Why India’s Farmer Protests Matter What do singer Rihanna, climate activist Greta Thunberg, actress Susan Sarandon, and football player JuJu Smith-Schuster have in common? They, and a growing number of celebrities and public figures, have expressed their support for what has been called the largest protest in world history: a multi-faith, multi-caste, multi-generational movement being led by over 100,000 Indian farmers. For the past several months, farmers from across northern India have camped outside the Indian capital of New Delhi, protesting three recently passed laws that they see as opening India’s agricultural sector to exploitation by private corporations. The farmers are peacefully calling on the Indian government to repeal these laws, and have been met with water cannons, barbed wire, and Internet shutdowns. Images of unarmed farmers being brutalized by police are reminiscent of last year’s Black Lives Matter protests, in which nonviolent protesters marching for racial justice often faced tear gas and police violence.