Banded under the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee, which claims to be an umbrella body of 207 organisations of farmers and agricultural workers, thousands of farmers arrived in Delhi on Thursday, on trains, buses and other modes of transport.
The AIKSCC was formed under the aegis of All India Kisan Sabha and other Left-affiliated farmers’ bodies in June 2017, following protests by farmers in states such as Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh for debt relief and remunerative prices.
On Friday, they marched to Parliament demanding for loan waivers and increased remuneration.
Adnan Abidi/Reuters and Ravi Choudhary/PTI Photo were able to photograph different farmers participating in the rally.
The one takeaway: They may all look very different, but their woes are all the same.
Thousands of farmer have gathered at Ramlila Maidan from different parts of the country after completing a long journey of as long as 36 hours. Photograph: Ravi Choudhary/PTI Photo
Farmer are demanding to remove middlemen and want loans to be waived. Photograph: Ravi Choudhary/PTI Photo
The protest also sees the participation of a number of women who say their sufferings are worse than men. Photograph: Ravi Choudhary/PTI Photo
A farmer from Tamil Nadu stages a protest by carrying skulls of two of his colleagues who had committed suicide. Photograph: Ravi Choudhary/PTI Photo
A farmer reads a book during a rally to protest soaring farm operating costs and plunging prices of their produce in New Delhi. Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters
A daughter of a farmer with her face painted attends the rally. Farmers from all across the country gathered at Ramlila and camped out in the cold on Thursday night before they began their march on Friday. Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters
A farmer from Punjab said he is hopeful by the promises but time and again they have been cheated so till their loans are waived and they get remunerative prices for their produce they would not be sitting at peace. Photograph: Ravi Choudhary/PTI Photo
Young, old, poor... It didn't matter. Farmers from everywhere who had gathered for the rally said they just wanted to be heard and needed their demands to be met. Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters
A young boy with a painted face participates in the protest. Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters
Farmers say it is their warning to not only the BJP but to all political parties that they should not be considered weak. Photograph: Ravi Choudhary/PTI Photo