Farmers in India began a new hunger strike today, Monday, as part of the widespread protests that have been going on for three weeks to cancel agricultural reforms, raising pressure on the Narendra Modi government, which is trying to contain the wave of anger to no avail.

The strike called by the leaders of the protests for a period of 24 hours is the second in a week, and it is part of a protest movement that is concentrated in particular in the states of Punjab and Haryana, which are located in the north of the country, and are dominated by Sikhs.

One of the protesters' leaders said that the new strike aims to pressure the federal government to cancel 3 laws approved by Parliament last September, without much discussion about them.

The new hunger strike comes as thousands of farmers continue their sit-in on the outskirts of the capital, New Delhi, in extremely cold weather, as the nighttime temperature drops to 4 degrees Celsius.

Because of the cold, during the past three weeks 30 of the protesters died, while a Sikh cleric committed suicide in protest against the land reform laws.

The new laws allow farmers to sell products to buyers outside the wholesale markets regulated by the government, which used to guarantee them a minimum price.

Protesters say that these laws would lower the prices of their crops and put them at the mercy of big companies.

In contrast, Modi's government, led by the hard-line Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party, says the laws will expand agricultural markets and are necessary to increase storage capacity and other forms of infrastructure.

Farmers in Madhya Pradesh listen to the prime minister's speech via video (European)

Open face

Thousands of farmers are still blocking highways linking the states of Punjab and Haryana to the capital, which is located to the south, and the closure of highways has caused disruption of public transport and the arrival of supplies of vegetables and fruits.

In an attempt to win over the protesters, the Prime Minister visited a Sikh temple in New Delhi yesterday.

On Friday, Modi refused to cancel the three laws, and accused the opposition of misleading farmers by claiming that these laws would reduce the prices of their crops and expose them to exploitation by large companies.

While the government has called for new talks, protest leaders have repeatedly rejected attempts by Modi and members of his government to amend the three laws as a compromise to the crisis that poses the biggest challenge to farmers during his tenure in power six years ago.

According to the Associated Press, 60% of India's nearly 1.4 billion people depend on agriculture for their livelihoods.