Indian Police Block Roads Ahead of Farmers' March to New Delhi

Image copyright: Pallava Bagla/Corbis News via Getty Images (Jan. 26, 2021)

The Spin

Pro-establishment narrative

Farmers are well within their rights to protest peacefully to air their grievances. However, other ordinary citizens also have a right to travel and arrive at destinations with minimal hurdles. As was ruled on by the court three years ago, the right to protest cannot overshadow the latter. The protesters, therefore, cannot be allowed to block roads — especially the ones leading to the national capital.

Establishment-critical narrative

While the government may try to stop individual gatherings as they did during the last protest, Indian farmers from across the country will be out in force until the government finally decides to fulfill its promises. The people who put food on Indian tables want to be treated with respect, which is why they're demanding sovereignty over their farmland, government debt relief, and livable wage increases.

Metaculus Prediction

There is a 50% chance that India will score at least 6.3 in the Democracy Index in 2030, according to the Metaculus forecasting community.


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