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spokesperson of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, Rakesh Tikait, stated the protests would only cease once the laws were repealed.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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[CW: Boozeposting] finally been working a steady job for a while and bought the $30 bottle of Mescal. It's my favorite drink in the world and I never had the money to have it at home before. Never had the money to drink it our neither but a $7 shot is a more permissible indulgence than a $30 bottle even if the bottle got more than 4.25 drinks in it.
I think the drink itself isn't that important but the symbol of having something worth a few hours' labor dedicated solely and purely to pleasure and not simply enriching a necessary experience (e.g. getting a little nicer groceries) is phat. Like I cooked up dinner for my neighbors the other day and it was a big deal for them to be able to bring a cheap bottle of wine even though none of us like wine that much; it's a symbol of stability and sharing it lets it be real for usselves.
Hell yeah! I mean, that should just be something available in exchange for working but it isn't, so I'm stoked for you. Being able to afford the maligned treats is a fucking thing. Having neighbors that are your friends is also cool, I've had a real hard time with thst since moving to where I am now in May. Last place my neighbor was a leftist stenographer for city council, and a fellow rambling drunk. We shared a wifi through the walls and had a swell time. Miss that. Now my building is all students
Thanks! It took me a long time to make friends in my building. Aside from one friend who moved into my building, it's all pretty surface level. They are the first neighbors to actually come into my unit after more than a year living there. I always offer to help people or tell them I'm going to the store if I see them on my way out. After enough asking, people have gradually started to accept the help I offer and its formed the nucleus of distant but neighborly friendships.
Good luck making new friends in your building and neighborhood!
based and being friends with your neighbors pilled
Death to America