside the capital city of New Delhi, which have been occupied for more than a year, demanding the repeal of controversial farm laws that were overturned by the government last month.

On Saturday, farmers began returning to their homes two days after the unions they canceled the year-long protest Following the guarantees of the government of the right-wing Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), the existing demands will be taken into account.

Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a amazing rotation in late November, he announced the withdrawal of three farm laws and apologized to the nation for passing on what farmers were saying on a television address. “black laws”, the protesters wanted to guarantee the minimum support price (MSP) for their products and withdraw all cases related to the unrest against them.

“It simply came to our notice then. In the end, we won, “Sathbir Singh, a 70-year-old farmer from the northern state of Haryana, told Al Jazeera on Saturday.

“We have achieved what we demanded of this government since last year.”

Tikrin on the outskirts of New Delhi, one of the three main protest sites, saw many farmers dancing to the loudspeakers of Hindi and Punjabi playing in loudspeakers attached to tractors, removing tents. Light firecrackers, hand out candy and hug each other.

“Today, there is only happiness around and no sorrow,” Singh said.

The founders of Jangi Library, Ambedkar Library and Saanjhi Sathh Singhu Border are among the last protesters to leave the protest site.#KisanMajdoorEktaZindabaad pic.twitter.com/KrJPdREYI2

– Kisan Ekta Morcha (@Kisanektamorcha) December 13, 2021

There were shocking scenes in Tikrin, where the farmers said goodbye to their friends in protest. started in November in the first year.

That month, thousands of farmers, mostly from the “grain states” of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, decided to march on New Delhi to demand the removal of farm laws.

When the police stopped entering the farmers to the capital, they were placed camping stores, blocking the three main highways that were going to the wide range of cities.

Farmers refused to clean up the sites unless the government did repealed the law, even though the country reported hundreds of thousands of COVID-19 cases every day.

For a year, they struggled with the sting, heat, and monsoon records of New Delhi. They also suffered police violence and were called “terrorists” and “separatists” by BJP leaders and a right-wing section of the Indian media.

The Modi government, for its part, claimed that the laws passed in September last year were aimed at modernizing India’s vast agricultural sector and would increase farmers ’incomes by giving them access to more markets to sell products.

But farmers said the law would give private corporations control of the sector and remove the government-guaranteed MSP for their products.

Last week, the government sent a letter to protesting farmers, setting up a committee on the MSP and announcing the withdrawal of criminal charges against protesters.

Farmers are removing tents from the Singhu protest site after farmers called off the protest [Bilal Kuchay/Al Jazeera]

The Singhu border scene, the epicenter of the farmers’ protest, was no different, as farmers – mostly Punjabi – celebrated their victory before heading home.

“We are happy that the farm laws have been repealed. But more than that, the greatest happiness is that we have defeated Modi because he was considered someone who would not back down from his word, ”Swaran Kaur, 65, of the Punjab Patiala district, told Al Jazeera.

“She is OK [Modi] he wanted the peasants to become poor workers. ‘

Swaran Kaur, (left), Singhu on the outskirts of New Delhi – the epicenter of the year-round peasant protest in India [Bilal Kuchay/Al Jazeera]

“Join my grandchildren’s protest”

Dressed in traditional dress and covered with a green headscarf, Jasveer Kaur, 76, from the Sangrur district of Punjab, took part in a farmers’ rally in January.

On Friday, he approached Karan Preet, a teenage volunteer at a pharmacy where farmers were protesting, and asked for some medicine and plaster. She thanked the young man, hugged him several times, and kissed him.

“Goodbye my son,” he said to Preet in Punjabi. “All of these are my children,” he said, pointing to a group of farmers and volunteers.

Kaur told Al Jazeera that he had decided to join the protest because there were no male members of his family. She is a widow who has lost two sons.

Jasveer Kaur, 76, is at the Singhu protest site on the outskirts of New Delhi [Bilal Kuchay/Al Jazeera]

“I joined the protest for the future of my grandchildren. This fight was to protect their land and their livelihood, ”he said, adding that the year-round protest was not a walk, but a difficult one.

He said dozens of farmers lost their lives in the face of harsh weather conditions. Farmers’ unions say there are more than 700 farmers he died in protests.

“It was painful to see so many of our farmers here lose their lives in this protest,” he said. “We had a tough winter, the unbearable heat of the summer in Delhi or the rains, and we all faced each other and we didn’t leave. This victory is the result of our commitment. “

Lakhmir Singh, 49, was sitting pensively with other farmers inside a sudden hut in his house for more than a year. They were happy that their protest ended with a victory, something was wrong: the absence of friend Jatinder Singh.

Jatinder, 33, struggled with water cannons and smoke shells as they began their march last year. “He died of a heart attack four months ago,” Lakhmir told Al Jazeera.

“We’re glad we won, but the only thing that hurts us today is the lack of those we lost during the turmoil.”

Lakhmir Singh, (center), sitting in an improvised hut with other Singhu farmers [Bilal Kuchay/Al Jazeera]

Prince Sandu, 32, and a group of five volunteers washed the clothes of protesting farmers in the washing machines installed in Singhu. He said he was proud to be part of the protest.

“It simply came to our notice then. “This year has passed like a blink of an eye,” Sandhu told Al Jazeera.

Kaur said he never thought the protest would last so long. But he said farmers were confident that the Modi government would be forced to repeal the law.

“We knew how long this fight would last, that the victory would be ours.”