In pictures: Indian farmers march to seek loan waivers
Farmers rally in financial and entertainment capital Mumbai, demanding land ownership and farm loan waivers.
Farmers rally to demand better price for their produce and total waiver of agricultural loans, in Mumbai, India, November 22, 2018.
Tens of thousands of farmers from western state of Maharashtra marched in Mumbai, India's financial, commercial, and entertainment capital, on Thursday to demand loan waivers and transfer of forest lands to villagers who have farmed there for decades.
It was the latest protest by farmers against a state government headed by right-wing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party, which faces a general election in May and a handful of state polls in the coming weeks.
Indian farmers voted overwhelmingly for Modi in 2014. But a fall in rural incomes risks damaging that support next year.
According to The Times of India, a local daily, 2,917 farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra alone in 2017.
Farmers march on a flyover during a protest rally demanding loan waivers and the transfer of forest lands to villagers.
Lok Sangharsh Morcha, an organisation of farmers, has warned the state government that they will not leave the ground until their demands are met.
Thousands of farmers under the banner of All India Kisan Sabha had carried out a similar protest in March this year to press for their demands.
Rajendra Singh, a Ramon Magsaysay Award winner is also among the protesters. This is the third time this year when the farmers took to the streets in Maharashtra state.
According to The Times of India, a local daily, 2,917 farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra alone in 2017. The daily said in a report about 60 percent of the cases of farmers ending their own life were reported after the government announced a farm loan waiver scheme by June 2019.
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