India’s Modi announces U-turn on controversial farm laws after more than a year of mass protests

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on November 19, 2021, that he will repeal controversial farm laws, following more than a year of mass protests after they were introduced in September 2020. The laws were aimed at deregulating the agricultural sector by allowing farmers to sell their crops beyond government-regulated markets. For decades, these markets have set guaranteed minimum prices for produce. Farmers, fearing a drop in crop prices, staged nationwide rallies, posing one of the…