After celebrities like Rihanna and climate-activist Greta Thunberg shed light on the ongoing farmers’ protest around Delhi, international media is beginning to notice the months-long agitation. Following British-American journalist Mehdi Hassan’s coverage of the protests last week, Trevor Noah of The Daily Show also did a segment explaining the protests against the three agricultural laws.
“We’re talking about India because in a year of global protests, they’re in the midst of the biggest one anywhere,” the political commentator said in his introduction.
In an over eight-minute segment titled, ‘If You Don’t Know, Now You Know’, The Daily Show’s host explained the fundamental reason for the protest, as he reported on the proposed scrapping of the Minimum Support Price (MSP), which would leave the farmers to ‘fend for themselves at the mercy of the free market’.
“Most Indian farmers work on a smaller scale, and it’s when the government tried to change that, that the manure hit the fan,” Noah commented.
The segment also took notice of the violence that took place on 26 January, during the farmers’ tractor rally at Red Fort, and went on to highlight Prime Minister Modi’s reaction to it.
Calling the BJP government’s measures to curb the protests a part of a ‘major crackdown’ the commentator pointed out that, “It shows how worried the government must be about the protest, and honestly they should be, because these farmers are digging in for the long haul.”
Airing visuals from the protest sites around the national capital, the segment then switched to talking about the longevity of the protest, which has seen some of the coldest winter nights in Delhi. The segment aired an interview of a farmer who said, “Whether it takes four years or more, we’re here to stay.”
Reacting to the clip, the comedian remarked, “Nobody on earth is more patient that a farmer.”
As several rounds of talks between the farmer unions and the government prove to be inconclusive, the show catered towards an American audience: “The government is trying to force the farmers back into the fields, but the farmers aren’t giving up their demands.”
Noah had also observed, “Clearly the government has decided that they’ve had enough of this protest...maybe they think that postponing the law by 18 months will satisfy farmers, but think about it, in 18 months, people will be in the same position that they are in now.”
Slipping in a Rihanna reference, the musician who spearheaded the United States’ increased interest in the agitation against the farm laws, Noah said, “If I might just quote one of their prominent supporters, this protest might just work, work, work, work.”
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