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India Farmer Protest Shuts Down Transportation, Food Markets Nationwide
By Anjana Pasricha
December 8, 2020 08:57 AM
NEW DELHI - A strike called by tens of thousands of farmers in India disrupted rail and road traffic and shut down some of the country's biggest agricultural markets on Tuesday, as protesters demanded the government scrap new laws that will liberalize the farm sector.
The strike, backed by at least 15 opposition parties, was a show of strength ahead of a fresh round of talks due to be held between the government and the farmers on Wednesday.
The epicenter of the strike is the Indian capital, New Delhi, where tens of thousands of angry farmers from the northern states of Punjab and Haryana have been squatting on five highways leading into the city for nearly two weeks and vowing to remain there until their demands are met.
They...