The strike took place following months of protest from Indian farmers, a response to three farm acts passed by the Parliament of India in September 2020. According to protesters, the farm acts would leave small farmers, the vast majority, at the mercy of large corporations. Poor farmers were already desperate before the laws were passed - in 2019 alone, 10,281 agricultural workers committed suicide.
Dozens of farm unions began organizing protests demanding the repeal of these laws. After failing to get the support of their respective state governments, the farmers decided to pressure the Central Government by marching to Delhi en masse.
The farmers arrived at Delhi on November 25th, 2020 and were met by police, who employed the use of tear gas and water cannons, dug up roads, and used layers of barricades and sand barriers to try and stop their march.
On November 26th, 250 million workers from all over the country initiated a general strike in solidarity with the farmer's struggle. According to Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, trade unions issued a twelve-point charter of demands which included "the reversal of the anti-worker, anti-farmer laws pushed by the government in September, the reversal of the privatisation of major government enterprises, and immediate [Covid] relief for the population".
Farmer protests continued for more than a year, featuring mass marches, clashes with police, and many failed negotiations between farmers' unions and the government. Rakesh Tikait, a leader with Bharatiya Kisan Union (English: Indian Farmers' Union) stated in October 2021 that approximately 750 participants have died in the protest.
Among the dead was a Senior Superintendent of Police in the city of Sonepat, who committed suicide, saying he could not bear the pain of the farmers. His suicide note read "Bullets fired from the guns kill only those whom they strike. The bullet of injustice, however, kills many with a single stroke... It is humiliating to suffer injustice."
In a televised address on November 19th, 2021, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that his government would repeal the three acts in the upcoming winter parliamentary session in December. The national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, Rakesh Tikait, stated the protests would only cease once the laws were repealed.
The film actor Deep Sidhu also joined the protests, and was quoted as having told a police officer the following: "Ye inquilab hai. This is a revolution. If you take away farmers' land, then what do they have left? Only debt."
We Are Grass. We Grow on Everything: The Forty-Ninth Newsletter (2020).
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I got arrested driving home from Thanksgiving an hours drive from my house. I was passing 2 cars on a long straightaway passing zone on a regular 2 lane road. I floored it since that's the safest way to pass in an area like that, but a cop was sitting in the dark on the side of the road and clocked me at 98 in a 55. Got charged with reckless driving.
I'm paying extra for not having any social circle where I live, I literally didn't have a single phone number of someone to come get my car. My partner was with me, but she never learned to drive so they towed my car and she had to get cuffed to ride with me. Then I got processed and released but we were now stuck at the state police barracks even further from my home. Called every cab company and tried Uber and Lyft but couldn't get anyone to get us home.
Eventually they were getting ready to kick us out of the state police barracks at midnight when it was below freezing outside(and I didn't have a jacket). So I tried to find a hotel that was open and finally found a weird roadside place with cabins that answered. We started walking and a cop leaving the barracks offered us a ride, but then told us we had to be in handcuffs to ride in the car. So we get to the hotel and the owner sees us getting uncuffed in his driveway and I had to tell him the whole story so he didn't think he was letting freshly released murderers stay on his property.
We didn't have anything we needed, no phone chargers, medications, warm clothes, etc. I didn't sleep at all without my meds and started feeling really janky the next day.
Then I still had to get my car back the next day, but it was towed to a different town 30 miles away, and they weren't answering the phone. So we had to take a cab home, which cost $250 because the nearest cab company was 40 miles away in the wrong direction.
Now I still have to get my car back on Monday, which is 25 miles from my house. I thought about walking it, but I'm afraid I'll get there and not be able to take my car for some reason and I don't think I can walk 50 miles in a day. I found someone on Facebook that is going to drive me, but they're in a completely different town, so that's going to cost me another $150.
I wanna say fuck the police(and I do), but this is sort of on me. I still think the cop could have just wrote me a big ticket instead, but I did go 98 mph. Police tows are just punishment though, since if I was broke down they would leave the car there for 5 days before towing it. It's also bullshit that the tow company gets to charge a much higher rate to tow and store the car than they would get from AAA or someone who calls them directly.
It's frankly embarrassing that I have nobody to call in an emergency, I'm seriously thinking of joining the episcopal church just to get a little bit of community. I'm not at all religious, but I met the pastor a while back and she's a really kind lesbian who moonlights as a social worker.
I'm not sure why I just posted all this, I guess I'm just stress dumping. I also don't really have anyone else to tell about it I guess.
Maybe it was because it was 98, but I think you got unlucky with the cop. The only time I've ever been pulled over was for the same situation as you, speeding up to pass someone on a two-lane highway. The cop ran my license and it turned out I had an unpaid camera ticket that I didn't know about and my license was suspended. He could clearly tell that I was completely dumbfounded by the news, so he told me that "I had to have someone come and get the car, and he was going to leave me here and I couldn't go anywhere once he left unless someone else showed up." Obviously I waited around 20 minutes and then took local roads for the next 40 miles. Not sure if it was kindness or laziness, probably the latter, but I still consider myself lucky it didn't go worse.
The real bullshit is that I was driving behind this guy that I wanted to pass and the cop car pulled up behind me and proceeded to tailgate so close to me that I was worried he was going to hit me for like 30 minutes. So it felt like he wanted me to go faster, even though I couldn't, and then as soon as I had the chance to pass this dude he followed me and pulled me over.
I've learned my lesson; if a cop ever gets behind me on a highway I literally pull over and make them go past me.
On another note, that pastor sounds like she would be down to help you in a pinch even if you only showed up to the church potluck once a month.
I'm sorry you had to go through all that. It sounds like a huge pain, and stressful too. The "we have to handcuff you to drive you anywhere" thing is bullshit.
Episcopals can be good people. I've heard Unitarians can be good too but without having to actually believe anything.
And yeah, ACAB, but maybe don't pass on two lane roads when it's dark ~~or ever~~, it's just not worth it. Just enjoy the vibes, especially when you've got a friend/family to pass the time with.
Yeah, I think about that sometimes. I only have a few friends so if anything every were to go really wrong I'd be stressing. I try to make new friends occasionally but it feels weird and wrong to be mercenary about the need to have a tribe. My dad used to go to a church mostly to hand out business cards and advertise. One of his work buddies would go to several churches just for that reason. That's actually one of the biggest draws for mormonism