In India, Sikh farmers arm themselves with food and willpower to defeat Modi

The camps in New Delhi are filled with enough food to last months, with volunteers chopping up mountains of onions, cauliflower and potatoes for daily meals

There are also makeshift clinics, a launderette and warriors standing guard, as protesters vow to go nowhere until Modi repeals three new farming laws

3-MIN READ3-MIN

Farmers take part in a protest in New Delhi on December 9, 2020. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 9:30am, 11 Dec 2020Updated: 9:52pm, 11 Dec 2020

At India’s massive farmers’ protest, which poses perhaps the first significant challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, two things are in abundant supply: determination and food.

If an army marches on its stomach, this one is set to have a lot of staying power. Farmers and volunteers chop mountains of onions, cauliflower, and potatoes every day for the hot lunch and dinner. Snacks are another herculean effort.

Tents are full of sacks and carton boxes of produce. Every few metres, someone is stirring a huge cauldron of food or a vat of tea and handing out biscuits and snacks.

Whenever there is a crisis, a prolonged protest, riots, or a natural disaster, Sikhs are known for getting to the spot and organising meals. This time it is their own hour of need as they take on Modi over his farm reforms.

Boxes of food are seen in tents at the Singhi camp site in New Delhi, India. Photo: Amrit Dhillon

Tens of thousands of farmers, mainly Sikhs from the northern Punjab and Haryana states, have since November 27 been camped at three sites near the highways that lead into the Indian capital, after their plan to storm into New Delhi in their tractors was thwarted by the government.