Indian Farmers Clash with Police

Indian riot police fire tear gas at hundreds of protesting farmers seeking to breach heavily guarded roadblocks and march on the capital to demand guaranteed crop prices.

The line of tractors stretches nearly far as one can see -- thousands of protesting Indian farmers heading to the capital New Delhi, determined to bring their anger and woes to politicians.

Hundreds of baton-wielding riot police guard thick lines of barricades across the highway.

They are as determined to stop the farmers as the farmers are to smash through, using their tractors to push away the heavy concrete blocks.

From behind rolls of razor wire, police alternate between raking the crowds with water cannons and dropping tear gas from overhead by drone.

The two sides stood uneasily watching each other from some 50 meters away, as government officials and farming union leaders talked.

Dull thuds of tear gas canisters dropped from above punctuate protest chants, and the choking stench hangs heavy in the air long after the thick clouds disperse.

The farmers say they launched their "Delhi Chalo", or "March to Delhi" -- recalling a January 2021 protest when they smashed through barriers and rolled into New Delhi -- because politicians were not listening.

On their own, the farmers say they are ignored.

As drones hover above, the farmers fly kites, saying they are using them to "distract" the police.

But together -- with two-thirds of India's 1.4 billion people drawing their livelihood from agriculture -- they pose a potentially powerful force, with the protests coming ahead of general elections expected in April.

Thousands of farmers have crammed into tractor trailers hoping to reach parliament.