“EVERYONE’S FIGHT”
The protesting farmers are in no hurry to head back home.
Kamaljit Singh, 35, insisted everyone had a cup of the super-sweet milk tea he had on offer.
“We have 100 litres of milk,” said Kamaljit, a farmer from Punjab’s Patiala district, saying his village had gifted the milk to support the protest.
“Another 200 litres are on their way. We have enough for everyone.”
The milk is a symbol that all are behind the protest, he said.
“Every person from the village has contributed,” said Kamaljit. “This is everyone’s fight.”
Two-thirds of India’s 1.4 billion people draw their livelihood from agriculture, accounting for nearly a fifth of the country’s GDP, according to government figures.
Nearby villages are making sure the protesters are well fed, drawing from the Sikh tradition of “langar”, or community kitchen, and coordinated from village gurdwaras, Sikh places of worship.
“In every village in the vicinity, gurdwaras have set up community kitchens where food is prepared round the clock for the farmers,” said Sukhpal Singh, 63, also from Patiala.
Makhan Singh, a 60-year-old wheat farmer, used a roti to scoop up his breakfast of curry and pickled chillies – food donated by a village close to the camp.
The scent of fresh curry wafts towards the thick lines of baton-wielding riot police, who watch the camp from barricades across the highway.
“The women in our village woke up at 3am to prepare the food,” said Mukhiya Singh, 32, who offered a curry of spiced tomatoes and potatoes.