India's surprise about-face on farming laws a 'monumental moment' for diaspora in Canada

A sudden announcement by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to withdraw the highly contentious farm laws in that country is being met with cautious optimism by many diaspora Indians in Canada. But some say they won't feel relief until the laws are formally repealed.

The surprise move comes over a year after Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party government instituted the laws, first by ordinance and then passing them without consultation with either farmers' unions or state governments.

The farm acts sparked a year of massive protests in India — at times deadly — during which tens of thousands of farmers took part in a movement to march to the capital.

Demonstrations were also held in Canada, including rallies in front of the Indian consulate in downtown Toronto, where hundreds turned out in solidarity with Indian farmers, who were in many cases their own family and friends.

Opponents of the laws said they meant an end to guaranteed pricing, forcing farmers to sell crops to corporations at cheaper prices and leave them with no right to take disputes with those corporations to court, with conflicts instead settled by bureaucrats.

Friday brought an about-face from Modi, who promised that the laws will be repealed beginning in December.

"I want to say with a sincere and pure heart that maybe something was lacking in our efforts that we could not explain the truth to some of our farmer brothers," he said in a televised speech.

"Let's us make a fresh start."

At the Shromani Sikh Sangat Temple in Toronto's east end, Gurshan Singh, who comes from a farming family, was wary of the announcement.

"I don't consider it done yet because the prime minister has announced that it will be repealed but the procedure still has to happen," Singh said in Punjabi, speaking to CBC News through an interpreter.

Singh said his entire village went out to protest against the laws.

"People were martryred … people lost their children," he said.  And while some 700 people are believed to have died in the process, he said he's thankful his own family is safe.

"I'm happy," he said. "But I'm still not sure."

For Sanjay Ruparelia, a professor of politics and public administration at Toronto's Ryerson University, the sudden news is part of a much larger story about the rise of autocracy in India over the last seven years.