India farmers protest

Farmers in Pakistani Punjab plan to take to the streets next month, hoping to generate some of the noise that their Indian counterparts have created.

After the violence on January 26, many had claimed the months-long protest would die out. That seems unlikely.

As the Indian government’s actions during the farmers’ protest demonstrate, it is keen on curbing unfavorable opinion online. And existing laws may be enabling it.

Photos taken from the Ghazipur Border, New Delhi on a historic day of protests gone awry.

How long can an uneasy peace between the two, forced through narrow self-interest, persist?

The colonial-era law has long been used to quash dissent. It’s happening again in the wake of a violent episode in the farmer protests.

The FIR followed a day of intense social media campaigning by pro-government voices in India, while a February 3 MEA statement continues to raise questions.

Other celebrities also spoke out against the Modi government’s handling of the farmers’ agitation, unleashing a social media war – and a government overreaction.

Sixteen opposition parties boycotted the president’s address to Parliament, expressing “full solidarity with the agitating farmers.”

The events of January 26 – India’s Republic Day – demonstrate two key weaknesses that plague the Modi government.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not a leader given to compromise. Has he finally met his match in India's farmers?