Farmers protest in India

Hundreds of farmers have gathered on the outskirts of India’s capital Delhi to demonstrate against a controversial land acquisition law. According to the BBC, the government plans to change the 115-year-old Land Acquisition Act. The farmers fear amendments of the law will make it easier for the government to take away their land for industrial use. The government claims the changes will improve the law. Land is a sensitive issue in India as around 65 per cent of the population depends on farming. The government has taken farm land in the past for so-called Special Economic Zones, which it claims generate jobs and boost the economy. Critics say it amounts to a land grab because of a lack of transparency and corruption in government. Source: Panos London