Grieving families in India are cremating their loved ones while others are caring for their injured relatives in hospitals a day after a stampede.

Farmers are blocking highways and holding demonstrations in many rural areas in northern India to protest over a range of grievances that have also led tens and thousands to march toward the capital.

Protesting Indian farmers have clashed with police for a second consecutive day as tens of thousands tried to march to the capital to demand guaranteed prices for their produce.

Indian police have fired tear gas and detained some farmers who tried to break barricades blocking their way to New Delhi in a protest march.

Indian authorities have imposed a curfew, suspended internet service and deployed thousands of paramilitary forces to parts of northern Haryana state after deadly communal clashes.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made a surprise announcement that he will withdraw agriculture laws that triggered a year of farmer protests, in what is seen as a major climbdown by his government.

Protesting farmer leaders shout slogans as they sit on a day long hunger strike at the Delhi- Haryana border, outskirts of New Delhi, Monday, Dec.14, 2020. Tens of thousands of protesting Indian farmers have called for a national strike on Monday, the second in a week, to press for the quashing of three new laws on agricultural reform that they say will drive down crop prices and devastate their earnings. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)NEW DELHI – Tens of thousands of protesting Indian farmers called for a national farmers' strike on Monday, the second in a week, to press for the quashing of three new laws on agricultural reform that they say will drive down crop prices and devastate their earnings. The farmers fear the government will stop buying grain at minimum guaranteed prices and corporations will then push prices down. Farmers have been protesting the laws for nearly two months in Punjab and Haryana states.

Television images showed some of them moving into the capital while thousands still remained at the outskirts of the city. The Press Trust of India news agency said more protesters were heading for New Delhi from northern Punjab state. Many farmers have camped out on highways in Punjab and Haryana states for the last two months to protest the passing of the legislation. Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said he has invited representatives of the farmers for talks on Dec. 3. Farmers have long been seen as the heart and soul of India, where agriculture supports more than half of the country’s 1.3 billion people.

(AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)NEW DELHI – Thousands of angry Indian farmers protesting new agricultural laws were allowed to enter the capital late Friday after they clashed with police who had blocked them at the outskirts of New Delhi. Heading toward New Delhi on tractors and cars, the farmers were again blocked by police at the capital's fringes. Some protesters also threw stones at officers and waved the flags of farmer unions. Earlier, in a bid to stop the protesters from riding commuter trains into the capital, the Delhi Metro suspended some services. Negotiations between the leaders of farmer unions and the government to defuse the standoff have been unsuccessful.