We, the undersigned students, faculty, staff and alumni of the University of Oxford extend our unconditional support to the demands of protesting farmers in India.

We strongly believe that the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act have the undesirable effect of leaving the pricing of farm produce and consequently the livelihoods of small farmers at the mercy of big private corporations.

The fact that the Indian government proposed these laws without prior consultations with farmers, particularly women and Dalit farmers who face intersectional challenges, is fundamentally undemocratic. We are further appalled by the manner in which these laws were passed by the Indian parliament in haste during a global pandemic, and in brazen disregard of parliamentary procedure and the caution that opposition parties sounded. The government’s offer to amend these laws fails to account for the dominant concern that farmers will lose negotiating power in private markets.

We therefore join Indian farmers in demanding that the Indian parliament repeal these laws with immediate effect and that the Indian government engage in consultations with the farmers and their unions to guarantee MSP for farm produce.

We also unequivocally condemn the Indian government’s use of force against peacefully protesting farmers, infringing upon their fundamental right to express their opposition to these laws. We demand that the Indian government withdraw the criminal cases registered against peaceful protesters, and release them with immediate effect, without making their release contingent upon other factors.


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