Exuberant farmers going back home after a year of agitation against disputed farm laws were showered with flower petals by an airplane.
Thousands of farmers started their trek home after demolishing their makeshift shelters on the outskirts of Delhi.
Farmers were seen celebrating and waving green and white flags as they rode tractors and jeeps back to the capital's outskirts, where they were camping since November last year, in videos and images.
The farmers expressed their happiness and relief at being able to return home after their tremendous effort came to an end.
"My children are ecstatic. We'll finally have the opportunity to meet. I'm in a great deal of joy. "Papa, ghar kab aaoge?" they would always say over the phone. 'Jaldi aa jao!' (When are you coming home, Papa? Please come quickly!) "Bhupender Singh, a farmer, told the news agency PTI.
"It's great that it's occurring now. But I'm especially pleased with the fact that I'm returning home after a triumph, " Singh continued.
Farmers refused to leave the protest sites until the government agreed to their demands, which included a legal guarantee on the Minimum Support Price (MSP) and the withdrawal of criminal cases against the protesting farmers, following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's surprise announcement last month that the three farm laws would be repealed.
The administration set up a committee to consider both demands as part of a political balancing act ahead of elections in crucial states like Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. After receiving a written proposal from the Centre, the farmers announced their decision to evacuate the protest locations.
The Protest
Farmers were protesting the government's adoption of three laws that ease controls governing the selling, price, and storage of farm food, rules that had previously shielded them from the free market. These laws, according to farm unions, would leave farmers susceptible to large corporations and destroy their livelihoods.
Modi declared on November 19 that his government would abolish the laws after months of maintaining that the measures would benefit farmers. On the 30th of November, parliament passed a bill repealing the reforms.
