Comments on: India’s Farmer Protests: A Fight for Fair Trade https://fairworldproject.org/indias-farmer-protests-a-fight-for-fair-trade/ Wed, 21 Apr 2021 18:56:57 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.1 By: Dean Cycon https://fairworldproject.org/indias-farmer-protests-a-fight-for-fair-trade/#comment-7673 Wed, 21 Apr 2021 18:56:57 +0000 https://fairworldproject.org/?p=18524#comment-7673 When I first became involved in international solidarity work in the late 1970’s I got some great words of wisdom. A local advocate I was working with in India told me “But remember, you can always go home. We have to stay here and incur the consequences of our actions.” I have immense respect for and am humbled by our partners around the world who fight battles against destruction of people and planet, as well as corruption and police brutality with many less resources and institutional options than we have. Thank you all for your commitment, passion and tenacity.

]]> By: Brek Renzelman https://fairworldproject.org/indias-farmer-protests-a-fight-for-fair-trade/#comment-7547 Sat, 13 Feb 2021 14:14:58 +0000 https://fairworldproject.org/?p=18524#comment-7547 The ‘official’ response in India to the farmers’ protests there is extremely alarming. Bizarrely vague and authoritarian charges like “promoting communal disharmony” and “making statements prejudicial to national integration” speak to censorship on a mass scale.

We are starting to see signs of this happening in the U.S., where dissent is being squelched at a much greater rate since the beginning of the new year as voices are being deplatformed (and, no, I am the furthest from an apologist for the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, so don’t get it twisted).

I passionately believe in free speech for all, within the bounds of what can be reasonably called civil discourse! I do not believe that farmers in India trying to protect their livelihoods have conclusively crossed that line.

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