In a stark display of resistance, thousands of Indian cotton farmers have taken to the streets, accusing the Narendra Modi-led government of sacrificing their livelihoods at the altar of US imperialist demands and domestic crony capitalism.
Kathmandu/New Delhi: The vast cotton fields of India, often sites of quiet despair, have become the epicenters of militant protest. Between September 1 and 3, farmers, organized under the left-wing banner of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) and the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), staged widespread demonstrations against the government’s sudden decision to withdraw all import tariffs on cotton.
This move, seen as a direct capitulation to Western pressure, has ignited fury among an already beleaguered peasantry and exposed the deep contradictions of the Modi government’s rhetoric of national interest.
A Promise Broken, A Betrayal Executed
The farmers’ anger is sharpened by a profound sense of betrayal. Just days before the policy reversal, on August 15th, Prime Minister Modi stood at the Red Fort and declared his government would “protect the interests of the nation’s farmers, dairy farmers, and fishermen at any cost.” This echoed a similar assertion on August 7th, where he explicitly admitted to facing intense pressure from the United States and other Western powers to open India’s agricultural markets.
Yet, within a week of his patriotic posturing, his government issued a notification zeroing out the cotton import tariff—a move that immediately flooded the market with cheaper foreign cotton and crashed prices for domestic producers. The government disingenuously called the measure “temporary,” but its recent extension until the end of the year confirms the farmers’ fears: this is a permanent surrender.
In a powerful open letter to Modi, the farmers stated, “This policy reversal exposes the hollowness of your claim and highlights your government’s willingness to surrender farmers’ interests to the US imperialist pressure.”
The Human Cost of Neoliberal Onslaught
For the millions of cotton farmers in India, this is not merely an economic policy but a death sentence. India is one of the world’s largest cotton producers, with over 6 million farmer households dependent on the crop. Without tariff protection, they are forced into a brutally unequal competition with heavily subsidized agribusinesses from the US and Europe.
The result is a crisis of existential proportions. The letter to Modi reveals a horrifying statistic: over 450,000 farmers have committed suicide in India since the neoliberal reforms of 1991 began. Under Modi’s own rule, this tragedy has accelerated, with an average of 31 farmers taking their own lives every day. In the cotton-growing regions of Maharashtra alone, over 767 suicides were recorded in just the first three months of this year.
This is not a natural disaster; it is a man-made catastrophe. As the communist-led farmers’ unions correctly identify, these suicides are the direct result of decades of neoliberal policies—pushed by the IMF, World Bank, and compliant Indian governments—that have prioritized corporate profits over human need. The “burgeoning cost of production and the distress sale of agricultural produce” are the logical outcomes of a system designed to exploit the peasantry and transfer public wealth to private capital.
A Unified Front of Resistance Emerges
The demands of the protesting farmers are a direct challenge to the capitalist-landlord system. They are not asking for charity but for justice:
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A massive increase in the Minimum Support Price (MSP) to Rs. 10,075 per quintal.
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Complete loan waivers to free farmers from debt bondage.
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A compensation of Rs. 2.5 million for the families of each farmer who has died by suicide.
The farmers have vowed to intensify their struggle, promising to mobilize wider sections of the working class and oppressed masses. Their fight is not isolated. It is a critical front in the broader class war against imperialism and its domestic comprador allies—a war being waged by workers, peasants, and Adivasis across India.
Watching this struggle unfold is both familiar and critical. The Indian peasantry, led by its most class-conscious and organized sections, is demonstrating the necessary militancy to confront imperialist globalization. Their struggle is our struggle. The fight against the Modi government’s betrayal is a fight against the same forces of neoliberalism and imperialism that threaten the sovereignty and economic justice of all nations in South Asia. The resilience of the Indian farmers serves as a beacon of resistance, reminding us that the only path to true liberation is through organized, mass struggle against the exploitative dictates of capital and its political agents.