India: host to Bollywood, spirituality, and one of the seven ancient wonders of the world. From the snow-dusted Himalayas in the North to the sultry sun-washed beaches, backwaters, and forests of the South, India is a land of abundant beauty. Scattered throughout the country are temples finely carved with depictions of Hindu gods and goddesses. Home to more than a billion people, India “pulsates with a spectacular mix of people, traditions and landscapes,” according to Lonely Planet. Flaunted as a success story of neoliberal development, the economy continues to grow and the state remains stable, despite India being an intensely pluralistic society. More than 700 languages are spoken; Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism and Judaism are only a sample of the many religions practiced in the country.

However, development has not been equal for all. Many minorities face consistent repression by a strong but violent state. Women of “untouchable” class continue to be subjected to forced sterilization. Protesters and union and other work-place organizers continue to be imprisoned. Indigenous people are violently evicted from their homes to make way for mines and dams. Rising nationalism has even led to the famous Indian cricketer, Amir Khan, to speak out against increasing intolerance.

The levers of power (both regional and national) in India have long been in the hands of a political elite. Political influence is bought by the economically privileged and the result is all too predictable: tax exemptions and havens, land concessions, cheap credit and subsidies on electricity and water for the wealthy; malnourishment, precarious (and often dangerous) work from a young age, and a lack of access to basic healthcare for the poor. Oxfam estimates that if India stemmed the rise in economic inequality, it could end extreme poverty for 90 million people by 2019. Yet, the likelihood of it doing so is slim.

Every year, more than 2,000 farmers in Punjab kill themselves to escape the shame of chronic debt. In the past 20 years, up to 40,000 farmers have taken their lives. Many of their families are left destitute, receiving no state support. Punjab was at the forefront of the Green Revolution, a movement in the 1960s to modernize agriculture with more intensive use of fertilizer and pesticides, and mono-cropping. The Green Revolution has had profound environmental, economic and social consequences.

Pesticides and mono-cropping have depleted micro-nutrients in the soil. Farmers have experienced reduced crop yields, resulting in lower incomes. Large multinational corporations advocated the use of hybrid and GM seeds, which need to be repurchased every year. This has increased costs for farmers. In the past, conventional seeds were harvested for subsequent seasons. Those same pesticides and GM crops were manufactured by the multinationals that lobbied for the Green Revolution. The new agricultural design forced many farmers to turn to credit; firstly to pay for the adaptation to industrial farming and then to help farmers meet their basic needs as crop yields fell.