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Thousands of Indian farmers, many of them Sikhs continue to sit and protest on the outskirts of India’s capital Delhi. They are protesting against government led reforms of the agriculture sector in India. The farmers say the new laws will leave them at the mercy of large corporate companies and the free market and eventually lead to many smaller farmers dying out. The Government say the reforms are needed to modernise a languishing part of the economy where it’s estimated more than 10,000 farmers commit suicide every year due to low incomes.

Negotiations between the government and farmers have reached a deadlock and thousands have continued to sit and blockade roads into India’s capital for many months. As the protests spiral, sectarian tensions have begun to emerge between differing groups. Some accuse Sikh separatists, largely supported by Sikhs living outside of India, of hijacking the protest movement to cause chaos within India and further their agenda for a separate Sikh state. Critics of the government say internet shutdowns, the arrests of journalists and barricades preventing sustenance arriving for protesting farmers shows a continuing degradation of democratic values overseen by the Hindu nationalist BJP.

During the week where Indians come together to celebrate Vaisakhi, the harvest festival but also an auspicious date where Sikhs mark the establishment of their religion, Renu Agal investigates the impacts of the continuing protests on India’s fragile democracy.