Indian police have confronted protesters rallying near the parliament against a government-proposed legal amendment enabling acquisition of land for development projects.
The law enforcement agents on Monday used batons and water cannon against the demonstrators, hundreds of whom were trying to march on the legislature.
The amendment spearheaded by the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi (seen below) allows acquisition of property for the purpose of projects concerning defense, housing, power, and industrial corridors.
“It is anti-farmer and it also endangers the food security of the country,” Anand Sharma, a senior spokesman for opposition Congress party, which led the protest, said of the amendment, adding, “This government has opened the door to acquire farmers’ land, multi-crop land for the private sector, which is unacceptable.”
Several thousand opposition activists had descended earlier on a landmark protest site in Delhi, carrying party flags and wearing T-shirts bearing slogans against the proposed law.
Several senior Congress party leaders addressed the crowd, mostly drawn from the neighboring states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana.
Amanatullah Khan, a Congress leader from Uttar Pradesh, said the party would not back down until the amendment was dropped.
Modi’s supporters, however, say the current law has held up infrastructure projects worth billions of dollars.