Protesting Indian farmers relaxed inside their tractors on Thursday as they awaited orders from leaders to advance on the capital, vowing they\u2019d last longer than the police currently blocking their route. \u201cWe are here for the long haul,\u201d said Mela Singh, a 70-year-old from Punjab state\u2019s Mansa district, one of the thousands of farmers setting up camp on the highway after their column was stalled by roadblocks about 200 kilometres north of New Delhi. \u201cA month, six months, a year, it does not matter, we will only retreat when we win this battle.\u201d Community kitchens and makeshift medical clinics have been established, while other farmers snooze beneath tarpaulins stretched over their tractor trailers. Thousands of farmers this week launched what they have dubbed \u201cDelhi Chalo\u201d, or \u201cMarch to Delhi\u201d, to demand a law to fix a minimum price for their crops, in addition to other concessions including the waiving of loans. The demonstrations come ahead of national elections likely to start in April. They echo ones in January 2021, when farmers used their tractors to smash through barriers and rolled into New Delhi on Republic Day during their then year-long protest. This time around, their hundreds of tractors have been halted by fearsome police barricades of concrete blocks, rolls of razor wire and barrages of tear gas when the farmers come too close. But the tense initial energy of the protest \u2014 marked by sloganeering and farmers using kites to ward off police drones dropping tear gas from the air \u2014 has given way to a more languid wait. \u2018Everyone\u2019s fight\u2019 The protesting farmers are in no hurry to head back home. Kamaljit Singh, 35, insisted everyone had a cup of the super-sweet milk tea he had on offer. \u201cWe have 100 litres (22 gallons) of milk,\u201d said Kamaljit, a farmer from Punjab\u2019s Patiala district, saying his village had gifted the milk to support the protest. \u201cAnother 200 litres are on their way. We have enough for everyone.\u201d The milk is a symbol that all are behind the protest, he said. \u201cEvery person from the village has contributed,\u201d said Kamaljit. \u201cThis is everyone\u2019s fight.\u201d Two-thirds of India\u2019s 1.4 billion people draw their livelihood from agriculture, accounting for nearly a fifth of the country\u2019s GDP, according to government figures. Nearby villages are making sure the protesters are well fed, drawing from the Sikh tradition of \u201clangar\u201d, or community kitchen, and coordinated from village gurdwaras, Sikh places of worship. \u201cIn every village in the vicinity, gurdwaras have set up community kitchens where food is prepared round the clock for the farmers,\u201d said Sukhpal Singh, 63, also from Patiala.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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