Hunger is at the heart of Indian farmers’ protests

Five years after the monumental watershed moment in Indian Farmers’ political autonomy, the farmers are still striking for assured prices on certain crops, loan waivers, and compensation for the families of farmers who died during earlier protests.

Unsurprisingly, these protests and hunger strikes, like that of Dallewal and the 121 other farmers fasting in solidarity, are a justified response to the governments’ failure to fulfil farmers’ demands in 2020.

Before India’s Centre government extended an invitation for talks, India’s federal government had seemed to distance itself from the protests, exacerbating the situation and continuing to ignore farmers’ rights and demands.

Dallewal’s extreme form of protest has placed his current health under serious risk, despite being administered with intravenous fluids.

That said, this isn’t the first time citizens have embarked on a hunger strike to protest their rights in India.

In 2011 Anna Hazare, an anti-corruption activist, fasted in New Delhi to protest the Jan Lokpal Bill.

This bill would appoint the independent body Jan Lokpal to investigate corruption cases, complete the investigation within a year, and conduct trials for the case within the following year.

Hazare’s activism led to the resignation of Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar from the group of ministers reviewing the draft bill. Unfortunately, despite his success, the Lokpal Bill was passed in 2013.

Nevertheless, Hazare’s hunger strike provoked a nationwide protest led by India Against Corruption. He was congratulated by the anti-corruption body last week.

Farmers on hunger strike, fighting for justice… but BJP won’t budge!

Their resolve stays strong exposing a government that values profits over people that India has witnessed in the recent past.#FarmerProtests#NoFarmerNoFood pic.twitter.com/9r7SHqoAbq

— India With Congress (@UWCforYouth) January 15, 2025

Hunger strikes were also used as a form of protest in 2014 by students demanding an investigation into the assault of a female student on Jadavpur University campus.

The police brutality that was enacted in response to the strikes evoked a wave of protests, causing the university’s vice chancellor to resign from his position after almost 100 students refused to take their degrees.

As Abhimanyu Kotra, the general secretary of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, has commented, the farmers’ hunger strikes this time round have meant that “the government had to finally blink “ by agreeing to partake in talks.

Hunger strikes have proven an effective form of protest in India in response to a variety of political injustices, in part due to the fundamental role food plays in the formation and celebration of Indian culture and identity.

The cause has also been propped up the trending hashtag accompanying the farmers’ movement.

It encapsulates not only why this movement is so important to every single person in India, but the inextricable link that exists between food, community, and politics.

This time, Indian police and government authorities might not be firing tear gas at peaceful protesters or blocking roads like in 2020.

But Dellawel’s health is still at ever increasing risk the longer his protest continues, and the decision by union ministers to withhold the talks until 14 February is yet another insidious example of governmental harm.

Gurmeet Singh Khuddian, the Punjab Agriculture Minister, has advised that the meeting be held earlier than the preestablished date and has welcomed union ministers to resume talks as early as possible.

While #nofarmersnofoodnofuture might only apply to farmers like Dellawel and the 121 other people hunger striking, Indian politicians will continue to risk the country’s agricultural livelihood and the wellbeing of the nation’s people if they refuse to meet farmers’ demands.